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Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano

Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano is a triple album performed by the pianist Anthony de Mare; ECM Records released the album in 2015. It consists of pieces inspired by the American musical theatre composer Stephen Sondheim's oeuvre and has works written by various classical, jazz, and other composers. The album consists of 37 tracks and is over three hours long. Composers who wrote pieces on the album include Jason Robert Brown, Michael Daugherty, Jake Heggie, Fred Hersch, Gabriel Kahane, Phil Kline, Ricardo Lorenz, Wynton Marsalis, Nico Muhly, Thomas Newman, Steve Reich, and Duncan Sheik. The album received mostly positive reviews. In 2020, the Liaisons team (Rachel Colbert and Anthony de Mare) announced an additional 14 pieces to be recorded in 2023.

Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano
Cover art for ECM New Series album Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano performed by Anthony de Mare. A list of composers involved in the album appears in all caps in a sans serif typeface: "William Bolcom, Nico Muhly, Steve Reich, David Rakowski, Wynton Marsalis, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Ethan Iverson, Frederic Rzewski, Fred Hersch, Thomas Newman, Nils Vigeland, Jake Heggie, Annie Gosfield, Tania Leon, Mary Ellen Childs, Jherek Bischoff, Jason Robert Brown, Andy Akiho, ..."
Studio album by
Anthony de Mare
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2015 (2015-09-25)[1][2]
Recorded2010–2014
Studio
GenreClassical[3][4][5]
Length196:56
LabelECM
ECM 2470–72
ProducerJudy Sherman
Anthony de Mare chronology
Speak! The Speaking–Singing Pianist
(2010) 		Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano
(2015)

Conception and planning

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Anthony De Mare hired Rachel Colbert to produce the project and began contacting Stephen Sondheim in 2007.[6] De Mare initially planned on having between 20 and 25 works in the project but he eventually settled on inviting 36 composers.[7] Each composer was able to "re-imagine" any Sondheim song they wished; de Mare requested that they kept the original melody and most of the harmonies, let them know they should be able to change the structure, and asked them to not deconstruct the song, although some did so.[7]

Milton Babbitt, who had once taught Sondheim, had originally been chosen as one of the composers to participate in the project; his piece would have been inspired by "I'm Still Here" from Follies. His student, Frederic Rzewski replaced Babbitt upon his death in 2011. Adam Guettel was invited but declined due to feeling nervous; Elvis Costello, Sting, and Tori Amos had to decline participation due to a lack of time.[6] Sondheim himself suggested de Mare invite Jason Robert Brown, Derek Bermel, and David Shire to compose pieces for the project.[8] Of the thirty-six composers who contributed works, thirty-one were men and five were women. Thirty-two of them were born in the United States. The composers' ages ranged from late 20s to 80s.[7]

Individuals and institutions commissioned each of the pieces from the various composers. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center commissioned Kenji Bunch's, Jake Heggie's, Frederic Rzewski's, and Bernadette Speach's pieces. The Schubert Club commissioned Mary Ellen Childs's piece and the Banff Centre commissioned Rodney Sharman's piece. Notable individuals who helped commission pieces include James S. Marcus, Beth Rudin DeWoody, and Benjamin M. Rosen.[9] All works had been completed by 2014.[7]

Twelve of Sondheim's musicals are represented by this album, chronologically spanning from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) to Passion (1994).[9][7] The Frogs and Bounce are notable musicals which Sondheim wrote the music for which are not represented.[10] Over a third of the tracks are inspired by either Sunday in the Park with George or Sweeney Todd.[10]

Writing and production

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The composers' backgrounds are in a variety of genres including classical, jazz, and rock,[11] although the majority of the songs were written by contemporary classical composers.[12] Most of the pieces are purely written for solo piano, although some pieces also featured a backing track or minor other metaphorical "bells 'n whistles".[7] Duncan Sheik's "Johanna in Space" features a track made of several guitar improvisations layered through a tape echo.[9][13] Jason Robert Brown's "Birds of Victorian England" and Steve Reich's "Finishing the Hat – 2 Pianos" [fr] are both written for multiple pianos.[6][9] Certain songs like Andy Akiho's "Into the Woods", and Jherek Bischoff's "The Ballad of Guiteau", and Ricardo Lorenz's "The Worst (Empanadas) In London" feature a few words of spoken or sung dialogue. Bischoff's piece also features the slamming of a piano lid and creaking of the piano bench, and Michael Daugherty's "Everybody's Got The Right" features a shot from a prop gun.[14] Akiho's piece was also written for a prepared piano, requiring screws and other objects to be placed in the piano strings to alter the sound.[15]

