Aisha Orazbayeva

Mia Zabelka

Myasmo

Setola di Maiale SM 4100

Mini essays in string set augmentation, these CDs concentrate on solo violin expressions, freeing the instrument from its auxiliary role and mostly shattering its tendency towards sweetness. Practically the antithesis of one another Vienna-based Mia Zabelka’s Myasmo consist of four tracks of ratcheting composition-improvisations shaped by Zabelka’s extended fiddle techniques and voice. Music for Violin Alone on the other hand is a showcase for Kazakhstan-born, French resident Aisha Orazbayeva. Mostly dedicated to contemporary notated music this disc also includes two baroque pieces from 1720.

Scratchy and staccato much of the time in her playing, Zabelka’s peerless technical command is obvious throughout as when she alternates swift pizzicato plucks with arco sul tasto without pause. Subtly advanced on tracks like “London” is her ability to stretch multiple textures from each individual string. In that manner not only is the root note but also its collective extensions are heard. Convention isn’t altogether abandoned however since she ensures that narratives evolve chromatically and horizontally even as unconventional textures resonate.

Added on this track and as prominently on others, are vocal gymnastics in tandem or in contrast to her string sweeps and squeaks. Sometimes shrieks or sibilant yelps, other times throaty gurgles midway between a witch’s cackle and Bedlam murmur, they’re used as timbral affiliation. On “Tønsberg” for instance vocals erupt alongside stropping, strident sweeps that seem to arise from the fiddle’s peg box and cease when Mia Zabelka makes a surprising turn towards tonality at mid-point. Still, the most imposing display occurs on “Vienna”, the track named for her home town, where jagged strings slather as pizzicato flanges are moderated with vocal harmonies and the finale suggests the textures created by circular cuts across the strings with a knife blade.

There’s nothing that rugged on the other CD, and Orazbayeva even devotes two brief tracks to interpreting baroque airs by Bach and Nicola Mattels. Otherwise the compositions all dare from the 20th or 21st Century, ranging from James Tenney’s “Koan” from 1971, to Orazbayeva’s own “Ring” written in 2020. Microtonal and repetitive the Tenney piece appears to vibrate endlessly, with each violin string becoming progressively louder as the theme advances. After stridently squeezing textures up the scale, the ending consists of atom-sized string squawks and eviscerated rubs. Her own composition is a tour-de-force with resounding textures likely created col legno and with the bow’s frog. That means the resulting sound is reed-like rather than related to the string set. Building up to metallic screeches which also emphasize sonic extensions from the root, intonation appears to come from within the violin rather than from its strings, with the ending sharpened, sliding buzzes. The other memorable track is the first: Angharad Davies’ “Circular Bowing Study (2012-2020). Moving among tremolo runs, parsed silences and string squeaks, the climax arrives when swells and pops are exposed at presto speed. Stentorian string rubs then resonate backwards and upwards.

Although solo violin recitals have some history in the so-called classical field only innovators like Billy Bang and Leroy Jenkins have tried similar experiments in the improvised music sphere. The commendation that can be implied to these sessions is that while outstanding, they only superficially resemble previous Jazz or notated music recitals.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Angharad Davies Circular Bowing Study (2012-2020) 2. Johann Sebastian Bach Largo from Sonata no.3 in C major (1720) 3. Nicola Matteis Jr. Alia Fantasia (1720) 4. Oliver Leith Blurry Wake Song (2019) 5. James Tenney Koan 1971) 6. John Cage Eight Whiskus (1985) 7. Aisha Orazbayeva Ring (2020)

Personnel: Aisha Orazbayeva (violin)

Track Listing: Music: Myasmo: 1. London 2. Le Havre 3. Vienna 4. Tønsberg

Personnel: Music: Myasmo: Mia Zabelka (violin and vocals)