Aleksandra Ivanovic : Aleksandra Ivanovic plays Ivanovic : Anthology of guitar music by Vojislav Ivanovic : CD

VOJISLAV IVANOVIC: Circus Valse; Cafe 5 – Nostalgia ; Lullaby for a Little Princess; Cafe 4 -A Funny Valse; Nichterinos – Elegy of the Adreamed House ; Cafe 2 -Cafe – Tear Prelude;Lament (from Lament and Dance) ;Choro para Mirko – Em foco – fora de foco; Cafe 6- lullaby for Srdjan; Cafe 1 – Tango cafe ; Night in Miami; Cafe 3 – Improvisation and Dance; Little Sad Valse.

Aleksandra Ivanovic

Muzika  Klasika : MKCD0053

Aleksandra Ivanovic , is the wife of the composer of this entire album, Vojislav Ivanovic, and here she plays 13 tracks of her husband’s music , most of which was new to me.

The first thing that I found was how melodic and yet quite individual it was, in other words modern but not too modern. The opening Circus Valse has plenty of humour. It is full of slurs and they do indeed go all over the fingerboard, making me realise how difficult to play this piece must be! There is a separate theme which enters a bit further on that apparently pictures two clowns on a stage reacting to each other. The end result is amusing and also great musical fun.

Then comes Cafe 5 – Nostalgia, one of six pieces that are part of a set called 6 Pieces de Cafe, all of which are on this CD but spaced out and not in numerical order either. The warmth of the piece comes through wonderfully being a tremolo piece in its entirety as it is.

Lullaby for a Little Princess is in fact a piece written for and dedicated to Aleksandra, who makes a lovely job of performing it, making it gentle and emotive throughout.

Cafe 4 – A Funny Valse is exactly that. It is based on a Viennese style waltz but is full of odd leaps and jumps that explain exactly where the title came from!

Nichterinos – Elegy of the Adreamed House is one of the most complex pieces here with a number of moods that emerge throughout the work. Some of the harmonies are at times unusual but the notes in the booklet explain that the piece uses an odd Greek folk scale with both major and minor thirds, and this goes a long way to creating the finished piece.

Cafe 2 – Cafe- Tear Prelude is a  Brazilian Choro in style and full of friendly melodies and harmonies and , like all the rest of the tracks, beautifully played.

The Lament (from Lament and Dance) is the only part of the two piece set recorded here. It is lonely yet full of quite complex melodies that really do sound like a lament. The piece is slow and sad throughout and ends quietly.

Choro Para Mirko – Em Foco – Fora de Foco, the title incidentally being Portuguese for In Focus – Out of Focus, and refers to the places where several dissonances turn into consonances .Otherwise the piece is again a little sad in its harmony world ( as indeed are many of the pieces here)

Cafe 6 – Lullaby for Srdjan, is named after the composer’s son, and is warm and beautifully harmonised and full of emotive playing, and the longest piece (at 8 + minutes) of the entire set.

Cafe 1 – Tango Cafe has a melody that leaps around and is full of humorous touches and many technical details that make this piece quite unexpected at times.

Night in Miami is a little jazzy in its sound world whilst still keeping slow and emotional in its themes and harmonies and again a beautiful piece wonderfully played.

Cafe 3 – Improvisation and Dance is in two sections, as the title suggests. The slow and slightly unexpected set of themes at the opening, gradually turn into a frenzied Dance with some quirky details and yet still sounding very Latin at times.

The final piece Little Sad Valse is exactly what the title suggests, remaining slow and emotive throughout and full of warm harmonies and ending the CD on a reflective note.

The music is wonderful, the performances are exceptional and the recording clear and nicely forward. I can really recommend this fine CD from a composer who, if you don’t know of his work, you should do, and from a performer who also is extremely talented.

Chris Dumigan