Reger - Karg-Elert - Reubke
Iconoclastic, provocative, and compelling performances here
occasionally take us to the limits of poetic license, yet one never doubts that Fejko has
a deep personal attachment to these pieces and all of the technique necessary to make them
sing and sizzle. He savors every note and modulation. While tempos may occasionally creep,
one's connection to the forward impulse is never lost, sense of shape is never confused,
and no cobwebs accumulate. The reworked 1952/1991 Klais (IV/96), a tad glassy in its
climaxes, at least as presented in this overallall very effective yet just-a-bit-too-close
recording sounds more convincing than some of that firm's recent and more glitzy projects.
The organ possesses sufficient mass, clarity, and brilliance either to press you back
deeply into your audition chair or bring you to the seat's edge with real excitement. In
an increasingly disinterested environment, orgelmeister Fejko provides a most
attractive package of great romantic blockbusters, a bracing and tasty tonic. Zowie!!
Michael Barone
The American Organist - 4/98
OUTBURST!
Without question it is the organ that rightfully claims
center stage in this recording, and a worthy one it is, too. This is the famous
Æolian-Skinner designed by G. Donald Harrison for All Saints Episcopal Church in
Worcester, MA., and the program has been thoughtfully chosen to demonstrate the vast
capabilities of this 120 rank (sic) gem. ....exciting..... Mulet, Messiaen... ....most
successful.... Karg-Elert, Saint-Saëns, Jongen Fejko is often imaginative in his
approach; but you're as likely to be perplexed by the liberties he takes as you are to be
thrilled by his exciting playing.
Eileen Guenther
The American Organist - 6/95
INCANTATION
....[a] fine recital.... The playing is good, the recording
excellent.... .....[a] CD worth owning...
Vernon Gotwals
The American Organist - 4/92
|
Night Visions
Unencumbered by liturgical necessity or sacred reference,
Fejko sails free-form through a colorful and curious soundscape. He showed his incredible
rapport with this underappreciated Klais organ in a previous ARKAY release (AR-6160,
Reger/Karg-Elert/Reubke) and has again himself recorded the instrument to very good
effect. Its earthy, robust tone is far more interesting to hear than most American
instruments of the era. If in the end what we have is not so memorable or
touching/accessible as the improvisations of Pierre Cochereau or Paul Halley, you admire
both Fejko's process and his result. It is a brave thing to do, improvise for the
microphones, and the CD makes you wish to hear this musician "live". It may not
be the trip you expected to take, but you'll enjoy the journey.
Michael Barone
The American Organist - 11/99
On
Making the Flowers Dance
...in a world that often values conformity over
individuality, such an unself-conscious and, above all, fluent hour of music has to be
welcomed. There really is a garden of the imagination just on the other side of the gate!
Haig Mardirosian
The American Organist - 5/97
Paul Fejko, one of our most brilliant and charismatic
talents demonstrates his unedited improvisational skills in On Making the Flowers Dance.
This is truly orchestration by organ.
Harry Hewitt
Penn Sounds - Summer '97
Tyme's
Escape
....a talented and serious creative musician... The plastic
and gentle synthesized sonorities [of the lyricon] meld well with the 125 rank Æolian-
Skinner at All Saints Church in Worcester.
Haig Mardirosian
The American Organist - 9/94
A remarkable exercise in so-called 'New Age' styles,
contemporary technology and ancient performance skills wedded into a brilliantly realized
color tapestry. This is improvisation of the highest order.... Fejko and Diamond] are
master musicians who display their mastery in ways common to many cultures outside the
circumference of most traditional western musics.
Harry Hewitt
Penn Sounds - Spring '93 |
Follow the Links to hear the works mentioned below
The program ended with a brilliantly written and ingenious
show-stopper for two pianos: Paul Fejko's Gossips,
Talkers & Babblers (1986). A virtuoso performance by Kevin Murphy and
Benjamin Loebe. A real contribution to the literature, and which deserves to become a
repertory favorite!
Harry
Hewitt
Penn Sounds - Winter '91
Matteo Falcone
a one-act opera
Fejko....has constructed a piece from motifs that stand as clear
guides through the economical score.The players' dialogue is sung, yet its rhythmic flow
is so cannily chosen that it gives the illusion of the most natural speech. The principals
have fragments of song which break into rhythmic speech, and even sometimes into plain
unaccompanied spoken lines. The shift from music to speech is carefully limited, generally
to good effect.... Fejkos' score is appealing for its cartoonlike clarity. The good
guys have noble music; the swine have grinding dissonance. Five-note arpeggios are used to
keep an air of tension in the action, and Fejko found an effective device in a word - like
Signore - or the mother's monotone prayer sung on one note while the orchestral
color swirled around it. The bass-violin glissandos provide a shiver of fear that runs
through a singer. The music comments on the words and the motives of the singers, and
sometimes seems to frame a character momentarily, stopping the action while the character
completes a thought. Words and music merged in enlarging the dramatic effect.
Daniel Webster
The Philadelphia Inquirer 10/24/87
Referring to a concert
the week before:
Fejko proved to be a driving, exciting musician.
Bill Nazzaro
The Welcomat (Phila, PA) - 8/7/85
Although Phoenix Rising (Piano Quartet - 1st Movement, Last Movement) has the stronger dance line of the two pieces,
it's also the one in which the musicians most clearly upstage the dancers. Paul Fejko's
music, although scored for only four instruments, has rich orchestral color. Full of
whirrings that amply suggest a phoenix on the move.
...bright, energetic playing of David DiGiacobbe on flute, William Kell on viola, Richard
Hotchkiss (aka:Hotch) on cello, and Fejko on piano.
Nancy Goldner
The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/5/94 |
