It would be unfair to only talk about John Williams in relation to this disc as his music only constitutes half of its running time, the first half features two compositions by Kevin Kaska. Judging by the liner notes, Kaska has the same musical connection with the city of Boston as Williams; various commissions for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and performances of his works are highlighted. It also notes that he re-orchestrated Williams' sketches for the Varese re-recording of Superman. It is perhaps therefore a little unsurprising that - if not an exact sound alike - his music does often give the impression of a composer influenced by Williams. A Long Way is a selection of three gorgeous songs for Mezzo-Soprano, beautifully performed by Kristine Jepson detailing the struggles of women in history. They are halfway between opera and musical in style, but the performance is most definitely of operatic calibre. The Williams influence most notable in the ravishing finale.
Like the acoustic guitar, the harp is an instrument where concerto writing is somewhat problematic given the fairly unprojected sound of the instrument. It is liable to be swamped by the orchestra if not carefully placed. Of course the longer strings and greater overall size means that it can hold its own better than the guitar, but the orchestration must still be quite delicate. Indeed this holds true for the first two movements, particularly the Lento con espressivo which has an ethereal grace, not unlike the impressionistic scoring that opens ET. The finale, Energico balances the needs of a more exciting sound by allowing the orchestra to play passages on its own, but repeat them with smaller forces to the harp's countermelody. A most effective device that rounds an impressive concerto.
The Williams contribution opens with his Essay for Strings, a somewhat austere title for a concert piece, indeed it sounds like some kind of composition exercise and to some extent it is, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. Think of it as a combination of Bernard Herrmann and the more abrasive aspects of Close Encounters and you have some idea as to how it plays. At 30 when it was written, Williams was Kaska's current age when he wrote it, which is perhaps worrying given how much more ambitious Kaska is. This is not to say that the Essay isn't exciting and vibrant, it could quite happily be deemed an exercise in forceful Williams string writing, ideas from which he has used throughout his career.
When not written in a heroic style, the trumpet can either sound vaguely Spanish or Mexican, or if played slowly, somewhat mawkish. By and large, Williams avoids this and the writing is intricate and exciting. The opening movement mixes a complex melody in the solo part with some heroic fanfares in the rest of the brass. The first movement ends with a brief cadenza which is most exciting when the other brass join the soloist in some fast paced scales. Although the trumpet isn't that well suited to a very sincere slow movement, Williams steers away from mawkish most effectively, particularly by making full use of more traditionally lyrical instruments - strings and woodwinds. The final movement is an orchestral tour de force with echoes of the action music of both Minority Report and Attack of the Clones, but Williams has a much more concise vision here and the results are much more impressive and exciting, a terrific ending.
Perhaps the only downside to the Trumpet Concerto is that Sandoval's playing, while technically proficient, is a little too flamboyant at times and perhaps overly flexible with tempo. I rather feel Williams' trumpet writing calls for, if not a clinical sound, then something crisp and precise, rather than rubato and vibrato. This isn't helped by the trumpet being mixed very prominently and certainly quite a lot more forward sounding than the rest of the brass section. This is more personal taste, but I prefer the soloist to only stand out slightly, the writing should enable the sound to be carried to the front, not the mixing. Of course the LSO perform with typical accuracy and passion, rising to the occasion of both Kaska and Williams' tricky music. The old adage is that if you want to be a film composer, you shouldn't try to sound like John Williams and given the lack of good film music credits in Kaska's portfolio, perhaps it's true. Just as well he's a great concert composer and I rather think that one day he'll be as good as the man himself.
Rating ~ 
Kevin Kaska
Harp Concerto - Ann Hobson Pilot, Harp
John Williams
Trumpet Concerto - Arturo Sandoval, Trumpet
Total Time ~ 70:30