Dobrinka Tabakova
Sun Triptych
Maxim Rysanov, Dasol Kim, Roman Mints et al; BBC Concert Orchestra/Dobrinka Tabakova
ECM 4878558 64:61 mins
This is the second ECM disc to feature the extremely accessible music of Bulgarian-born English composer, Dobrinka Tabakova. As before, it highlights works written for instrumentalists, such as violinist Roman Mints, violist Maxim Rysanov and cellist Kristina Blaumane, with whom Tabakova has been closely associated for many years.
Such long-standing musical partnerships guarantee that the performances in this recording are authoritative. As to the music, I particularly liked the easy-going charm of the Suite in Jazz Style composed for Rysanov, who is ably partnered here by pianist Dasol Kim.
Another tangible connection between the two ECM discs is the inclusion of a number of works for string orchestra, a medium which Tabakova exploits with rich and imaginative sonorities that often allude to music of the past.
For instance, in Organum Light, a work originally composed for five singers, Tabakova pays tribute to the viol consort music of Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell, but also invokes an almost Vaughan Williams-like sequence of modal harmonies. A more subtle allusion is realised in Fantasy Homage to Schubert, where the opening theme of the Austrian master’s Fantasy for violin and piano suddenly emerges from a sequence of tremolando textures, almost as if floating disembodied in space.
Perhaps the most engaging work in this recital is the Sun Triptych, a three-movement nature piece for violin, cello and strings that traces the movement of light from dawn to dusk. Here, Tabakova allows her aural imagination to take flight, and in the process of that, conjures up a wealth of fascinating and evocative sounds.
