ÉMIGRÉS & EXILES IN HOLLYWOOD • Ens for These Times • CENTAUR 4111 (55:36 )

KORNGOLD Die tote Stadt: Tanzlied des Pierrot. Der Schneemann: Serenade. SCHOENBERG Brettl-Lieder: Galathea. TANSMAN Six Songs: Cabaret. Trois Préludes en forme de blues: Lento cantabile; Moderato. Recueil de Mazurkas: Oberek; Moderato. Deux Pièces: Mélodie; Capriccio. ZEISL Klavierstücke/November: Religioso; Hirten Melodie; Dieselbe; Du. EISLER Der Kirschdieb. I saw many friends (Hollywood Elegie No. 7). RÓZSA Kaleidoscope: March; Zingara; Burlesque. VARS Jego ekscelencja subiekt: Złociste włoski. Wyork ẓycia: Nie wiedziałem. Sleep My Child. Echoes of Love. Man in the Vault: Let the Chips Fall (Where They May). KAPER Invitation—A Study for Piano

The members of Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) (soprano/artistic executive director Nanette McGuinness; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano) have engaged in a multi-year exploration of émigré European composers who, after escaping the Nazis, relocated to Southern California. While residing in the Los Angeles region, these composers enriched beyond measure American musical life with contributions to the concert hall, cinema, and education. E4TT, through its Jewish Music & Poetry Project (JMPP), has performed the works of the émigré composers in the Los Angeles and San Fransisco regions, and at the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival in Poland. A new Centaur digital release, Émigrés & Exiles in Hollywood, provides a sample of the composers and works that E4TT has championed. It’s a whirlwind tour that focuses on excerpts from numerous works by the featured composers. Many of the works are rarely (if at all) performed. As E4TT explains in the album’s liner notes: “Émigrés & Exiles in Hollywood is a small attempt to help fill this unfortunate lacuna, along with providing a tiny glimpse of the music of these composers’ often-for­gotten but nonetheless-wonderful oeuvre. To this end, our decision in recording the collection on this album has been to include individual movements of more pieces rather than fewer but longer complete works.” Several other composers whose works are part of E4TT’s research and concert initiative are not featured on the recording. They include: Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, André Previn, Ernest Toch, Franz Waxman, Kurt Weill, and Eugene Zador.

The pieces that are featured on Émigrés & Exiles in Hollywood include chamber works (some in the form of arrangements of prior compositions), compositions for solo piano, and songs in German, English, and Polish. The majority were composed during in the 1930s and 1940s. The works, exploring both classical and popular genres, reflect the craftsmanship of composers who excelled in both concert and cinematic fare. The artists of E4TT perform the music with the utmost commitment and a captivating unity of ensemble. The artists’ passion for this music, and their cause in sharing it with a greater public, is evident. As someone who lives in Los Angeles, and is proud of this aspect of the city’s history, I am grateful to E4TT for its mission, and for this fine digital release. Recommended. Ken Meltzer