Critical Comments:
STRAINS AND RESTRAINTS (solo piano) |
EXPRESSIONS INTIMES (solo piano) |
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"
on
the lyrical side of the program, [Strains and
Restraints] began in an almost pastoral
style, its graceful melodies set in a
mysteriously cloudy harmonic world."
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Allan Kozinn, New York Times |
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"
more
original is Elizabeth Pizer's Expressions
Intimes, calmly flowering, bittersweet
reveries that explore subtle harmonic shadings
somewhere between Ravel and Bill Evans. These
quiet, understated, introspective gems offer
refuge from everything noisy, aggressive, and
ugly."
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Mark
Lehman, American Record Guide |
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"
Strains
and Restraints, a set of three immensely
listenable pieces.
couched in full, but
clear, harmonies.
subtle shadings of
dynamics
it takes a finely-tuned ear to
attend to the shadings, to make clear but not
overstate.
a delicate wistfulness in
'Bittersweet';
in 'Ethereal'
exquisite closing moments; 'Playful' is
superbboth in delineating the expansive
rhythms to maintaining an intensity that is
urgent,but never forced.
Expressions
Intimes, is given a reading of charm and
sensitivity.
so strong is the jazz
influence.
melancholic expression
improvisatory nature
highly personal works.
for the two Pizer sets, there is a
closeness, a one-to-one-ness that is right on
target."
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Elizabeth Lauer, ILWC Journal |
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"Elizabeth
Hayden Pizer's Expressions Intimes, intended
as a tribute to Mompou and praised by that
composer, is eminently listenable, with a wispy,
dreamlike feel to it that does indeed recall
Mompou's music as well as the piano music of
Debussy and Ravel. Similarly, her Strains and
Restraints is a lyrical three-movement work,
unaffected and accessible, with a shifting
tonality."
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D.
C. Culbertson, High Performance Review |
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"An
unaffected naturalness characterizes [Strains
and Restraints]. The first piece is a
reflective prelude
the second piece
a
haunting nocturne. The last piece
[suggests]
a carousel effect.
this compelling work
deserves a sensitive interpreter."
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Melinda Fields, Piano Guild Notes |
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"
I
especially enjoyed her Strains and
Restraints
Her narrative argument is
stated eloquently, and phrased expressively,
particularly in the third movement."
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Elliott Schwartz, Living Music
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ELEGY IN AMBER |
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(In Memoriam
Leonard Bernstein) (string orchestra) |
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"Pizer's
Elegy is a 1993 memorial to Bernstein
(whose name means "amber" in German)
for string orchestra. From its dark opening on
low, overlapping pedal points, the piece builds
slowly through gentle, halting chordal sighs and
chiaroscuro harmonic shadings to a trembling
climax before subsiding back into
darknesswhile unobtrusively weaving melodic
fragments from several Bernstein scores into its
archlike span. These emerge and subside
like halfforgotten memories, adding to the
work's poignancy."
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Mark
Lehman, American Record Guide |
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"
a
deeply affecting, eloquent orchestral tribute to
Bernstein
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Stephen Ellis, Fanfare |
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"Also
neo-Classical in method but far darker in mood is
Elizabeth Faw Hayden Pizer's Elegy in Amber,
in Memoriam Leonard Bernstein, for string
orchestra (9:09). It is boldly and appropriately
dramatic in lamentation."
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Robert McColley, Fanfare |
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"
Elizabeth
Pizer's moving tribute for strings interweaves
motifs from Bernstein's compositions and
highlights this portrait of American women
composers."
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Records
International
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FIVE HAIKU,
II
(song cycle voice & piano) |
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"
the
highlight of the programs
poetic, charming,
melancholy, witty and original
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Harald Braun, Die Rheinpfalz
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LOOK DOWN,
FAIR MOON (voice & piano) |
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"
Pizer
showed
an understanding of the expressive capabilities
of the human voice
"
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Marilyn Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle
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