Winona Symphony Orchestra: Here at the River: Music of Minnesota
Navona Records

No better argument on behalf of Minnesota could conceivably be made than this tremendous collection by the Winona Symphony Orchestra (WSO) and its Artistic Director and conductor Erik Rohde. The natural splendour of the state's trees, lakes, rivers, and islands is resoundingly captured in the ensemble's renditions of material by Libby Larsen, Reinaldo Moya, and Katherine Bergman. Bookending Moya's triple-movement Minnesota Suite and Bergman's Superior, a short tone poem inspired by the Great Lake, are two works by Larsen, from 2002 the three-part Raspberry Island Dreaming and 2023's single-movement Emergency Haying. Whereas the central works are instrumentals, Larsen's include vocalists, with mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski elevating the opener and bass-baritone Alan Dunbar the other. Fittingly, the material was recorded at two locations in Winona, Raspberry Island Dreaming at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and the others at the DuFresne Performing Arts Center.

While Moya (b. 1984) is a graduate of Venezuela's El Sistema music education system, he's called Minnesota home for nearly a decade and pays homage to it with a suite inspired by its landscape and geography. Each movement focuses on a different aspect of the region, beginning with “Pinus resinosa,” the scientific name for Minnesota's state tree, the Red Pine. Evoking the sense of a trek through a dense forest, Moya's oft-impressionistic music exudes majesty and wonder in equal measure. Titled after a poem by Minnesota native Melissa Richards, the work's expansive central movement “And Still, She Calls” is a painterly, almost Debussy-esque ode to Lake Superior and the lakes-filled state in general. Having dealt with the area's tree and water features, Moya turns to its prairies in “Lily of the West” and material inspired by an old pioneer song called “Lovely Minnesoty.” Don't be surprised if your thoughts turn to Copland as the material wends its way down adventurous pathways before resolving with a finale based on the song's affecting folk melody. In writing Superior (here presented as a six-minute standalone, it's also a movement within the larger Land of Cloud-Tinted Water), Minnesota-based Bergman (b. 1985) drew for inspiration from a view of Lake Superior from Split Rock Lighthouse State Park along Minnesota's north shore. Like Moya's “And Still, She Calls,” Superior paints a vivid scene of a panoramic night sky and water stretching as far as the eye can see whilst also cultivating a primordial sense of natural grandeur and majesty.

As satisfying as the pieces by Moya and Bergman are, the release's major coup lies in presenting a pair of works by Larsen (b. 1950), one of America's most renowned living composers (the two are, of course, a fraction of the more than 500 she's created). Based on the Hayden Carruth poem of the same name, Emergency Haying offers a poignant reflection on the toil and sweat involved in cultivating the land; it's also, however, a sober reflection on a 2006 agricultural emergency in Vermont wrought by high fuel prices and horrible crop weather, among other things. Commissioned by the WSO and premiered by it with Dunbar in October 2023, Larsen's twenty-one-minute creation registers as a poetic odyssey of sorts when heard alongside the compact expressions of the other works. The bass-baritone gives a sterling performance that Rohde sensitively couples with the orchestra's nuanced reading of Larsen's wide-ranging score. It's compelling for the dramatic urgency and passion of its vocal narrative, but the instrumental component, resplendent in percussive detail, woodwinds, and orchestral colour, proves as gripping.

As strong an impression as Emergency Haying leaves, Raspberry Island Dreaming is even more memorable for the ravishing treatment Osowski and the WSO deliver. How the work came into being is itself interesting. Captivated by the beauty of Raspberry Island, located below the Wabasha Bridge in downtown Saint Paul, Bruce Carlson, the director of the Schubert Club, and some friends had architect James Carpenter create a glass bandshell on the island; Carlson then had Minnesota writers Patricia Hampl and Joyce Sutphen compose texts about the river that Larsen set to music to celebrate the bandshell's opening at its inaugural concert. The material seduces the moment it enters with its spellbinding “The river is…,” Osowski's bewitching voice as intoxicating as Larsen's mystery-laden tone painting. Inviting comparison to Ives and Barber is the folk-tinged splendour of “Where the river bent,” clarinet and strings complementing the singer's evocative descriptions of town details; reinstating an air of mystery is “Raspberry Island,” wherein shimmering strings and Osowski reference Robert Lowry's hymn "Shall We Gather at the River?" to stirring effect. At eleven minutes, Raspberry Island Dreaming is a concise work but nevertheless one of immense power and poise, not to mention a terrific showcase for singer and orchestra. One comes away from this splendid recording eager to visit the Minnesota region and experience its breathtaking landscapes first hand. That Rohde and company are able to engender such a desire speaks volumes about the performances on the release.

June 2025