Daniel Hope: America
Deutsche Grammophon
It's hardly news that America's going through a particularly difficult time, what with hate crimes, a seemingly unbridgeable political divide, gun-related deaths, and mental health issues among the challenges it's facing. In keeping with that, the tone adopted by Berlin-based violinist Daniel Hope for his America album could have been despairing; instead, he's chosen to celebrate the country's rich musical heritage with engaging interpretations of material by Bernstein, Cooke, Copland, Ellington, Gershwin, Price, Ward, and Weill. The set-list eschews obscure pieces for populist ones, but there's no slumming: Hope and his collaborators enliven them with inspired readings that express deep affection for the music and the land from which it sprang.
Rewards aplenty accrue from the release, at a robust eighty-two minutes equivalent to a double album in the vinyl era. Beyond the material itself, recommending America is its mix of jazz and classical arrangements by Paul Bateman and the musicians with whom Hope performs. The opening Gershwin Suite pairs the violinist and Zürcher Kammerorchester (of which Hope has been Music Director since 2016) with the Marcus Roberts Trio for a near half-hour run-through of Gershwin classics. On Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Hope's joined by Brazilian pianist Sylvia Thereza and German singer Joy Denalane for a stirringly soulful trio reading, and for Weill's American Song Suite, he and the chamber orchestra appear with German jazz guitarist Joscho Stephan and percussionist Alexander Ponet. Rounding out the programme are stellar treatments of Bernstein's West Side Story Suite, Florence Price's “Adoration,” Duke Ellington's “Come Sunday,” and two Copland songs. Laying to rest any doubt about his true feelings about the country, Hope caps the release with a heartfelt version of Samuel Ward's “America the Beautiful.”
With American pianist Roberts, bassist Rodney Jordan, and drummer Jason Marsalis involved, classical and jazz converge for Gershwin Suite, and with the trio injecting an improv element into the five songs, the playing is the recording's loosest and, obviously, jazziest. In the breezy “Fascinating Rhythm,” Hope's playing is marked with a singing, Grappeli-like sweetness (not the only time on the album); Roberts's, on the other hand, is characteristically swinging. Expressive run-throughs of “Summertime” (replete with bluesy stride by the pianist and a high-flying turn by the violinist), “'S Wonderful” (a rousing take elevated by Hope's vocal-like voicings), “The Man I Love” (distinguished by a terrific Roberts solo), and “I Got Rhythm” complete the scenic ride. Classical musicians sometimes come off sounding stiff in a jazz, improv-driven context, but Hope sounds thoroughly comfortable partnering with Roberts and company for the performance.
That said, he never sounds more in his element than when appearing with Zürcher Kammerorchester on the twenty-minute Bernstein suite. Beautifully arranged by Bateman, the musicians dig into “America” and “Mambo” with gusto, and the work's dramatic range of moods and rhythms grants the players a perfect expressive vehicle for their talents. Hope amplifies the lyrical yearning of “Maria” with intense feeling and smartly hews closely to the melodies in it, “Tonight,” “I Have a Love,” and “Somewhere”—because it would be foolish to do otherwise with material so rich.
American Song Suite features four now-standards by the German-Jewish composer Kurt Weill, who relocated to the United States to escape Nazi persecution. With Stephan accompanying Hope, moments arise that recall Grappeli-and-Reinhardt, even if the chamber orchestra's strings and Ponet's percussion flesh out the sound. Softly breezy treatments of “My Ship” and “Speak Low” become magic in their hands, while “Mack The Knife” loses none of its mischievous charm. While Price and Ellington are each represented by a single composition, their haunting “Adoration” and “Come Sunday” (from his jazz suite Black, Brown and Beige) nevertheless make powerful impressions when voiced with sensitivity by Hope and the chamber orchestra. Much the same could be said of their rendering of Copland's stately “At the River” (from Old American Songs, Set 2). Livelier by comparison, of course, is “Hoe-Down” (from the ballet Rodeo).
Hope plays superbly throughout, something one would naturally expect from an artist with more than thirty albums under his belt. In addition to his role with the Zürcher Kammerorchester, the violinist is the president of Bonn's Beethoven-Haus and also artistic director of San Francisco's New Century Chamber Orchestra and the Frauenkirche of Dresden. America offers one musical pleasure after another, but there are underlying political messages too. In including pieces by Price, Cooke, and Ellington, Hope celebrates Black composers and their contributions to American culture. Further to that, by integrating jazz, classical, blues, and theatre tunes, the album dissolves genre boundaries in a way that shows how comfortably different forms can sit side-by-side. Such themes run throughout America as an undercurrent, however, and ensure the album doesn't become excessively weighted down with extra-musical concerns. However familiar the songs are, they appeal all over again when performed so splendidly by Hope and his collaborators.May 2022