Trey Lee: Seasons Interrupted
Signum Classics

The set-list Hong Kong-born and Berlin-based cellist Trey Lee devised for Seasons Interrupted impresses for its thoughtfulness and multi-dimensionality. Joined by the English Chamber Orchestra, conductor Emilia Hoving, and pianist Georgy Tchaidze, the Juilliard-trained Lee ponders the devastating global impact of climate change through the music of Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Astor Piazzolla (1921-92), and Kirmo Lintinen (b. 1967), the three respectively representing past, present, and future. In presenting such diverse works, Lee demonstrates the range he commands and entices listeners with a richly varied programme. Adding to the recording's appeal, the arrangements change from one piece to the next, with Lee joined by Tchaidze on the first, the orchestra's strings on the second, and the complete, Hoving-led ensemble on the third. Of course, Lee's the first to acknowledge that while these instrumental works weren't necessarily created with the climate crisis in mind, their seasons-focused content nonetheless offers a natural invitation to consider the issue through their separate prisms.

Seasons Interrupted begins with Lee's arrangement of four lieder by Schubert: “Im Frühling” (In Spring), “Die Sommernacht” (The Summernight), “Herbst” (Autumn), and “Gefrorne Tränen” (Frozen Tears). With Tchaidze as his partner, Lee replaces the original vocal lines with ones for solo cello and wonders if, in drawing attention to humanity's intrusion into nature, Schubert might not be anticipating the potential damage that could engender. Lilting and rapturous, “Im Frühling” provides a splendid showcase for Lee's singing, vocal-like delivery; initially carefree, the song's tone darkens when D major modulates to D minor, the shift perhaps hinting at the dangers to come. A convincing impression of a summer's evening is evoked in “Die Sommernacht” (The Summernight) in the romantic splendour of the duo's rendering. Piano tremolos suggest leafs blowing off the trees during the yearning “Herbst” as autumn's chill and darkening hours arrive, after which the duo's performance of “Gefrorne Tränen” (from Die Winterreise) intensifies the song's melancholy feeling when Lee plays in the cello's lower register.

Composed from 1965-69 and presented in a new arrangement by Lee for solo cello and string orchestra, Piazzolla's Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) draws parallels between the changing seasons and the rapid industrial rise of the twentieth-century that brought us to our current critical moment. Opening with “Otoño Porteño” (Autumn), the musicians move from an initial energy-charged episode to a pensive one emblematic of the Argentine tango composer's style; the razor-sharp strokes at its start return but so too does a wistful passage Lee distinguishes with beautifully expressive gestures. His playing is as remarkable during “Invierno Porteño” (Winter), which alternates between passages of profound longing and joy and is enhanced by a lovely coda. Signifying hope and new growth, “Primavera Porteño” (Spring) is naturally lively and grants the players a wonderful opportunity to collectively revel in the promise of the season. Languorous by comparison, “Verano Porteño” (Summer) gradually grows in vitality and volatility, with rhapsodic and playful interludes leavening the intensity. Many of the familiar Piazzolla signatures surface during the work, from shrieking phrases and stabbing accents to deeply elegiac outpourings.

Seasons Interrupted concludes with a vastly different kind of piece, the Cello Concerto by the contemporary Finnish composer Lintinen. It progresses through four movements that contemplate what future might emerge from the effects of the environmental crisis. Their tone isn't entirely despairing, however; hope is posited, if tentatively, with Lee opining that “we are not condemned to this future just yet; it is simply one that many fear may come to pass if the world continues down its current trajectory.” In the opening “Inizio,” shimmering strings and a portentous gong strike plunge us into a sombre dystopia that sees the cello hovering over a base shrouded in gloom and toxicity. Intimations of hope emerge via a flute's sudden interjection and lustrous strings, with Lee as the central protagonist and the strongest source of energy, until the tone shifts with the onset of “Gavotta” and its nimble, Baroque-like gestures. Featuring Lee alone, the third-movement “Cadenza” arrests most during a central section where the cellist overlays a plodding pizzicato pulse with a querulous bowed statement. Suggesting the overcoming of crisis, the celebratory, folk-dance character of “Finale” ends the work on a life-affirming note, even if a hint of the darkness of the “Inizio” movement tries to work its way in.

May 2024