Accentus Mahler: Symphonies [Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; Riccardo Chailly] [Accentus Music: ACC70504] [DVD]

The music of Michael Jarrell has been said to &aposexamine states of dream and unreality, searching for a moment of truth&apos a truth which is often found in the lowest sonorities and slowest tempi, a place where time stands still. His works are often interrelated, not only by a certain sensitivity or a distinctive tone, but also by the recurrence of particular features that he reworks in different contexts. The present disc combines two recent concertos, each of them performed by its dedicatee. In July 2019, three years after they gave the first performance of Émergences-Résurgences, Tabea Zimmermann rejoined l&aposOrchestre National des Pays de la Loire and Pascal Rophé in order to record the work. In the liner notes Jarrell describes his method in the concerto in visual terms: &aposCurves, colours, chiaroscuro or strong lines; I tried to integrate a pictorial dimension into the scheme of this piece&apos Jarrell&aposs fourth violin concerto, 4 Eindrücke, is even more recent, and was first performed in 2019 in Tokyo&aposs Suntory Hall by Renaud Capuçon and Pascal Rophé conducting. As suggested by its title, the work is in four contrasting movements, of which the second stands out in that the soloist plays only pizzicato throughout. Framed by the two concertos is an orchestral work from 2009 which takes its title from Lucretius: &aposthe sky, recently so clear, suddenly becomes horribly murky&apos.