Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant Enough but Short on Substance and Variety, 17 Dec 2003
[Note: By mistake I assigned five stars to this CD. That was an error which apparently I cannot now change. But I meant to give it THREE stars, not FIVE. - Scott Morrison]
A friend once described the wildly successful book, 'Bridges of Madison County,' as 'written for people who don't read.' I would apply a similar assessment to the music on this disc; this is music for people who don't listen to classical music. Alla Pavlova, a Russian emigrant now living in New York, has reportedly written four symphonies and this disc contains two of them.
The First, subtitled 'Farewell Russia,' is actually a one-movement piece for eleven instruments, including an important part for piano who makes three cadenza-like contributions to the proceedings. The dynamic rarely rises above mezzo piano and there is a good deal of noodling and repetition. The composer, whose comments are quoted extensively in the booklet, says that it was composed in response to her returning to her native land after some years away. Frankly, all I am able to hear in the piece is a somewhat anemic kind of minimalism with occasional striking instrumental color. There is little that suggests an emotional response of any kind. I imagine that it would be best used as background music while one is paying attention to other things.
Symphony No. 3, in four movements lasting almost forty minutes, also rarely raises its voice. But it does insist, again and again, on repeating the same things, mostly andante and mostly mezzo piano until, for this listener at least, it wears out its welcome. Further, the composer says, it was inspired by a statue of Joan of Arc on New York's Riverside Drive. That is as may be but I see little connection between Joan of Arc and the insistent but wan Latin rhythms of the first movement. Her statement, 'It is my hope that this music will provide support and inspiration to the listeners at difficult moments of their lives' is tendentious and just a little pompous. The melodies are simple, tonal, not terrible memorable even after being repeated seemingly ad infinitum. This is pleasant enough, particularly if you don't pay much attention, but if you do and have any knowledge of classical music at all, you begin to wonder what the point is.
The performances are good, the instrumentalists quite competent, the recorded sound quite good. A shame they aren't matched by the music.
This is waiting-room music.
Scott Morrison
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A Breath of Fresh Air, 14 Jul 2009
I have to disagree with the previous reviewer - this is not 'waiting room' music! It may not be Beethoven or Mozart, but in some ways is all the better for that. As someone with over 1500 CDs (including most of the standard repetoire)I find myself increasingly turning to Naxos to hear music I wouldn't normally get the opportunity to. Kamran Ince,Sergio Rendine, Ge Gan-Ru; all excellent composers whose music will NEVER be heard on a stage near you!
In years gone by, I have attended 'classical' concerts up to 20 times a year; that's down to about four now (although I still attend opera performances) because I'm sick of hearing all of the usual suspects, from Beethoven's 5th through to the Bruch Violin Concerto, repeated ad infinitum. REAL music fans demand more, and I encourage you to listen to Alla Pavlova because it's good music. Don't listen to the music snobs; leave them to listen to the Sibelius 5th Symphony (which is one of my favourite works) to the exclusion of almost everything else - don't make that mistake and you'll be the richer for it!
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~ Alla Pavlova
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