Review: Browns in Blue (The 5 Browns)

I've followed the five Brown siblings for several years now for two reasons: 1) because they are Mormon and attend the same church I went to as a child, across from Juilliard where they study, and I'm always in favor of prominent Mormon musicians; and 2) because they are clearly trying to make classical music "accessible" to people of our generation and I admire their efforts. I've enjoyed this latest album Browns in Blue mostly because each of the selections has a classically beautiful melody, many of which will be recognizable even to those who don't follow piano repertoire (except for the arrangement on the Vaughn Williams hymn "If You Could Hie to Kolob" which will mostly likely only be recognized by LDS people). The siblings are clearly targeting a younger listener who needs a little glamor and schmaltz to go with an all-acoustic recording, and I for one enjoy their glitzy poses and hang-loose personalities.

I have two complaints, however. In all the marketing and comfortable programming, I feel that the individual artistic temperaments have been sacrificed. Presumably each of these siblings has a distinct style or taste that varies (however insignificantly) from the others'. But you'd never know it as one carefully executed piece by one sibling moves right along to another carefully executed piece by another. I'd like a little more blood and guts left on the floor of the recording studio-- I'd like to be able to tell when Greg is playing or when it's Deondra-- but perhaps the ensemble work that's brought them fame has also diminished their individually passionate voices.

The Chopin Nocture (Op 48 No 1) played by Greg seemed to me to have the most soul and drive of any of the pieces on the recording. A rather adventurous video of his "Superstar Etude" suggests that there's something more under his surface, which, for me, is reassuring.

Secondly, I come away from the 5 Browns' recordings feeling that the potential of five pianos being played at once has barely been scratched. What a thunderously rich, orchestral noise five pianos can make together! And yet the arrangements in which all five of them are playing suggest to my ear that each of the siblings is perhaps playing a single line, or a simplified part, rather than a fully developed polyphony. I compare their arrangements to those Leif Ove Andsnes emplyed at his Risor festival when he gathered 10 of the greatest pianists in the world and had them play everything from Bach to a Jamaican Rumba.

All in all, I am thrilled for the 5 Browns and would reach for their latest if I were to recommend an introductory piano recording to a friend. It's happy, untortured stuff and for that I am grateful.