3 RHAPSODIES FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
MATEJ MEŠTROVIĆ
Matej Meštrović Piano, Composer / Arranger
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra
Miran Vaupotić / Conductor
TRACK LISTING:
DANUBE RHAPSODY
Matej Meštrović piano, Marjan Krajna accordion, Svetlana Krajna tambura
Alan Kanski cymbalom, Dani Bošnjak fife
00:00 01 I. Birth Of a River
07:49 02 II. Danube Dance
14:31 03 III. Water Reflections
18:54 04 IV. Danubius
28:30 05 CHINESE RHAPSODY
Matej Meštrović piano, Tu Shan Xiang pipa,
Zhang Pei zheng, Bai Yu erhu, Li Xinxing violin
NEW ENGLAND RHAPSODY
Matej Meštrović piano
40:21 06 I. New England Vibe
46:00 07 II. Poco a poco*
51:25 08 III. Fly Over North Hampton
*Dedicated to Bob Lord
Recorded June 26-28, 2018 at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb Croatia
Rcorded by Morris Studio in Zagreb
Session Producer Krešimir Seletković
Co-Producer Bob Lord
Session Engineer Filip Vidović
Assistant Engineer Neven Marinac
Photographer Dragutin Škreblin
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
Project Director Miran Vaupotić
A&R Chris Robinson
Vice President, Audio Production Jeff LeRoy
Editing & Mixing Krešimir Seletković
Mastering Shaun Michaud
Production Engineer Lucas Paquette
Recording Sessions Manager Levi Brown
Recording Sessions Assistant Emma Terrell
Art Director Brett Picknell
Design Ryan Harrison, Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland
Supported by Croatian Composers' Society
www.navonarecords.com/catalog...
It is tempting to compare Matej Meštrović's compositional style to his great predecessors in the late-Romantic tradition. After all, much of the Croatian composer's style and techniques would be right at home in Rachmaninoff’s concertos, Tchaikovsky's works, or Prokofiev's neoclassicism; and the name of the album's first work, Danube Rhapsody, naturally evokes associations with Smetana's similarly river-themed Vltava. Add to all of this that Meštrović, like most of his great musical ancestors, is a talented virtuoso pianist, and it's easy to see why 3 RHAPSODIES is bound to meet with enthusiasm.
Of course, a skillful composer like Meštrović doesn't confine himself to mere epigonism. And indeed, there is an original voice which constantly rises out from tradition. This is partially achieved through Meštrović's clever instrumentation: the Danube Rhapsody's scoring includes, among others, a cimbalom and a tamburitza (the Croatian long-necked lute), which immediately tells the listener that he or she is hearing the Balkans, not Russia or Czechia. Similarly, the Chinese Rhapsody employs traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa, erhu, and zheng, gorgeously contrasting them against the tremolo strings of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra.
American East Coast natives will find themselves swept back home in Meštrović's New England Rhapsody, a composition initially as comforting and sentimentally heart-warming as the Transatlantic accent in a 1940's film. It's a deceptive respite, however: the final movement, interspersed with jazzy rhythmic elements and Meštrović's resurfacing Croatian voice, takes the listener right back to the exalting ardor of the album's beginning. Instead of fizzling out like lesser compositions might, it finishes with a bang.
There is no way around it: 3 RHAPSODIES is a triumph. It is not at all unlikely that future generations, when asked to name the first famous Croatian composer that comes to mind, will exclaim with conviction: "Meštrović, of course!"