Composer: William Albright, Edison Denisov, Paul Hindemith, Erwin Schulhoff
Performer: Akmi Duo: Valentine Michaud, Akvile Sileikaite
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Avie
Catalogue: AV2641
Release: 2023
Size: 990 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Hindemith: Sonata for Viola & Piano in F major, Op. 11 No. 4
01. I. Fantasie
02. II. Thema mit Variationen
03. III. Finale (mit Variationen)
Albright: Alto Saxophone Sonata
04. I. Two-Part Invention
05. II. La follia nuova: A lament for George Cacioppo
06. III. Scherzo “Will o’ the Wisp”
07. IV. Recitative and Dance
Schulhoff: Hot Sonata for alto saxophone & piano
08. 1st Movement
09. 2nd Movement
10. 3rd Movement
11. 4th Movement
Denisov: Sonata for Alto Saxophone and Piano
12. I. Allegro
13. II. Lento
14. III. Allegro moderato
Valentine Michaud was the first ever saxophone soloist to perform with the Vienna Philharmonic. She and her regular collaborator, pianist Akvile Silekaite, comprise the award-winning AKMI Duo. They debut on AVIE with Beyond the Wall, an album of contrasting 20th century sonatas linked by history and geography. Edison Denisov’s Soviet serialism, tinged with forbidden jazz influences, took a cue from the American modernism of William Albright. Austro-Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff embraced avant garde and jazz idioms, leading the Nazis to brand his music “degenerate”; he perished in the Wulzburg prison camp in 1942. Paul Hindemith fell in and out of favour with the Nazis, leading him to immigrate to Switzerland and later America. His popular Saxophone Sonata is by turns lyric and dramatic, imbued with irony and humour.
