American Recorder Concertos
Michala Petri Discovers the New World in Four Bold
The late 17th and early 18th centuries were the Golden Age of the Recorder. Played by amateurs and professional and admire by musical connoisseurs, the recorder was everywhere. From Italy to England, the greatest composers of the day were writing hundreds of masterworks to meet the public’s demand! Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a scrappy group of colonists were carving a new nation out of the wilderness...
But where were the recorders??? It is one of the great ironies of the recorder’s long history, that despite being ubiquitous in nearly every American public music school program, few composers ever explored writing for it.
In order to set this egregious state of affairs to right, Michala Petri, the first Lady of the Recorder, invited four American composers to make their own discovery of just what an Old World Recorder can do!
For the newest installment of her ground-breaking Concerto Project, four works have been specially
commissioned to showcase the sound of the modern recorder, including the late Steven Stucky’s horoughly contemporary Etudes, Roberto Sierra’s Latin-tinged Prelude, Habanera and Perpetual Motion, Harpsichord virtuoso Antony Newman’s Neo-Baroque Concerto for recorder, harpsicord & strings, and Sean Hickey’s boldly-wrought A Pacifying Weapon.
Reviews
December 17, 2019
Endnotes (UK)"..the company as one of the most daring recording organisations in Europe today"
Stuart Millson, Endnotes UK
September 5, 2019
Gramophone (UK) "This is a multicoloured, multi-textured, multi-ensemble presentation of interesting, little-known repertoire, casting the recorder in all sorts of different stylistic and emotional guises"
Charlotte Gardner
July 10, 2019
classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.com "Kudos to all involved"
Grego Applegate Edwards, classicalmodernmusic.blogspot.com
June 19, 2019
The Recorder Magazine (UK) "As always, Petri´s playing is exemplary"
Andrew Mayes, The Recorder Magazine (UK)
May 8, 2019
Pizzicato (LU) "A SUPERSONIC Review This is a coherent, stirring program, splendidly played and very well recorded"!
Remy Franck, Pizzicato
April 30, 2019
BBC Music Magazine (UK) "A beautiful display of surprisingly rich modern recorder repertoire"!
BBC Music Magazine
April 4, 2019
CD HotList - New Releases for Libraries (US) "Petri is, of course, a genius"!
Rick, CD HotList - New Releases for Libraries (US)
April 4, 2019
Fanfare USA (US) "Any serious collector of contemporary concertos would be foolish to pass this one up"!
David DeBoor Canfield, Fanfare USA