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Track Listings
| 1. 'The Vision' - Movement I - Paul Barnes |
| 2. 'Sacagawea' - Movement II - Paul Barnes |
| 3. 'The Land' - Movement III - Paul Barnes |
| 4. Movement I - Jillon Stoppels Dupree |
| 5. Movement II - Jillon Stoppels Dupree |
| 6. Movement III - Jillon Stoppels Dupree |
Product Description
Album Description
Pianist Paul Barnes performs Piano Concerto No2, After Lewis and Clark written to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the explorers' journey across the American continent. A fortuitous meeting between Barnes and Glass on an airplane in 1995 eventually led to this concerto, but it was only composed after Orange Mountain Music's acclaimed 2003 release of the pianist's transcriptions of Glass operas 'The Orphee Suite'.
The opening movement, 'The Vision', is described by Glass as a "musical steamroller" and depicts the tremendous resolve and energy required by Lewis and Clark for their extraordinary expedition, while the last of the three movements, 'The Land', is a gloriously expansive theme and variations reflecting the great vastness of the land they explored. In between comes 'Sacagawea', an intimate movement that features a traditional Shoshone Indian theme performed on the Native American flute by renowned player R Carlos Nakai.
The dynamic flare of the piano concerto is contrasted by the album's second work, Glass's beautiful Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra. The three-movement work is played by harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree, one of America's top baroque musicians. She says it is "captivating, stunningly beautiful and mesmerizing in the best sense of the word...Though it is certainly recognizable as Glass, with its hypnotic arpeggiation in the first movement and its haunting melodic gestures in the second, in many ways it surprises with elements of both jazz and baroque styles. (It) is frolicking fun to play."
The piece is marked by refined writing for chamber orchestra which showcases the most lush sounds of the harpsichord, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer raved: "The whole well designed work had life and shape and a beautiful balance between soloist and orchestra" while the Seattle Times said that Glass "understands how to score for the harpsichord, giving the soloist plenty of trills and other effects that demonstrate its melodic as well as percussive possibilities."
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Customer Reviews
There's certainly nothing wrong with the performances or recording: they're excellent.
The Harpsichord Concerto is Glass's tribute to Bach and a very loving one it is - you hear the voices of both Bach and Glass and it manages to finish with an exuberant dance movement. The central slow movement is exquisite and you'd be tempted to repeat hearing that over and over again. No doubt about it: this is a beautiful work and shows Glass's talent for working with traditional baroque forms - another example is the slow movement of his third symphony - this is a type of music that he loves and it shows.
The Piano Concerto: Well I've tried. I've listened several times - unlike the critics who gave the recording rave reviews! This hasn't been for pleasure but more of a penance. No matter how many times I listen it comes across as pretentious "Emperor's New Clothes" - over half an hour of emptiness. Add his references to native Indian culture and it becomes all the more annoying - it's as if he's added these references to keep the listener interested - fooling them into thinking there's something lurking behind the notes. If it's a concerto surely it should be about the soloist and orchestra first - neither of which seem the slightest bit stretched by this monotonous rambling music.
So if you think it's worth the money certainly buy this for the Harpsichord Concerto alone. I must admit that I don't regret my purchase - 1 good work out of 2 isn't so bad.
Mike Gray
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