When David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe first met in the late 1980s, they were engaged in a mutual search for music that didn't exist yet. The three composers had been inspired by mavericks like Meredith Monk, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, but they were after something still different: something that wasn't quite minimalism, but drew on its pulse; that wasn't rock, but that showed evidence that rock existed; that wasn't… more »
The classical music press has often seemed suspicious of ensembles consisting of attractive, stylish young women. So this early record (1997) from the Eroica Trio was an important statement: It not only stakes out their musical territory, it also dispels any sense that the trio’s early success was based solely on their looks. That musical territory is explicitly mapped in the opening tracks, a convincing performance of trio arrangements of the Gershwin preludes, originally, for piano. These works take the sounds of American jazz and blues as a compositional given, a part of the music’s DNA. Arranged for the Eroica Trio, these familiar preludes benefit from the novel tone colors the violin and cello add. Their reading of the Ravel Piano Trio is… more »
Glass fans may find the title of this three-CD collection from Sony a little presumptuous, lacking as it does any of Glass’s “essential” recordings for Nonesuch Records (Koyaanisqatsi, Mishima, Music In Twelve Parts, any of the symphonies or string quartets). However, the Sony catalog does include the trio of so-called “portrait operas” — Einstein On The Beach, Satyagraha and Akhnaten — as well as such emblematic works as Songs From Liquid Days and Glassworks, all of which are effectively excerpted here. Someone could quibble with the selections and sequencing, but of course that’s always part of the fun of any best-of collection. This someone wishes they’d included “Confrontation” from Satyagraha, and that “Tolstoy Farm”… more »
One of the knocks against outta-left-field, Bach-loving piano phenom Simone Dinnerstein is that her take on the composer is too Romantic. Most people likely know how they come down on her Bach at this point — so what’s most interesting here is the inclusion of Schubert’s first series of Impromptus (which sit next to a couple of Bach Partitas). Those Schubert entries, written late in the life of a composer who sits more or less at the first blush of the Romantic era, do seem a natural choice for Dinnerstein’s gifts.
But if you thought she’d be looking to hedge or hide some of her interpretive tendencies in Romantic repertoire, you’d be wrong. From the opening of No. 1 in C… more »
Joshua Bell’s first album of sonatas since he signed with Sony in 1996 is also, after seven years playing with Jeremy Denk as accompanist, Bell’s first recording with him. Despite the title, none of this music is Impressionist — even Ravel’s Sonata is more jazz. But it’s nice to hear the Ravel alongside pieces other than the usual Debussy (an excellent Sarah Chang album offers the same program as Bell’s).
Others have found more depth and drama in Franck’s Sonata, but in terms of sheer beauty it’s hard to beat Bell and his rich, plummy tone. He milks this mighty opus for all it’s worth without taking immoderately slow tempos to do so. It’s his second recording of the work;… more »
Want to get a snapshot of last year's best music? In our Best of 2011 radio station, you'll hear songs from the artists who provided our 2011 soundtrack. No matter what your taste -- indie rock, jazz, doom metal or avant-folk, you'll find it here in eMusic's Best of 2011 Radio. more »