The album was recorded between 2010 and 2014 at the American Academy of Arts and Letters and at Greenfield Recital Hall, Manhattan School of Music.[9] The album's production was in part financed via an Indiegogo campaign.[16][17][18]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz     [13]
BBC Music Magazine     [11]
The Buffalo News    [19]
Fono Forum [de]     [20]
The Guardian     [21]
The New Zealand Herald     [22]

Naomi Graber's review in the Journal of the Society for American Music called it "a fascinating contribution to American piano music".[10] Jed Distler's review for Gramophone called it a "fascinating, excellently produced collection".[23] Jesse Green called it an "astonishing" recording in New York; listening to the album was one of the magazine's entries in its "To Do" section.[1] Joshua Kosman for the San Francisco Chronicle called the recording "indispensable"[24] and "irresistible".[25] Michael Feingold for The Village Voice praised de Mare's "ineffably precise playing" and referred to the compositions as "a treasure trove of approaches".[26] Raymond Tuttle's album review in Fanfare said "most listeners probably will find something to love and something else to annoy them here" and criticized the "over-pedaled quality to many of these readings".[27] Elliot Fisch's review in American Record Guide said de Mare performed all the songs "excellently", said the sound was "excellent", and that "this unique project deserves your attention".[28]

Tom Huizenga named the album one of NPR's ten favorite classical albums of 2015.[3] Anthony Tommasini also named it as one of the best classical music recordings of 2015 for The New York Times.[4] Graham Rickson of The Arts Desk listed it as one of the best ten classical CDs of 2015,[5] and called the album "superb", describing it as "magnificently recorded and beautifully produced".[29] Anne Midgette for The Washington Post included it as one of her top five favorite classical recordings of 2015.[30]

Stuart Derdeyn included Liaisons as one of "25 albums you may have missed but shouldn't have in 2015" in an article for The Province.[31] Ted Gioia included Liaisons in a list of 20 "under-the-radar" albums of 2015 for The Daily Beast.[32] Tom Huizenga included it as one of NPR's top 50 albums of 2015.[33] Andre Dansby, for the Houston Chronicle, listed Liaisons as his 16th favorite album of 2015.[34] The Guardian's jazz critic John Fordham also listed this album as one of his favorite albums of 2015.[35]

Sondheim wrote in the liner notes, "Over the years I've heard songs of mine 'interpreted' by singers and piano-players and arrangers who change either the vocal lines or the harmonies or both, and much as my ego gets a lift when people sing my stuff, in every case I've winced. The pieces created for Liaisons are a different matter entirely; they're written by composers, not arrangers, and they aren't decorations of the songs. They're fantasias on them, responses to the melodic lines and the harmonies and occasionally the accompaniments. [...] It's fun (for me, anyway) to hear which of the song elements each composer latches on to, and how far they spin from them."[9]

Judith Sherman won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Classical at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in part for her work on Liaisons.[36]

Tracks

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The album consists of three discs and thirty-seven tracks.[9] Information about the specific Sondheim pieces each work is inspired by comes from the sheet music.[14]

