Fantastic Florence finally fêted
In the first half of the 20th Century, black American musicians, however distinguished, didn’t find that their talent offered any escape from the racism of the time.
Louis Armstrong, for instance, couldn’t stay in the same hotel as his white colleagues in his All Stars band. And that was in New England, not the Deep South.
The great soprano Leontyne Price was accepted as a star in Europe at least a decade before she was invited to make her Metropolitan Opera debut.
And the composer Florence Price (1887-1953) is only now beginning to get the recognition she deserves.
The outstanding piece here is the Piano Concerto In One Movement (actually three), which the music director of the Chicago Symphony, Frederick Stock, arranged to be premiered by the Women’s Symphony Orchestra of Chicago.
It’s a fine piece, albeit a bit backward-looking, with the first two movements recalling Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Then comes a delightful ragtime-inspired finale that fans of Scott Joplin will love.
The Symphony No1 is an attractive but sprawling work of 40 minutes. It has the distinction of being the first symphonic piece by an African-American woman ever played by a major American symphony orchestra. Once again thanks to Stock, in 1933.
Sadly I can’t see it being a concert repertory regular, but the concerto, on the other hand, ought to do well. And it’s splendidly performed here by another of the hugely talented Kanneh-Mason family, Jeneba, who manages with ease even the trickiest virtuoso passages, of which there are many.
My sadness is that another early piece, Ethiopia’s Shadow In America, is represented only by the slow movement. There would have been room for all of it, but Decca obviously didn’t want it.
The Chineke! Orchestra was set up to offer opportunities to black musicians. They sound very well here on an enterprising album that I hope will do well.