Alexi Kenney: Shifting Ground
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Genre:
Instrumental
Label: Bright Shiny Things
Magazine Review Date: AW2024
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 68
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: BSTC0205
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV1002 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
(3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV1004 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
(3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV1001 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
(3) Sonatas and 3 Partitas, Movement: Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV1003 |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Well-Spent |
Eve Beglarian, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Elegy |
Matthew Burtner, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Hikari |
Salina Fisher, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
thank u, next |
Ariana Grande, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Ayres for the Violin, Book 2, Movement: Passaggio rotto |
Nicola Matteis, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Alia Fantasia |
Matteis the Younger, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Blue |
Joni Mitchell, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
The Violinist |
Angelica Negron, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin Ana Fabrega, Narrator |
Widmung |
Clara (Josephine) Schumann, Composer
Alexi Kenney, Violin |
Author: Andrew Farach-Colton
This solo recital is ‘an exploration of how Bach’s influence has rippled through time’, Alexi Kenney writes in a very brief booklet note (the title ‘Shifting Ground’ refers to the ground bass, which the violinist on his website calls ‘the heart of all Baroque music’). It’s a daring and ingenious programme, anchored by excerpts from Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, and culminating with the mighty D minor Chaconne.
Kenney’s Bach is glorious. He spins out phrases in long, supple, silky threads that seem to bind a movement’s first note to its last, and yet how much detail he finds along the way. His powerful, characterful gestures convey motion and movement, a reminder of the dance origins of these works, and his ornamentation is exceptionally purposeful and expressive. He brings surprising urgency to the Allemande of the D minor Partita, intense lyricism to the opening Grave of the A minor Sonata and finally in the architectural expanse of the Chaconne he sculpts a seamless arc that takes us from darkness to light and back again.
Woven around these excerpts are an astonishing variety of shorter works, including Kenney’s own arrangements of Schumann’s ‘Widmung’, an elegant and unexpectedly joyful reimagining of Ariana Grande’s pop hit ‘thank u, next’ and a rather free take on Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’ that nevertheless remains true to the song’s folk/blues roots.
All but one of the four contemporary compositions involve electronics. In Matthew Burtner’s Elegy, Kenney plays aching, slow-moving tones over sounds of Alaska’s all-too-quickly disappearing Muir Glacier, while Eve Beglarian’s post-minimalist Well-Spent includes a pre-recorded track referencing a tune by bluesman Muddy Waters. I could have done without Angélica Negrón’s The Violinist, in which Kenney and glitchy electronics accompany a narrated, nightmarish story about stage fright. In Hikari Salina Fisher marries Bach, folk fiddling and Vaughan William’s Lark Ascending to create a happy throuple.
Finally, the pair of selections by Nicola Matteis father and son deserve mention as both are magical, thanks to Kenney’s quasi-improvisatory aplomb. Conceptual programmes such as this are a dime a dozen nowadays but Kenney’s actually works, with the various musical elements interacting with and illuminating one another. Bravissimo!
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.