Grade: B+
The 20th century, eh? What a lark that was. Vladimir Dukelsky studied in Kiev under Glière and looked set to be one of the smarter Russian composers of his generation. He even wrote a ballet for Diaghilev. Then communism happened and Dukelsky ended up in the USA where to the bemusement of his friend Prokofiev he reinvented himself as Vernon Duke, Broadway songsmith. ‘Autumn in New York’ and ‘Taking a Chance on Love’ are both by Duke; classic Americana by way of Tsarist Ukraine.
Duke’s Violin Concerto (1943) is recorded here alongside the 1941 concerto by Robert Russell Bennett – better known as the king of Broadway orchestrators; the man who clothed Oklahoma! and My Fair Lady in silken strings. Both concertos are played with easy panache by Chloë Hanslip, whose career has also taken an unexpected turn, at least to those who remember her as a pigtailed teen prodigy two decades back. She’s become that most interesting kind of virtuoso, the explorer.
Anyway, Hanslip makes it all sound effortless, while still conveying a smoky, jazz-adjacent mid-century mood. Frustratingly, Duke keeps his melodic gift on a short leash, though his sardonic central waltz could almost be by Shostakovich. Bennett was a composer who worked mostly with other people’s tunes, and if there’s a touch of Tom and Jerry to the concerto, the real fun is in another piece, Hexapoda – which finds Hanslip and pianist Andrew Litton jitterbugging through five itchy, bluesy miniatures with titles like ‘Jim Jives’ and ‘Gut-Bucket Gus’. Music for the ages? Maybe not, but admit it: you’re curious.
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