Strange Toys

Album review

Cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, best known as a member of the Kronos Quartet since 1978, struck out on her own as a soloist in 1999. Besides performing, she began composing, often collaborating with artists in other fields, and this album is the first release exclusively devoted to her work. Jeanrenaud performs in all of the pieces and is joined by other performers in some of them. Her playing is technically and expressively assured throughout, and she brings a strong and confident personality to the performances. On most of the tracks, she uses electronics as accompaniment, primarily through layering and looping her own playing. The pieces collected here are nearly as diverse as the repertoire for which the Kronos is known; influences of world musics, minimalism, a number of pop styles, romanticism, electronic music, and modernism are evident in these works. The most effective works are frequently the shortest and most whimsical; Axis, Kaleidoscope, Dervish, Rainkids, and Trottola are especially appealing. Other engaging pieces include the soulfully expressive Livre for cello and vibraphone and Air & Angels, which incorporates a text by John Donne. The most compositionally ambitious and "serious" piece, Transition, for two cellos and two violas da gamba, comes across as more ponderous than deep. A caveat about many of the compositions is Jeanrenaud's heavy reliance on looping, which creates an unvarying ostinato that tends to wear out its welcome before the piece is over. The late career transition to composing is not one that many performers make successfully, but Jeanrenaud has made an auspicious start; she establishes herself as a composer with something to say, and creates an expectation that she has the wherewithal to develop the technique to say it persuasively. The quality of the sound is warm and intimate.
© TiVo