GANDOLFI, M.: Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland / SCHAFER, R.M.: Beauty and the Beast [Opera] (Udagawa) (Michael Gandolfi - Dana Bonstrom - Raymond Murray Schafer)

Album review

This recording combines a work oriented toward children with one that is more for adults, although there is nothing in the second work that is unsuitable for the young. In both instances, there are problems with the performances here by soprano Neva Pilgrim and the assembled instrumentalists that make it hard to give it even a lukewarm recommendation. First on the disc is Michael Gandolfi's Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland, written for a "Pierrot plus percussion" ensemble, referring to Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. Actually, the style of the second work, Beauty & the Beast, by R. Murray Schafer, is much like Pierrot Lunaire, while Pinocchio is like Peter and the Wolf, a narrative with musical accompaniment. The choice of ensemble suits Gandolfi's music, which has an innocent and cheerful nature and a straightforward, descriptive structure that in turn suits the story well. The problems here are that Pilgrim keeps popping her "P"s and not used to performing close to a microphone. Also, when all the instrumentalists are playing she is almost drowned out. Beauty & the Beast is a more sophisticated work, using sprechstimme and music that is driven by the character's feelings rather than the narrative. Here, Pilgrim seems overwhelmed by the effort to control articulation and pronunciation together, resulting in some pretty bizarre sounding text at times. The string players are good, but the ensemble work could be tighter and much more compelling than it is. In general Pinocchio is the better performance, but overall it is disappointing that the performances here distract from the music and the stories.

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