Judith Farmer plays favorites

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Bassonist Judith Farmer’s CD Judith Farmer plays favorites goes a long ways to dispel any prejudices the listener might have against the bassoon, that rangy and most underused of the woodwinds, its often reedy, at times sneaky, at others grandfatherly sound occasionally brought to life by enterprising composers like Stravinsky in The Rite of Spring and Paul Dukas in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Displaying easy comfort with the technical hurdles of her instrument bassoonist Judith Farmer’s can elicit sounds that are very pleasing to the ear in the playfully elegant Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon by Francis Poulenc, an early 20th century three-movement composition that dallies with atonality during its brief nine minutes duration and that allows clarinetist Wenzel Fuchs to share center stage with Judith Farmer.

Likewise, this fine artist can make the Sonata in C Major by the neglected and incredibly prolific Johann Friedrich Fasch, a Baroque composition worth re-visiting, given Farmer’s idiomatic command of 18th century performance practice. The performance is greatly enhanced by the fine playing of harpsichordist Patricia Mabee and cellist Andrew Shulman.

Interferénces I, a nervous, jagged, episodic work allows the bassoonist the opportunity to display technical dexterity, which Judith Farmer does with fine support from pianist Vicky Ray.

My favorite piece in the CD is Gernot Wolfgang’s Duo for Flute and Bassoon No.1, a jazz-inflected, fun, contrapuntally intricate tour de force for the bassoonist and flutist Susan Greenberg.

Produced by Gernot Wolfgang and Judith Farmer, mixed and mastered by Rich Breen and edited by Gernot Wolfgang, Judith Farmer plays favorites is a labor of love most welcome during these days of musical deprivation.

The album can be purchased as a download at Amazon.com:
https://cutt.ly/AM_JFPF

Rafael de Acha

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”