American Record Guide

Lush, velvet, alternatingly contemplative and impassioned, this set of five pieces written by Carlotta Ferrari for solo organ are high-definition musical portraits that brilliantly capture their subject’s personalities and stories. The four-movement Lady Frankenstein is a masterpiece of large emotions boldly staring providence in the face. Inspired by the life of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, the composer writes that sections of this symphonic poem are “based on the correspondence between Shelley’s life and the events in the life of the Creature. Both their births, the fictional and the real, are in some way related to death—the Creature being created by Frankenstein with parts of corpses and Mary’s mother dying while giving birth to her daughter.” This is an important work for organists, especially ones interested in music by women. It is full of dark, musty, jewel tones and is worth its own journey of plowing emotional depths.

Maria Restituta is “a rhapsody dedicated to the memory of Maria Restituta Kafka”, a Moravian/Austrian Franciscan nun who worked as a nurse in Vienna and was executed by the Nazi-run Austrian government for mocking Hitler and refusing to remove crucifixes from the rooms of her hospital. The delicate and solid strength that flows through this piece is inspiring. ‘Viva la vida’ is a piece inspired by the painting by Frida Kahlo. It’s a dark, Seussian waltz (short— 2:30) that haunts the inner ear after it is past.

Carson Cooman is an organist and composer for whom over 300 works by more than 100 composers have been written. With most of these pieces born out of subject material that occupies the space between deep sorrow and unpolluted awe, a performance that is direct, immaculate, and gives such a clear voice to the music itself is essential. And Cooman gives us just that. This set of ears and this heart is incredibly grateful for this work of art and dedication by Ferrari and Cooman.

—Stephanie Boyd