Ron Schepper offers an in-depth review of Mark Abel’s new album, Spectrum, in Textura Magazine:

“While appreciation for Mark Abel’s music is undeniably enhanced by familiarity with releases such as The Cave of Wondrous Voice (2020), Time and Distance (2018), and Home is a Harbor (2016), it’s not required when the double-CD set Spectrum, the sixth album on Delos by the American composer, offers a compact, stand-alone account of his artistry. Comprised of three vocal works and three chamber pieces, the recording is distinguished by Abel’s writing but also the performers: sopranos Hila Plitmann, Isabel Bayrakdarian, and mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich; pianists Carol Rosenberger, Dominic Cheli, Sean Kennard, and Jeffrey LaDeur; violinists Dennis Kim, Adam Millstein, violist David Samuel, and cellist Jonah Kim; and hornist Jeff Garza, flutist Christy Kim, and clarinetist Max Opferkuch. The vocal settings are the song cycles Trois Femmes du Cinema and 1966, along with Two Scenes from “The Book of Esther,” excerpts from an opera in development. All involved do much to maximize the allure of Abel’s already appealing music. … [Abel] is, as it were, his own man, a composer who brings his sensibility and highly developed command of craft to a particular idea and illuminates it in strikingly imaginative manner. … Smart also was his decision to introduce Spectrum with a work that augments the illustrious vocal artistry of Bayrakdarian with the sensitive accompaniment of Rosenberger. Abel’s lyrical writing and the duo’s performance accentuate the pathos of lives that ascended to glorious peaks but also endured personal and professional disappointment. … In true art song fashion, Abel’s music replicates the emotional trajectory of the words in each setting, in this case the texts penned by the composer himself. The release’s first disc closes with two ten-minute instrumental works, Reconciliation Day, an expressive and suitably enigmatic viola-and-piano duet essayed magnificently by Samuel and Cheli, and Out the Other Side, a wide-ranging showcase written for and dynamically performed by Trio Barclay members Kim, Kim, and Kennard. Speaking of showcases, the vocal gifts of Plitmann and Scharich are displayed in the second disc’s opening work, Two Scenes from “The Book of Esther,” their singing beautifully supported by Cheli, Millstein, and Opferkuch and the text about the biblical heroine written by LA poet Kate Gale. … Despite the modest instrumental forces in play, the music exudes a compelling neo-orchestral character that suggests how effective it would be performed by a large ensemble. … Written for and performed by Scharich and LaDeur, the piece reflects on the time the composer turned eighteen and the life-changing events that happened during that period—a romance, a hike, and San Francisco visit. Wistful, nostalgic, and, yes, lyrical, the songs are rendered gracefully by the pair, the outpouring of “First Love” particularly affecting. As stated, one’s appreciation for Abel’s work is enhanced by familiarity with all of his Delos releases, but Spectrum functions as a fine exemplar of the whole, especially when it features vocal and instrumental works. Best of all, his oft-lyrical, melody-rich material exemplifies exceptional craft and emotional resonance, and at ninety-two minutes, the package manages to be both comprehensive and tidy in its single-volume presentation.”

—Ron Schepper, Textura Magazine

See the full review at Textura.org