Pascal Gallois #3

Pascal Gallois, long a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, is the most prominent bassoonist in the contemporary music scene. Often credited with the bassoon's recognition as a worthy solo instrument, Gallois has premiered a number of now-classic works including Berio's "Sequenza XII". On this Stradivarius disc, Gallois performs pieces by three composers who have come of age in the last 15 years or so.

Bruno Mantovani is one of the more interesting composers working today -- see a Kairos disc dedicated to his works -- and even if I'm not entirely convinced by his music, it is intriguing. "Un mois d'octobre" for bassoon and piano (2001). The opening is rather magical, where the pianist creates a wall of sound that the bassoon slowly breaks through. Then, as the roles are reversed, the bassoonist sounds long cantabile lines with some fine virtuoso parts as the pianist manages only a few chords here and there. This is fun and I'd love to see it in concert. Gallois is accompanied by Dmitri Vassilakis, who is also a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

"The Voice" for bassoon and cello (2007) is the first piece I've heard by Dai Fujikura, a composer of Japanese origin who has lived in London since he was 15. It's mainly reminiscent of the early days of post-serialism, but there are touches of Mantovani and Pintscher as well. Unfortunately, it's fairly anonymous and there isn't much to say about it. I'm in no way drawn to explore Fujikura's further output. Here Gallois is accompanied by Rohan de Saram, best known as the cellist for the Arditti Quartet for over two decades.

Olga Neuwirth contributes three pieces here. "Torsion" for bassoon and tape (2003/05) is a mindblowingly virtuosic piece and a catalogue of every extended technique possible on the instrument: circular breathing, multiphonics, microtonality, etc. The tape generally amplifies the breath-like characteristics of the bassoon part, but the climax of the work occurs as the tape suddely presents an authentic recording of 1920s klezmer music on clarinet, with which the This is rather representative of the Austrian composer, who has generally followed in Lachenmann's style of musique concrete instrumentale but never lost her love for cabaret.

"Zefiro aleggia... nell'infinito" for bassoon and ensemble (2004) is Neuwirth's second concerto for the instrument (sadly the first, "Torsion Transparent Variation", isn't present here). It continues the same themes as "Torsion" -- timbral explorations that awaken a reference to past music. Indeed, the second half of the concerto includes material from "Torsion". The way Neuwirth extends this original shows much more skill in orchestration than I expected from her. Neuwirth's "In Nacht und Eis" (2006) combines the bassoon not only with a cello, but also a ring modulator. On CD, it's often hard to tell where the ring modulator fits in, as Gallois is so astute at producing unusual timbres without the help of electronics.

The sound quality is excellent. Except for Neuwirth's "zefiro allegia", which was captured live at a Berlin festival (though it sounds fine), these are IRCAM recordings. My only real complaint about this disc is that Neuwirth's "Torsion Transparent Variation" is left off -- sadly we must be content with a radio recording -- and I would have happily given up the Fujikura for that.

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