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Reviewed by:
  • Philmore Ensemble
  • Tom Caw
Philmore Ensemble. Duos and Trios from Five Centuries. [Philmore Ensemble] (2011), CD.

This is the debut recording by Philmore Ensemble, a group formed at Temple University in 2004 initially by Amanda Heckman (flute), Duane Large (guitars), and Julia Madden (soprano), later joined by Myanna Harvey (violin, viola). The group’s mission, as Large writes in the booklet, is to offer “a fresh and engaging look at the works of popular and lesser-known composers,” and to bring to life “music that has fallen into obscurity” and “shed a different light on well-known music.” The group plays works ranging from the Renaissance era through the twenty-first century, with a special focus on the nineteenth century, and all of these periods are represented in the selections on this disc. Their instrumentation dictates a variety of repertoire, with some works played as written, some arranged for combinations of two or more members, and some necessitating the addition of guest artists—special guest pianist Tim Ribchester joins the ensemble for two of the fourteen selections here, both of which are songs. The disc lacks a work in which all four primary members perform together, as the title states plainly. The Adagio non molto-Allegro Moderato movement from Wenzeslaus Matiegka’s Serenade, op. 26, for guitar, flute, and viola, is one of two pieces on the disc in which the group’s instrumentalists combine forces. Matiegka (1773–1830), a Bohemian guitarist and composer active in Vienna, is most likely one of the lesser-known composers the ensemble intends to highlight. All of his published works are either for guitar solo or chamber ensembles including guitar, so it seems probable this ensemble will include other Matiegka works in its repertoire. If they were going to dedicate themselves solely to classical music, Matiegka might be a good choice for the ensemble’s name, but the stated scope of this group is not bound to one style or era—their name is a portmanteau of Philadelphia and Baltimore, the cities where the members live. This is not a group overly concerned with the strictures of historical performance practice, although Large writes in his notes that with the eighteenth and particularly nineteenth-century music on this disc the ensemble “implements the use of the Italian style” by “employing tempo rubato and extemporizing on the music itself.” This approach is audible on the Matiegka recording, on which Large plays a period instrument by François Roudhloff, ca. 1815, creating a bright sound that offsets the flute and viola nicely in the mix. I wish they had included the remaining two movements, but I realize they were limited by the time constraints of the compact disc format—especially when attempting to include music from five centuries. The ensemble’s blend sounds better on this work than it does on many other tracks on this disc, which prompts my primary complaint about this disc: the levels seem a bit too hot throughout, diminishing the dynamic range of the playing. I doubt the musicians were playing in a range constantly between mezzo forte and forte. Perhaps it is the result of close-microphone placement during recording, or engineering choices made in the mixing and mastering stages, but the instruments sound loud even when playback volume is decreased. Another issue compromising the listening experience is the sense that different instruments often sound as if they were recorded in disparate locations instead of being in the same room. For example, in the performance of Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg’s “Monolog der Maria Stuart,” arranged for guitar, flute, and soprano by Albert Methfessel, it sounds as if soprano Julia Madden is singing in a much more [End Page 870] cavernous space than the one in which her instrumental collaborators are playing. There is an audible reverberation at the end of many of her phrases, whereas Amanda Heckman’s flute and Duane Large’s guitar sound as if they are in a much smaller room. The contrast is slightly jarring. The credits indicate all recording was done at the same studio, but to my ears it sounds as if Madden might have been recorded in a stairwell, a common practice...

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