Michael Mind

The inevitable question is whether we would pay attention to this music if it had not been written by one of the major poets of the 20th Century. The composer's reputation in this case cannot help but influence our appreciation of his work. I can attest that I would never have purchased this disk if the compositions had been by an otherwise unknown person. Whether they would have been recorded at all is pointless speculation. Certainly the complementary question should be asked: whether Pound's reputation as a poet overshadows his musical compositions to the point of obscuring them, by rendering them mere curiosities.

Certainly no effort has been spared in this recording. The additional price is justified by the enclosed book (it's over 80 pages), which contains articles on how the scores were located and assembled, and Pound's objectives for the operas, both individually and as part of his lifetime uvre. Each track is also fully explicated, and lyrics, in French, Italian, and Latin, with English translations, are included.

In all instances the music sets off the words perfectly. Whether this is the result of Pound's skill in prosody, or the superlative performances recorded here, is a matter of conjecture, since no other recorded versions are readily available for comparison. Pound often employs profoundly complex meters (25/32, 9/8, 13/32, 7/16, etc.) in rapid succession, orchestrated with the assistance of composer George Antheil. The effect is not so much rhythmic complexity, but a freedom from rhythm evoking the cadence of poetic speech, which was Pound's intention.

The disk contains selections from Pound's operas "Le Testament," "Cavalcanti," and "Collis O Heliconii," along with several compositions for violin, all otherwise out of print, and some recorded here for the first time. The subject of "Le Testament" is Francois Villon, while "Cavalcanti" concerns the life of the 13th century Italian poet Guido Cavalcanti. Harry van der Kamp gives a powerful rendition of "Dictes moy," a setting of Villon's famous "ou sont les nieges d'antan." Anna Myatt's delivery of "Ha, viellesse felonne et fiere," or "Haulmiere's Aria" is perhaps the best example of Pound's changing time signatures imitating spoken word. Here, Haulmiere, the old prostitute, laments the loss of her youthful beauty and its attendant power, calling to mind the Rodin sculpture of the same name, sometimes called "The Old Courtesan" or "She Who was the Helmet-Maker's Beautiful Wife." "Pere No" enlists the Biblical Noah, Lot, and Architriclinus, all noted as drunkards, to intercede on behalf of Jean Cotart, a drunken magistrate who had ruled in Villon's favor. As an inside joke, the singers are clearly heard several times substituting the name of Pound's friend, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau, for "Jean Cotart." "Perch'io non spero" has the dying Cavalcanti attempting to teach his page, Ricco, a song that contains a code recognizable to Cavalcanti's allies in Tuscany. When Cavalcanti dies before Ricco, sung by boy soprano Michael Bannett, has learned the song, the boy's despair is poignant.

In the end, whether this music is valuable as an extension of our understanding of Ezra Pound, the writer, is unimportant. It is unique, engaging on many levels, and magnificently performed and presented. We are lucky to have it, and if Pound's reputation alone brings it to us, that is enough.

yep. If you love "Call On Me" and other filter/house/electro updates of old classics, you're gonna love how this track has worked sampled lines from the Manfred Mann classic into a club stomper. Tracks are:

1. Radio Cut
2. Club mix
3. electro short mix
4. electro remix
5. dj dlg & redroche remix edit
6. dj dlg & redroche remix

yep. If you love "Call On Me" and other filter/house/electro updates of old classics, you're gonna love how this track has worked sampled lines from the Manfred Mann classic into a club stomper. Tracks are:

1. Radio Cut
2. Club mix
3. electro short mix
4. electro remix
5. dj dlg & redroche remix edit
6. dj dlg & redroche remix