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George Antheil Ballet mécanique Ballet mécanique - Rex Lawson (pianola) with six pianists & nine xylophonists Sonata No. 2 for Violin, Piano and Drum (Charles Castleman, violin) String Quartet No. l Mendelssohn Quartet Nimbus Alliance NI 2567 This is a splendid presentation of the original version of George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique as given at Carnegie Hall in 1927, a work which he later orchestrated but thereby softened its impact. This recreation in New York (1990) features Rex Lawson, believed to be the only currently active virtuoso exponent of a far from easy instrument. Computer techniques were used to solve other problems and perfect the ensemble of multiple pianos, electric bells, sirens and aeroplane propellers for this authentic performance. Upon its earlier release, Gramophone opined that "the best that can be said of it is that its 27 minutes are not unremittingly deafening, and Antheil's use of fragmentation and silence in the third part is a welcome concession to aesthetic conventions of balance and variety that the two earlier parts seem determined to bury for ever". Their AW preferred the First String Quartet "inconsequential in form, but it has an appealing lyric quality" and the "collages of quotations and allusions" in the Jazz Symphony and the Second Violin Sonata. This is essential hearing for collectors of early avant-garde and it is superbly presented by Nimbus with lavish liner notes and numerous URL web links for those who want to delve further. Recommended unreservedly for purchase, but spare your ears from a near half hour assault if you take the Three Rolls of the "ballet" straight; I found that interposing the sonata and the quartet between the movements of the ballet, plus a good interval for necessary refreshment, worked well... Peter Grahame Woolf See also: Pianists, Piano Music & Technology; Pianolas & Reproducing Pianos and a substantial video excerpt of the Fernand Leger Film of Ballet mécanique - but the sound track is not a patch on the new Nimbus CD !
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