Horizon 9 (Live)

Chronique

Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has been unusually supportive of new music (ever since the days when they championed Mahler), not only commissioning new works but putting them into contexts audiences find relevant. Horizon 9, part of a series the orchestra has released showcasing these new works, is a good example. Two of the pieces on the album, both by Dutch composers, mark the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's birth in 2018. Boundless, by Joey Roukens, is explicitly designated an "Homage to L.B." and reflects the composer's outsized personality, while Richard Rijnvos' Amérique du Nord addresses the multiple American influences in his music, including jazz and pop, and artfully weaves them together. These works make a fine contrast with the two Eastern European works on the program, both with hints of minimalism but neither really minimalistic, and both original and accessible. Both are concertos of a sort, and treat the concerto form in rare ways. Peter Eötvös' Multiversum is a work for the intriguing combination of organ, Hammond organ, and orchestra, while Erkki-Sven Tüür's Solastalgia is a piccolo concerto with an environmental theme. Another attraction of the album is that it includes work by conductors who were in the Concertgebouw's orbit at the time of Daniele Gatti's dismissal: the Roukens is led by Alan Gilbert, the Eötvös by the composer himself, the Rijnvos by Gustavo Gimeno, and the Tüür by Stéphane Denève. A recommended program of new work from both composers and conductors.

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