 |
| Frank Dupree ©Marco Borggreve |
Music has really helped me a lot to cope with the craziness brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. And I find it important to share some recordings in here that have been instrumental in managing all the stress and the worries especially during the surges brought upon by the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus. It is my hope that people will also take note of these recordings and also experience how they brought some joy and fighting spirit during the tough times.
The first album I'd like to share is Frank Dupree's recordings of a trio of Nikolai Kapustin's orchestral works released back in August 2021. This album has Frank playing the piano in Kapustin's Piano Concerto No. 4 and Concerto for Violin & Piano, Op. 105 that also featured violinist Rosanne Philippens. Both these pieces had Case Scaglione conducting the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. The final piece in this album is the Chamber Symphony, Op. 57 with Frank taking over conducting duties.
This album is just a sample of Kapustin's works beyond the piano solos that have skyrocketed in popularity in the 21st century thanks to the wonders of the internet and video/audio streaming services. It is actually through one of the classical music e-mail newsletters that I subscribe to that led me to discover this album release and it got me through the perilous times when the Delta variant was wreaking havoc in here.
Frank then teamed up with double bassist Jakob Krupp, brought back drummer Meinhard "Obi" Jenne who had a notable role at the previous recording, and formed a trio eventually releasing more Kapustin goodness. This album, entitled Blueprint was released on January 2021.
The album contains such Kapustin Piano solo gems like Day-Break, Op. 26 "Sunrise", a handful (1, 2, 7, and 8) from the 8 Concert Etudes, Op. 40, Variations, Op. 41, Motive Force, Op. 45, Big Band Sounds, Op. 46, a dozen (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 19, 23) from 24 Preludes, Op. 53, Paraphrase on Blue Bossa, Op. 123, and Paraphrase on Aquarela do Brasil, Op. 118 all arranged for a jazz trio.
A music video for Paraphrase on Blue Bossa, Op. 123 was also released and it featured prima ballerina Bruna Andrade having fun with the trio's instruments. And this particular album brought some needed cheer when the more contagious Omicron variant became more rampant.
Frank also did a live Q&A (both in English and in German) that had me staying up late but my question didn't make it on air. But he was very kind to answer my inquiry if whether he was able to get in touch with Nikolai Kapustin himself. He recalled that he was getting close to achieving that and was already in contact with some of Kapustin's friends. But after a few days, he instead received news of Kapustin's death which was such a pity. I for one would want to know what were Kapustin's thoughts since he mostly kept out of the spotlight.
As for Frank's thoughts, for him Kapustin's music is everything: "structure, freedom, groove, harmony, jazz, classical style, happiness, intellect, melodies, absolutely everything".
At the Q&A, Frank also teased that a new Kapustin album is on the way but remained tight-lipped about the details. Hopefully that by the time of the new album's release, the pandemic will be no longer a major concern so that one can truly enjoy the music of Nikolai Kapustin.
Affiliate Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, this post contains affiliate links. A small commission is earned when purchasing through these links with no additional cost to the consumer.
Frank Dupree, Rosanne Philippens, Case Scaglione, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn
Kapustin Orchestral Works
Frank Dupree, Jakob Krupp, Obi Jenne
Blueprint, Piano Music for Jazz Trio
No comments:
Post a Comment