Jeff Manookian
       Orchestra Works

* Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
* Symphony of Tears*

Laurel Ann Maurer (flute),
Narine Anankian (mezzo)*, Vahan Harutunian (boy soprano)*
Armenian National Opera Orchestra & Chorus/Jeff Manookian, Karen Durgarian*
Albany TROY507  TT: 77:43

Summary for the Busy Executive: Pretty much a waste of time.

Manookian's problem is that his music is sweet without being interesting.
A lot of it sounds like a score by an extremely minor Hollywood film
composer, someone on the order of, say, Scott Bradley.  I don't really
expect much from a flute concerto, quite frankly, so few capable ones
not by Bach or Vivaldi seem to be out there, and the music is genteel
and pleasant enough without once rising to real wit or poetry.

The Symphony of Tears, far more ambitious, is another matter.  Manookian
has responded to the central Armenian event of modern times: the genocide
against Armenia by the Ottoman Turks.  It's the equivalent of a Jewish
composer taking on the Nazi Holocaust.  The Nazis, apparently, learned
a thing or two from the Ottomans.  It's a subject that demands the best,
not only from a particular composer, but from any composer.  Unfortunately,
the subject arouses such emotion in us that we find it hard to forgive
artistic failure here.  Blandness and lack of focus become almost moral
crimes: pretension, vanity, and self-ignorance.  I admit it's unfair to
blame a composer morally for what comes down to a failure of skill.
Mostly, the symphony, despite its extra-musical subject, just bores me.
I can, after several hearings, recall no passage or even theme.  This
isn't difficult music, merely dull music.  At least to me.  Your mileage
may vary.

Laurel Ann Maurer, a fine flutist, should have gotten something more
interesting to occupy her.  I'm amazed she manages to stay awake.  The
Armenian National Opera Orchestra does well enough in the flute concerto.
The performance of the symphony is pretty much of a mess.  Recorded
balances seem way off, with the orchestra far too forward and the chorus
buried behind a curtain of instrumental sound.  The soloists are okay,
without distinction.  The chorus has no diction to speak of.  You can't
follow the words even with the texts right in front of you.  This isn't
merely because English isn't the choir's first language, but because the
singers have no idea how to project consonants.  The sound becomes so
much mush, I wonder whether they even make the correct pitches.  Over
the years I've enjoyed just about every Albany CD that came my way.
I commend them for taking the chance to explore little-known repertoire
and for so often striking gold.  For the reasons stated, I don't believe
this CD lives up to their usual high standards.

Steve Schwartz