What we have here is an hour-long “blues symphony”. I use quotations there (feel free to visualize my air quotes) because while it is sort of bluesy, it’s certainly not a Symphony. It’s more of a suite of jazzy riffs (sort of). And, as such, it is amusing for about the first 5 minutes before becoming tedious, repetitive and interminably boring. I’m not going to go into detail because there’s really not a lot to write about. All 7 movements are essentially the same thing – blues riffs all dressed up in different guises, with different tempos and different orchestration, over and over. It’s not even all that original. It tends to sound like an imitation of something else, just arranged for orchestra, and thus vaguely “familiar” all through – exacerbated by its lack of variety. The woodwinds and brass get prominent roles throughout, and there’s not much for the strings to do. In this setting, it’s just musical blarney – without much substance.
Sticking with formal Classical styles as descriptors, if anything this is actually more of a Concerto for Orchestra than a Symphony, as it features many opportunities for individual soloists within the orchestra to riff and raff in what sounds like sort of improvisational jam sequences – as opposed to anything even remotely resembling structured symphonic creation. But I will say, this is far and away better than that abomination of a piano concerto by Teddy Abrams in Kentucky (DG, 2023).
That being said, that this blues thing goes on for an entire hour is simply absurd. I can’t imagine sitting in an audience listening to it live. (I wouldn’t, actually.) Nor can I imagine expecting an orchestra to play it. But to their inestimable credit, the orchestral playing is excellent and thoroughly committed. (And just a guess here, I’d venture to say this music comes more naturally to the musicians there in Detroit than it does to Bignamini.) And the recording is superb. I’m so happy to hear Pentatone producing such great sound after their insipid Bartok release from San Francisco (2023). And I was very happy to hear colorful orchestral sound and a spacious acoustic from Detroit Symphony Hall after the disappointing Rachmaninoff Symphonies on Naxos (with Slatkin at the helm) a decade ago – which sounded dry, lackluster and 2-dimensional. So hats off to Pentatone (for the sound, not the repertoire) and the fabulous Detroit musicians.
I’m sure Bignamini is a fine conductor who is doing great things in Detroit. However, this release doesn’t get me excited for future recordings from him. Perhaps if he were to conduct something which displayed his talents as a vibrant, inspiring conductor leading a world-class orchestra to musical heights, that might be something I’d be interested in. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few YouTube videos out there of him conducting this orchestra in standard repertoire, and he’s very good at drawing engaging, musical performances from them (if not the most exciting or insightful). So I’d certainly welcome some of that on CD. But then, this is Pentatone, which seems to like being a bit eclectic in what they record. So we shall see what happens.
In sum, I’m sure local concertgoers there in Detroit would absolutely love their hometown orchestra playing this piece in concert – all those familiar faces playing something completely different, jazzing around as if at the improv. And I suspect the piece is much more entertaining in a live performance, seeing how it all goes down. But based solely on listening to it at home on the hi-fi, it just didn’t hold my interest for long. And while the recorded sound is excellent, it should be noted this release is not SACD, but standard stereo CD – as is Pentatone’s typical fare nowadays. And their skimpy booklet doesn’t even provide a simple bio for either the conductor or the composer – which is odd, particularly for a debut album.
