Anna Clyne, the contemporary British composer now resident in the USA, is chiefly recognized for her one movement work “Night Ferry”. Clyne’s compositional voice draws inspiration from her own varied, diverse and eclectic musical tastes. No stranger to writing concertos, her “Prince of Clouds” for two violins and strings has been recorded and warmly received. Echoes of this work can be heard in this the premiere recording of her cello concerto (2019) entitled “DANCE”. This is paired with Elgar’s perennially popular cello concerto, making a complementary and interesting coupling.
Cast in five titled movements, each taken from a line in the poem by Rumi, “DANCE” has an emotional narrative running through the work. Inbal Segev gave the premiere, and the connection she has with the concerto is obvious throughout. The plaintive line Clyne writes for cello in the slow first movement, entitled “When you’re broken up”, is executed with intense feelings — soulfully rich, gently melancholic, deeply reflective. Segev’s tone, even as the cello line starts on the highest registers, is full-bodied and pleasing, with a measured vibrato. Conductor Marin Alsop cajoles a beautiful tone from the London Philharmonic Orchestra, who’s string tone balances judiciously against Segev’s sonorities.
In the emotionally raw second movement, “If You’ve Torn The Bandage Off”, Segev brings an astringency to the opening without compromising her sound; moving effortlessly from harsh atonality to the more melodic moments (with a touch of eastern harmonies), she does so with absolute conviction. In the third movement (“In The Middle of Fighting”), Clyne writes in a dark cinematic fashion. Alsop and the orchestra applies a heavy filter here, intensifying the foreboding ambiance.
Then comes the fourth movement (“In The Blood”), where the emotions are acutely focussed, heavy, lamenting and intensely portrayed. In the concluding “When You’re Perfectly Free”, Segev navigates the demanding technical challenges with ease, impassioned to the end, conveying the different emotions and colors definitively. This new concerto finds a resolution in quite a different way to the following Elgar. Clyne knows how to write for the cello, bringing out the different facets of the instrument. As the booklet highlights, the composer was present for the recording, perhaps accounting for the unity between the orchestra, conductor and soloist.
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