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American Record Guide

I am somewhat skeptical of a program titled “Shades of Night” that begins with the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata and ends with ‘Clair de Lune’. Such a program cherry picks only appropriate movements that exploit the obvious concept rather than considering complete works. Still, there are choices that stretch the imagination and avoid the “pops” elements so that this keeps an air of seriousness as a reasonable recital.

Hindemith’s ‘Nachtstuck’ From Suite 1922, Op. 26 is a rarely heard but effective piece, as are the two Nightingale pieces from Couperin’s 14th Ordre. Two Chopin Nocturnes fit the bill quite well, but were expected from this assemblage. A wonderful surprise was the Nocturne 5 by contemporary Lowell Liebermann and Bela Bartok’s ‘The Night’s Music’ from Out of Doors. Samuel Barber’s Chopin-like Nocturne, Op. 33 was an unexpected eye-opener; and the slow movement from Brahms Sonata 3 shows the thought that went into the program.

With all of the interest in the choice of selections it must be admitted that so much slow music might not be as easily digestible as a program based on a wider variety of tempos, but these “Shades of Night” do what was expected of them, and do it quite well. Decent notes and good sound from the Bluthner will, I suspect, draw attention for some of the more unusual fare.