The husband and wife team of violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves have scored with their latest CD entitled It Takes Two. The CD features works by composers from Mozart to Richard Rodgers, with impressive arrangements by Canadian composer Clifford Crawley. The team acknowledges his talent and skill in the brochure that accompanies the CD, saying that it should have been titled “It Takes Three.”
The first piece is the ever-popular Tico Tico, composed by Brazilian Zequinha de Abreu in 1917. Excellent ensemble, and a nod to Steeves whose virtuosity never at any time takes away from the violinist, but rather enhances her work. In Lady Be Good, Dahn gives us a lovely violin introduction, which sets the mood for this Gershwin medley.
Saint-Saens' Samson and Delilah
My Heart at Thy Sweet Voice, from the opera Samson and Delilah, by Camille Saint-Saens, left me wishing for a richer and more lush violin tone. This aria is one that can take everything a soloist has to give in the line of drama and 'schmaltz,' which was lacking in this performance.
Khachaturian's well-known Sabre Dance was given a brilliant performance by these two fine artists, and A Night in Tunisia, by Dizzy Gillespie was also played with good style and ensemble. The Lark, a medley of 'lark' songs, featured some truly beautiful stratospheric violin work, and Prokofieff's Romeo and Juliet was executed with just the right amount of rhythmic push.
Mozart's Turkish March
In the Mozart Turkish March from the Piano Sonata in A major, we heard Clifford Crawley in a different light. His arrangement for this old war horse was astonishing and brought classical and modern together in a remarkable way.
The most rewarding pieces on the CD, to this listener's ears, were Solveig's Song from the Peer Gynt Suite #2 and the Valse Triste by Sibelius. In these two works the playing is worth the price of the CD. In the Grieg, Nancy Dahn sets the mood with a mournfully beautiful introduction, and sings the work with a complete understanding of Solveig's sadness and melancholy.
The Valse Triste, one of Sibelius' most famous works, was played with musical depth and insight. A lovely performance.
Other pieces were the June Barcarolle, by Tchaikowsky, in which the interplay of the two instruments was lovely, the Black Orpheus, by Luiz Bonfa, which seemed too long for this listener, and the Richard Rodgers medley, which was outstanding.
Dahn and Steeves are professors of music at Memorial University in St.John's, Newfoundland, and Co/Artistic directors of the Tuckamore Festival Chamber Music, also in Newfoundland.They are under the management of Kanon Artists,ltd.
The CD is a product of Marquis Recordings, and is available at all record stores or from
info@marquisclassics.com
For another classical music review see Bach-Busoni
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