Disc 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Little Night Fughetta" (after "Anyone Can Whistle" from Anyone Can Whistle and "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music)William Bolcom1:41
2."Color And Light" (after "Color and Light" from Sunday in the Park with George)Nico Muhly5:36
3."Finishing the Hat – 2 Pianos" (after "Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the Park with George)Steve Reich3:20
4."The Ladies Who Lunch" (after "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company)David Rakowski7:19
5."Perpetual Happiness" (after "Happiness" from Passion)Eve Beglarian6:01
6."Birds Of Victorian England" (after "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" from Sweeney Todd)Jason Robert Brown3:04
7."Johanna in Space" (after "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd)Duncan Sheik5:56
8."You Could Drive A Person Crazy" (after "You Could Drive A Person Crazy" from Company)Eric Rockwell3:01
9."That Old Piano Roll" (after "That Old Piano Roll" from Follies)Wynton Marsalis4:38
10."Sorry/Grateful" (after "Sorry–Grateful" from Company)Derek Bermel6:59
11."No One Is Alone" (after "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods)Fred Hersch4:03
12."A Bowler Hat" (after "A Bowler Hat" from Pacific Overtures)Annie Gosfield5:17
13."I'm Excited. No You're Not." (after "A Weekend in the Country" from A Little Night Music)Jake Heggie5:15
Total length:62:10
Disc 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Demon Barber" (after "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd)Kenji Bunch5:07
2."Send in the Clowns" (after "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music)Ethan Iverson5:49
3."The Worst (Empanadas) in London" (after "The Worst Pies in London" and "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd)Ricardo Lorenz4:53
4."I Think About You" (after "Losing My Mind" from Follies)Paul Moravec9:00
5."Very Put Together" (after "Putting it Together" from Sunday in the Park with George)Mason Bates3:08
6."I'm Still Here" (after "I'm Still Here" from Follies)Frederic Rzewski6:43
7."Love is in the Air" (after "Love is in the Air" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum)David Shire4:05
8."Epiphany" (after music from Sweeney Todd)John Musto5:05
9."Pretty Women" (after "Pretty Women" from Sweeney Todd)Mark-Anthony Turnage3:44
10."Paraphrase "Someone in a Tree"" (after "Someone in a Tree" from Pacific Overtures)Phil Kline5:42
11."In and Out of Love" (after "Liaisons" and "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music)Bernadette Speach5:59
12."Another Hundred People" (after "Another Hundred People" from Company)Daniel Bernard Roumain7:17
Total length:66:32
Disc 3
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Into the Woods" (after Act I Opening from Into the Woods)Andy Akiho8:57
2."Every Day a Little Death" (after "Every Day a Little Death" from A Little Night Music)Ricky Ian Gordon5:18
3."Merrily We Roll Along" (after "Merrily We Roll Along" and "The Hills of Tomorrow" from Merrily We Roll Along)Nils Vigeland5:39
4."Notes on "Beautiful"" (after "Beautiful" from Sunday in the Park with George)Rodney Sharman5:27
5."Being Alive" (after "Being Alive" from Company)Gabriel Kahane4:45
6."Not While I'm Around" (after "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd)Thomas Newman2:55
7."The Ballad of Guiteau" (after "The Ballad of Guiteau" from Assassins)Jherek Bischoff5:53
8."Now" (after "Now", "Later", and "Soon" from A Little Night Music)Mary Ellen Childs3:22
9."A Child of Children and Art" (after "Children and Art" from Sunday in the Park with George)Peter Golub8:24
10."going ... gone" (after "Good Thing Going" from Merrily We Roll Along)Tania León7:38
11."Everybody's Got the Right" (after "Everybody's Got the Right" from Assassins)Michael Daugherty4:36
12."Sunday in the Park – Passages" (after music from Sunday in the Park with George)Anthony de Mare5:20
Total length:68:14

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from the liner notes.[9]

  • Rachel Colbert – Producer for The Liaisons Project
  • Judy Sherman – Recording producer and engineer
  • Jeanne Velonis – Additional engineer and editing assistant
  • Kevin Boutote – Engineer for backing tracks for "Birds of Victorian England"
  • Duncan Sheik – Provider for backing track for "Johanna In Space"
  • Christoph Stickel – Mastering
  • Steve Lake – Mastering
  • Paolo Soriani – Liner photos
  • Fred R. Conrad – Liner photos
  • Jerry Jackson – Liner photos
  • Bernd Kuchenbeiser – Design

Charts

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Liaisons was on Billboard's Top Classical Albums chart for four weeks, with a peak position of 15 the week of October 24, 2015.[37] It also spent four weeks on Billboard's Top Classical Crossover Albums peaking at 11 the week of October 17, 2015.[38]

Chart Peak position
US Top Classical Albums (Billboard)[37] 15
US Top Classical Crossover Albums (Billboard)[38] 11

