By binding the chords and phrases of Schoenberg’s music, Iman almost makes it sound more pentatonic than atonal—one might say, a cousin to Scriabin. Nonetheless, Witzel does what he can with it, playing solo throughout and improving its quality if not quite lifting it far enough out of its original form. In his second improvised chorus, he resorts to some flashy triplets in lieu of his usual high-level creations. If he had wanted to do a song from Porgy and Bess, I wish he had chosen “It Ain’t Necessarily So” which is the best piece in the whole opera.
As in some of her other works, too, Zwilich throws in some clear jazz references—here, at least, in the earlier jazz-classical style of Gershwin, only a bit more modal. She also provides excellent contrasts between the cellist’s lines and the orchestra. For the most part they are on the same page …