Trio Vocalise: Rachmaninoff, Chabrier, Saint-Saëns, McLarry, Bozza, Baldwin, Laitman

The medium of voice, bassoon, and piano is an unusual one, to be sure. And yet it’s not so outlandish as one initially expects—especially when the performers are as good as Trio Vocalise, the artists who recently produced an attractive program for Mark Records.

Much of the CD is taken up with duets. There are a number of arrangements of songs and other instrumental duets for bassoon and piano, including two songs by Rachmaninoff (the famous "Vocalise" and "Do Not Sing, My Beauty"), an Aria by Bozza (originally for saxophone and piano), Fauré’s Piece (originally another vocalise), and of all things the aria “Mon coeur souvre á ta voix” from Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalilah. Bassoonist Scott Pool, presently an assistant professor at University of Texas Arlington, plays them all with a restrained lyricism and very agreeable tone. Here and elsewhere he is very ably assisted by the pianist Natsuki Fukasawa (who among other positions serves on the artist faculty for the Orfeo International Music Festival). I am amazed at how beautiful her tone is despite the obvious limitations of the instrument and/or the inadequate miking for the recording.

Beverly McLarry’s unusual yet ingratiating Edgar Allan Poe Songs offers a very different kind of duet, for voice and bassoon. The distinguished mezzo-soprano Wanda Brister, a member of Florida State University’s faculty, performs the cycle superbly: her tone is rich, even creamy; she relishes the touches of humor McLarry brings to the opening song, “Thou Wouldst be Loved” and makes a good deal of sense out of the odd, mercurial setting of “Eldorado,” which I think aims to suggest that the persona starts his search for the fabled city as a young, naive man and gradually declines.

All three musicians unite for Chabrier’s L’invitation au voyage, a ravishing example of French song with a bassoon obbligato that makes its contribution simply and beautifully, just as one would expect from the refined composer. Here Brister’s luminous voice, impeccable diction, and compelling interpretation steal the show. The three artists are on more equal footing in the charming cycle Of Flowers and Thorns, by Daniel Baldwin. In short, this charming program demonstrates the considerable timbral resources of voice, bassoon, and piano, and the performers’ commitment to new music will, I hope, inspire many other composers to write works for them.

To purchase: http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=2601399