Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Worthy Introduction To Philip Glass's Music, 26 Jan 2008
Pay little attention to highly subjective reviews. This review is objective - read on. Had I read Mr Eastwood's review, damning as it is, I would not have bought this recording. A virgin to Philip Glass's music, it was, paradoxically whilst in Virgin, that I chanced upon this album. £5 seemed cheep for a chance to be enlightened. I bought it and was. Mirin Alsop, the conductress and violinist, worked closely with Glass in the late 70's and early 80's. She is well placed to both present and interpret this music. She has coaxed the Bournemouth SO to produce some wonderful soundscapes here. That this album is my first introduction to Philip Glass's music and that, because of it, I have resolved to buy more, has taught me two valuable lessons that are worth passing on: pay less credence to subjective reviews and be more capricious when buying - it pays off.
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2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Spoiled by the performance of it., 24 Dec 2007
This jangling and contrived rendition of what are essentially beautiful Glass compositions disappoints profoundly. What is demonstrated here is the confusion of the orchestra in interpreting minimalism as themselves doing the minimum they can to produce the work. Bodging along in other words, with a hint of the requirement for a mercantile or marketing outcome superseding artistic integrity detectable somehow throughout a lacklustre performance.
Even the brief spells in the 3rd movement of Symphony no.3 and the penultimate and final movements of Symphony no.2, where the sense of vitality inherent in Glass' music momentarily shine through, are almost instantly clouded over by clumsy and intrusive lapses in concentration reminiscent more of a rehearsal than a tenderly observed final offering of maximum effort, such as the compositions deserve.
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, if judged by this alone, in my personal, and it must be said, untutored opinion, should for the meantime stick to the Proms and , if needs be , Elgar. They do Glass a disservice and I would not recommend this insipid performance to anyone sampling Glass for the first time, as it does him no justice. Rather select New York recordings, which tend to burst with the energy lost on this outfit in its present guise. If you must do British then the Violin Concerto, Company and Prelude and Dance from Akhnaten, by the Ulster Orchestra, is a good bet.
Luckily this recording was cheap ( understandably so ), but my copy will almost certainly land up at the church fete stall, whilst I hunt a decent performance down.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
i really enjoyed these, 15 Nov 2009
I'm not a Glass fan - just someone who has long found his sound world attractive but had been disapointed on closer listening. But I thought I would try these - the idea of Glass as a symphonist intrigued me - and must confess that I have greatly enjoyed them. Marin Alsop is, of course, a conductor of some repute and I found nothing to indicate that the performances here may fall below her normal high standards. The music - it is attractive and enthralling; it keeps you interested and you are almost sorry when it ends ... it is effective and enjoyable. I suppose a symphony is meant to be more of a journey: you feel you have reached a different place by its end ... maybe you are happier, or exhausted or unlifted. I'm not sure that these works do quite that - although they do satisfy - but composers have been reinventing the symphony for hundred of years so who is to say that that is a failing or a fault?
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