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collected here tend to the illustrative, even overtly programmatic, free in form and requiring a virtuoso technique to perform, which Goodyear possesses in abundance.
The major (and earliest) item, of course, is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1874), which receives a robust performance overall, with much nuanced playing throughout. Goodyear is quicksilver and light in ‘Tuileries’ and the ‘Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’, powerfully taut in ‘Samuel Goldberg and Schmuÿle’ and ‘Baba-Yaga’, roof-raising in ‘The Great Gate at Kiev’. ‘Bydło’, however, is surely too fast – these are oxen on steroids, in need of a drugs test! If not a standout interpretation like Behzod Abduraimov’s Gramophone Awards shortlisted account this year, it is nonetheless a fine one. What many collectors will be attracted to here, though, are the novelties, the finest being Middle Passage (1983) by Anthony Davis, best known, perhaps, for his opera Amistad, and Secret and Glass Gardens (2000), Jennifer Higdon’s evocative nocturne featured in the 2005 Van Cliburn Competition. Both have been recorded before, in mixed-composer collections, Higdon’s twice for Innova, Davis’s by Ursula Oppens in a coruscating – and appreciably quicker – performance for Music & Arts. Goodyear relishes Higdon’s gentler textures as much as Davis’s more volatile, mercurial inspiration, much as he does in the two Debussy pieces. The programme is bookended by two of Goodyear’s own compositions, piano reductions from larger pieces that reflect his part-West Indian heritage to invigorating effect. And yes, there is a Lisztian quality to both. Bright Shiny Things’ presentation is flashy and odd: for example, the track-listing does not credit the composers, who are reduced to a footnote, and there is no booklet note. The sound is a little stolid but acceptable. Guy Rickards Mussorgsky – selected comparison: Abduraimov (1/21) (ALPH) ALPHA653
Our monthly guide to North American venues Constitution Hall, Washington DC
Year opened 1929 Architect John Russell Pope Capacity 3696
Constitution Hall, owned and operated by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is located directly west of the White House Elipse, between the American Red Cross Headquarters and the Organization of American States. The imposing neoclassical building, clad in Alabama limestone, is the work of New York architect John Russell Pope, who also designed the National Archives, the Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery’s West Wing in Washington, as well as additions to the Tate Gallery and British Museum in London. When Constitution Hall opened its doors in 1929, it was Washington’s second concert hall – Coolidge Hall at the Library of Congress had opened in 1925 – and with a seating capacity of 3696 it remains the District’s largest.
Prior to the 1920s, venues for both local and touring musicians in the nation’s capital were theatres and churches. Constitution Hall quickly became a cultural hub. The rectangular orchestra seats 1234 and is surrounded on three sides by a row of boxes, beyond which rises a raked U-shaped tier. A 1929 three-manual, 40-rank organ by Skinner of Boston, Opus 757, graces the hall. Organ enthusiasts will note that this is two years after G Donald Harrison joined the firm and three years prior to the merger with the Aeolian Company that formed Aeolian-Skinner.
In 1931 the National Symphony Orchestra gave its inaugural concert at Constitution Hall, which would remain its permanent home until the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971. During those decades the hall became a prime destination for classical soloists and ensembles on tour. Other prominent Washingtonbased organisations, such as the National Geographic Society, used Constitution Hall for their public programming and the armed services bands often performed there. Some of the earliest mainstream Country and Western concerts, organised by Connie B Gay, took place in the hall.
The Daughters of the American Revolution created a furore in Washington in 1939, when they denied contralto Marian
Anderson a concert in Constitution Hall because of her race. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the organisation in protest and President Roosevelt prevailed on the Secretary of the Interior to arrange for Anderson to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, Anderson sang on the National Mall for an audience of 75,000 and a radio audience estimated at eight million. The event became one of the most famous concerts in US history and a touchstone of the Civil Rights Movement. The DAR reversed its policy of segregation and Anderson sang in Constitution Hall at an American Red Cross war relief benefit in 1943. Anderson chose the hall as the first stop on her farewell tour in 1964.
In addition to concerts, the hall is used for conferences, corporate meetings, school commencements and television broadcasts. While closed for the pandemic, in June 2020 a massive restoration of the nearly century-old hall began. Concrete subflooring was replaced and 96 tons of steel was hoisted aloft to reinforce the roof and overhead skylight. Using Pope’s original designs, plaster was painstakingly restored and fabric stretched over the curved ceilings to refresh the original acoustics of the room as the architect intended. Every effort has been made to return the hall to its pristine condition, including the duplication of the contours and fabric coverings of the original seating.
Constitution Hall is poised to begin its second century with a new lease of life. Patrick Rucker gramophone.co.uk
GRAMOPHONE DECEMBER 2021 V
