Performers: Florence Millet (piano); Christopher Otto (violin), Austin Wulliman (violin), John Pickford Richards (viola), Jay Campbell (violoncello)
Playing time: 80'
Recording date: 2022 (WDR); released: 2026
This recording waited a few years for release, and recording details are still actually sketchy. Nonetheless, it's now a very carefully produced release, including availability in high-def sound. (There's a variety of written material too, but no recording date.)
This also becomes my new favorite reading, after the earlier CalArts release on Bridge, with its earthier articulation & sound. (There are also older remarks about previous interpretations in that file....)
Here the string interpretations are indeed smoother & more nuanced in their developing tones, seemingly a natural expectation for the distinguished JACK Quartet. Millet has also released e.g. a recent album of Cage, and brings a sophisticated sense of ensemble. These are basically star performers (not unlike the origin of this piece with Aki Takahashi & Kronos Quartet...), including relative to many of these preferred Feldman albums....
I've also generally recommended this piece (& so the previous interpretation recommended here...) as an introduction to Feldman, and so that suggestion does still fit — even as the album apparently isn't available through standard retail channels. So that's a bit of a complication for trying to get someone interested, but there's plenty to enjoy about this interpretation.
The various fingerings, phrasings & voicings draw me in — & of course are endlessly varied by Feldman — coming to sound e.g. organesque at times, but also maximizing both timbral blend & contrast in general.... The better sound quality available for this release also lets one wallow more in the pure sound, something that seems to fit Feldman....
And this is at least the sixth recording released of this CD-length piece.
To purchasing information for this disc.
To Feldman page.
Todd M. McComb Updated: 9 March 2026