CD Review: Maria Schneider/Dawn Upshaw, Winter Morning Walks/Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories

Not recommended (for jazz fans)

Composer, arranger and orchestra leader Maria Schneider, in collaboration with soprano Dawn Upshaw, has released two pieces of classical music on a single CD. Both of them are suites of poetry set to music. Winter Morning Walks consists of nine poems by American poet Ted Kooser taken from his 2001 book of the same title, performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. They are accompanied by three regular members of Schneider's jazz orchestra, Scott Robinson (clarinet), Frank Kimbrough (piano) and Jay Anderson (bass). Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories contains five works by the famous Brazilian poet, performed by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Here's a promotional video from Artist's Share that explains the project and includes the usual appeal for money.

I have the greatest respect for Maria Schneider. In fact, I regard her 2007 CD Sky Blue as the best jazz album of the past decade. Those who are familiar with her recent work will not be surprised that she is expanding into the classical field. I wish she would remain a jazz musician, but I wish her the best in this endeavor and I will support whatever she does. Of all classical music, however, I personally have the greatest difficulty appreciating opera. Ms. Upshaw is an operatic soprano, which means that she sings in a formal, stilted manner which makes it difficult to even understand these words sung in English. (Fortunately, the liner notes contain transcriptions of the poems.) I guess you could say operatic singing is the polar opposite of the informal, vernacular style of roots music.

These poems are all in free verse, which means that the lines vary in length and do not rhyme. Musically, that means you can't turn them into a song. The melodies written for each line are not repeated, except on those occasions when Ms. Schneider repeats verses for emphasis.

Winter Morning Walks is a pretty somber affair. The poems were written during Mr. Kooser's uncertain recovery from a cancer operation, when he was very depressed. At one point, he writes:

     My wife and I walk the cold road

     in silence, asking for thirty more years.

The poems are about the natural world, which he expected to miss the most. Ms. Schneider, an avid bird watcher, has chosen several poems involving birds. They were written in 1999, and fortunately, Mr. Kooser, born in 1939, is still alive. Check out this NPR report for some additional information about Winter Morning Walks.

In promoting the CD, Ms. Schneider emphasizes the presence of the three jazz musicians, but their opportunities for improvisation are quite limited, and their contributions do not depart much from the written melodies. In fact, she implies in the liner notes that it will be difficult to tell which of their parts are scripted and which are improvised.

The Drummond poems are said to be typically Brazilian, the common themes being tragedy and humor. An example is “Don't Kill Yourself:”

     Don't kill yourself. Don't kill yourself.

     Save all of yourself for the wedding

     though nobody knows when or if

     it will ever come.

Do not expect to hear Brazilian music. Ms. Schneider has given the “Prologue” a Brazilian touch, but not the rest of the compositions.

Winter Morning Walks

Tracks: Perfectly Still This Solstice Morning; When I Switched on a Light; Walking By Flashlight; I Saw a Dust Devil This Morning; My Wife and I Walk the Cold Road; All Night, in Gusty Winds; Our Finch Feeder; Spring, the Sky Rippled with Geese; How Important It Must Be. (28 min.)

Personnel: The Australian Chamber Orchestra; Scott Robinson, alto and bass clarinet; Frank Kimbrough, piano; Jay Anderson, bass; Dawn Upshaw, vocals.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories

Tracks: Prologue; The Dead in Frock Coats; Souvenir of the Ancient World; Don't Kill Yourself; Quadrille. (24 min.)

Personnel: The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Dawn Upshaw, vocals.