On May 17th, the Signum Classics record label released a wonderful CD recorded by the renowned cellist Trey Lee, pianist Georgy Tchaidze and The English Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Emilia Hoving.
Called Seasons Interrupted, this disc explores the current climate crisis through the lens of three composers, Schubert, Piazzolla, and the Finnish composer Kirmo Lintinen.
Schubert represents the past. His music is used to depict nature in its purest form; beautiful, clean, pristine, un-touched by man’s desire for vast amounts of resources.
Piazzolla represents the present. His Music is used to depict the human mismanagement of the land through de-forestation, fossil fuel extraction and industrialization. It uses Piazzolla's unbridled musical passion and revolutionary harmonies as a soundtrack to the current environmental situation.
Finnish composer Kirmo Lintinen represents the future. His marvelous cello concerto is used to depict a dystopian future where it is too late, and the seasons are no more. A moment in time where humanity has wandered across the threshold into the abyss of permanent irreversible climate change. The concerto is used as a musical warning, only offering a ray of hope in the final movement.
For those unfamiliar with cellist Trey Lee, he is currently the cellist with the award-winning Ensemble Made in Canada. He has also established himself as a premiere soloist performing with the likes of the BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra Radio France, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Tapiola Simphonietta. He has worked with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mikko Franck, Hannu Lintu, and Vassily Sinaisky to name just a few.
The Seasons Interrupted recording project started with Astor Piazzolla's remarkable work Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas. (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) As Lee explains, “I made an arrangement for myself of the original version. I really just absolutely love the original pure version of Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires... the sound effects, the kind of emotions he elicits from the music made me realize that it is kind of like a commentary about the wider world. So, I started thinking; they are about the four seasons.... but these are not the four seasons that we would traditionally think of ....so then I thought it would make a nice comparison if I were to go back and look at really predictable, traditional musical concepts of the seasons.”
Where Lee turned was to the music of Schubert. He selected four songs that he thought would be representative of the seasons and would really sing on the cello. The songs he selected were
- Im Fruhling D882
- Dir Sommernacht D289
- Herbst D945
- Gefrorne Tränen (No. 3 of Winterreise, D911)
These four songs represented the stark contrast that Lee was looking for in comparison to the music of Piazzolla.
The Lintinen Cello Concerto on Seasons Interrupted was written for Trey Lee ten years ago. Lee wanted to re-visit the work, and when he did, the music took on a whole new meaning. “When I went back to this piece I said ‘Wow! There is such a wonderful message that I could put into this piece...which is about the future of our world. And there can be such a rich and interesting story there.”
Together the three composers’ works form a perfect trilogy, that depict contrasting scenes that make significant statements about the environment.
The premise of the CD and the argument it makes are vastly supported by the exceptional playing of Lee, The English Chamber Orchestra and pianist Georgy Tchaidze.
Lee’s sound is always gorgeous whether it is playing the beautiful melodic lines of Schubert, the rhythmic and driving music of Piazzolla, or the ethereal, dramatic, and pensive music of Lintinen.
The Lintinen Cello Concerto will be a revelation for all listeners. It is a remarkable four movement work that runs the gamut of emotions, from atmospheric angst to, sheer beauty, and all points in between. Lintinen’s writing for the cello is both lyrical and virtuosic and the orchestral colours Lintinen wrote are truly spellbinding, especially when they are performed by the English Chamber Orchestra.
Do yourself a favour and explore the wonder of the seasons with Trey Lee, The English Chamber Orchestra and Georgy Tchaidze.