Excelsior Declassified
EXCELSIOR DECLASSIFIED
Evan Harlan, Accordion & Musical Director
Grant Smith, Drums
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After reading Raymond Clarke’s review of Ashkenazy’s new account of Shostakovich’s opus 87, many of you undoubtedly found yourselves asking, “All well and good … but does it rock?” So, without further ado, we now boldly go where no DSCH review has gone before and report on Boston group Excelsior’s radical surgery on ten of the Preludes from the Twenty-four Preludes and Fugues.
Many readers will consider these treatments to be sacrilegious, but the adventurous can ally themselves with the Shostakovich who credited his friend Ivan Sollertinsky for overcoming his snobbish attitude towards light music, and who wrote in 1956, “Now I like music of all genres, provided it is good music.” It is tempting to view the present grouping as a rock interpretation – and the promotional references to King Crimson support that impression – but the four musicians who comprise Excelsior draw on a more diverse range of genres in their highly virtuosic interpretations of these classical pieces, including klezmer, jazz, and folk music.
Evan Harlan (Excelsior is named after his accordion brand) says, “Maybe I’m being perverse, but everything seems to flow from the original compositions in a natural way.” Excelsior’s highly capable musicians are indeed most persuasive when they let the pieces suggest an appropriate response. Prelude No. 15, here labelled Fireman’s Waltz, is a good example, beginning as a playful waltz with fine rhythmic integration of the players – and an “oompah” or two from James Gray on tuba – then disintegrating into a drum solo improvisation before reconstructing the classic waltz form. No. 11, as the painful subtitle Oy Gavotte suggests, is mined for its inherent klezmer potential, following the score fairly strictly until the last page, at which point the violin and accordion take off with a clever improvisation that remains firmly based on the original themes. Prelude No. 8, Stone Polka, also Jewish-inflected, has more improvisation, without the soloists going off entirely on their own, while Prelude No. 1, Sarabande, is a controlled and gentle handling of the dance form.
The Preludes given a more traditional rock treatment are the least successful. No. 17, or Mimi Goes Me(n)tal, is awkward and sluggish, descending into an excessively long violin solo which reminds one of the worst aspects of prog rock (progressive, as in Emerson, Lake and Palmer). The piece most likely to irritate is the last, Prelude No. 23 (Anthem), which falls quickly into a heavy-handed rock-lead mode – where IS my lighter? – in an attempt at a stirring anthem rendition. Here Excelsior sound like an unviable clone of the rock band Journey.
One piece of more mixed merit is Prelude No. 7 (Gigue á la Mode), which has a bad jazz feel at times, with the guitar’s rather noodly (translation: pointless) and over-long improvisation, but very nice accordion work. Similarly, while Prelude 18, subtitled Hora (a Jewish folk dance), sounds authentically klezmerish, it’s somewhat tedious, feeling as if it’s not going anywhere in particular.
The clear standout piece on this album is the arrangement of Prelude No. 14, aptly named Gulag. This interpretation sticks quite closely to the score, with Mimi Rabson on electric violin reading the main melodic line, paying close attention to Shostakovich’s dynamic markings. The raw power of the electrified instruments amplifies the foreboding in the original score, creating a sense of deep, uncontrollable grief, and imparting a siren-like wail to the violin that conjures up vivid prison images. The electric guitar is set on high reverb, and packs a heavy punch in its percussive supporting role. Even those readers interested exclusively in classical music will not fail to recognize the high quality of the playing in this piece or to appreciate Excelsior’s good judgement as to instrumentation.
The mutant bits of Barber, Stravinsky and Poulenc are equally eclectic. Love Declassified or hate it, we guarantee you won’t be bored!
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Martha Hurley and W. Mark Roberts
DHCH Journal CD Review