This review focuses primarily on "Suite from Razumov" on Masterworks of the New Era Volume Six. The inspiration for Razumov, from a chamber opera in progress by Seattle composer Greg Bartholomew, is drawn from Conrad's "Under Western Eyes." There is a striking degree of tenderness in the movements, particularly in the latter two, involving an interrogation and then discussion of an assasination, which I found initially surprising given the subject matter (pre-Revolutionary Russia; for a more in-depth plot review, visit the composer's web-site at www.gregbartholomew.com). Though the work involves a love story, the excerpts included herein do not. Yet the works ring true and clear, avoiding any cloying or derivitive sounds. In smaller ensemble pieces such as these there will always be this strong personal interaction between the instruments, and in this case in particular Bartholomew understands the natures of the instruments used (a string ensemble with clarinet) and manages to capture the complexity of the setting in a way that is fresh, portraying a sense of sorrow and, at the end of each movement, a soaring sense of hope that is somehow fitting and certainly fulfilling. These are lovely pieces both in composition and in recording. 

In order to convey the sense of time and place, Bartholomew seems to have borrowed some of the flavor of Balakirev or Borodin (I am thinking of the latter's "Polovtsian Dances" in particular). The treatment, however, is very sensitive and respectful. The effect is highly evocative.
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