References

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  1. ^ a b G[reen], J[esse] (Sep 21 – Oct 4, 2015). "Listen to Liaisons: Passion of the art". To Do: Twenty-Five Things to See, Hear, Watch, and Read: September 23–October 7. New York. p. 141.
  2. ^ Gans, Andrew (August 5, 2015). "Jason Robert Brown, Duncan Sheik, Wynton Marsalis Re-Imagine Sondheim Songs on New 3-CD Set". Playbill. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Huizenga, Tom; Tsioulcas, Anastasia (December 17, 2015). "Our 10 Favorite Classical Albums Of 2015". NPR. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Woolfe, Zachary (December 10, 2015). "The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2015". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Rickson, Graham (December 26, 2015). "Best of 2015: Classical CDs: Ten of the best classical discs from 2015". The Arts Desk. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Blum, Ronald (October 20, 2015). "Stephen Sondheim reimagined for piano by 37 composers". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Ennis, Paul (April 27, 2018). "Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano - Q&A with Anthony de Mare". The Whole Note. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  8. ^ Levere, Jane (November 17, 2015). "Pianist De Mare To Perform Sondheim Songs 'Re-imagined' By 36 Contemporary Composers On World Tour". Forbes. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano (booklet). Anthony de Mare. ECM. 2015.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ a b c Graber, Naomi (2017). "Anthony de Mare, Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano. ECM New Series, 2470–72 481 1780, 2015, CD". Media Reviews. Journal of the Society for American Music. 11 (4): 523–524. doi:10.1017/S1752196317000451. S2CID 191677477.
  11. ^ a b Brown, Geoff (October 12, 2016). "Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the piano". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  12. ^ Margasak, Peter (December 10, 2015). "Pianist Anthony de Mare invites dozens of composers to reinvent Sondheim". Chicago Reader. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Kelman, John (October 10, 2015). "Anthony de Mare: Anthony de Mare: Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano". All About Jazz. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  14. ^ a b Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim from the Piano: 37 Piano Compositions Based on the Music of Stephen Sondheim. Milwaukee, WI: Rilting Music. 2017. ISBN 978-1-4950-7793-7.
  15. ^ Tommasini, Anthony (November 20, 2015). "Review: Anthony de Mare Introduces the Last of His Sondheim Project". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  16. ^ Cerasaro, Pat (August 14, 2014). "Duncan Sheik Talks LIAISONS: RE-IMAGINING SONDHEIM FROM THE PIANO". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  17. ^ Colbert, Rachel. "Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano". Indiegogo. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  18. ^ Skiles, Christa; Pender, Rick, eds. (Winter 2014). "Crowdfunding Liaisons". News & Notes. The Sondheim Review. Vol. 21, no. 1. p. 6. ProQuest 1563892141.
  19. ^ Miers, Jeff; Simon, Jeff (June 6, 2016). "Listening Post: Brief reviews of Blackalicious, Mose Allison, Erroll Garner and Anthony DeMare". The Buffalo News. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  20. ^ Schmitz, Johannes (February 2016). "Liaisons - Re-Imagining Sondheim". Fono Forum. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  21. ^ Fordham, John (November 12, 2015). "Anthony de Mare: Liaisons – Reimagining Sondheim from the Piano review". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  22. ^ Dart, William (January 22, 2016). "CD Review: Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  23. ^ Distler, Jed (February 2016). "Liaisons: Re-imagining Sondheim From The Piano". Instrumental Reviews. Gramophone. Vol. 93, no. 1132. pp. 65–66. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  24. ^ Kosman, Joshua (November 1, 2017). "Sondheim's music experienced through a multitude of voices". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  25. ^ Kosman, Joshua (September 24, 2015). "CD review: 'Liaisons,' Anthony de Mare". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  26. ^ Feingold, Michael (March 1, 2016). "The Long-Neglected Passageway Between Classical Music, Theater, and Pop Reopens". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  27. ^ Tuttle, Raymond (Jan–Feb 2016). "LIAISONS: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano • Anthony de Mare (pn) • ECM 2470-72 (3 CDs: 197:10)". Classical Recordings. Fanfare. Vol. 39, no. 3. pp. 490–492. ProQuest 1789148389.
  28. ^ Fisch, [Elliot] (Jan–Feb 2016). "Liaisons". Collections. American Record Guide. Vol. 79, no. 1. pp. 195–196. ProQuest 1777472758.
  29. ^ Rickson, Graham (November 14, 2019). "Classical CDs Weekly: Beethoven, Mahler, Sondheim: Epic piano sonatas, a vibrant romantic symphony and a handsome tribute to a theatrical giant". The Arts Desk. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  30. ^ Midgette, Anne (December 24, 2015). "2015: The year in classical music". Washington Post. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  31. ^ Derdeyn, Stuart (December 20, 2015). "25 albums you may have missed but shouldn't have in 2015". The Province. Vancouver, BC. p. B8. ProQuest 1750366277.
  32. ^ Gioia, Ted (December 27, 2015). "20 Amazing Under-the-Radar Albums of 2015". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  33. ^ NPR Staff (December 7, 2015). "NPR Music's 50 Favorite Albums Of 2015". NPR. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  34. ^ Dansby, Andrew (December 30, 2015). "Thoughtful albums have staying power". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  35. ^ Guardian music (December 22, 2015). "The best albums of 2015: how our writers voted". The Guardian. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  36. ^ Ramanathan, Lavanya; Yahr, Emily (February 15, 2016). "Grammy Awards 2016: Taylor Swift wins album of the year; Kendrick Lamar wins 5, gives epic performance; complete list of winners". Washington Post. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  37. ^ a b "Anthony de Mare Liaisons: Re-Imaginig Sondheim From the Piano Chart History (Top Classical Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  38. ^ a b

Further reading

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