Aaron Jay Kernis: Air; Double Concerto; Lament & Prayer

Aaron Jay Kernis (Composer), David Zinman (Conductor), Hugh Wolff (Conductor), Minnesota Orchestra (Orchestra), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: David Zinman, Hugh Wolff
• Composer: Aaron Jay Kernis
• Audio CD (April 13, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00000IIXU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,269 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this CD, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Aaron Jay Kernis: Air; Double Concerto; Lament & Prayer (Audio CD)

Wow. Kudos, as always, to Mr. Bell for his superb and heartrending recording of "Air" for violin and orchestra. Those eleven minutes of heaven alone are worth the price of the CD. It's hard to breathe after listening to such great music played by such a great violinist. Isbin and Lin are great together in their jazzy, finger-snapping double concerto. I was a little wary of it when I read the description of tracks 2-4, but it's a fun piece. Kudos also to Pamela Frank for a soulful and searing rendition of Lamentation and Prayer. Beautiful to hear the orchestra and soloist mourn and meditate in unison. This CD is a keeper.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Moving "Lament and Prayer" for WWII Victims, March 25, 2001

By 

Shuji Ogino (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aaron Jay Kernis: Air; Double Concerto; Lament & Prayer (Audio CD)

I like "Lament and Prayer" best in this CD. It is a very serious, beautiful piece, which is dedicated "in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII and Holocaust". Pamela Frank, whom this piece was commissioned for, is playing as if praying. The Minnesota Orchestra, especially strings, lead by David Zinman responded very well. In the final minutes, her violin and the orchestra finish in a calm, timeless melody. I was so moved when I actually listened to this piece, played by Pamela Frank, in a concert hall. Air for Violin is also beautiful and serene, but it is a simpler piece. Double Concerto for Violin and Guitar is an interesting piece. The jazz-like first and third movements contrast with the second movement, partly dissonant but richly melodious. Violin and guitar is a very intriguing combination. This Pulitzer prize-winning CD contains masterpieces by Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes us a few steps further than the Barber Violin Concerto., October 17, 2006

By 

Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Aaron Jay Kernis: Air; Double Concerto; Lament & Prayer (Audio CD)

The Kernis Double Concerto is an original. The style is not at all like that in Mr.Kernis' Colored Field (a concerto for English horn). Colored Field, at times, has a cartoonish quality reminiscent of the music of Carl Stalling, and at other times, has a crag-like, dignified quality of some of the music of Aaron Copland.

The Kernis Double Concerto has a busy, frantic quality. The Double Concerto appears grounded in tonality, but seems to have a bit of Alban Berg sprinkled in it, which adds sonic spice. Moreover, the Double Concerto has an continual alleatory quality to it, thick meandering sounds in the background, somewhat reminiscent of Ives. What is especially surprising in the Double Concerto are the occasional springy, spongey episodes sounding like a college marching band (or 1940s swing band). I had always liked the third movement of the Barber Violin Concerto, with its frantic, busy energy. The Kernis Double Concerto is somewhat similar to Barber Violin Concerto in that both pieces are fast and "happy," but Kernis takes it a few steps further, by adding the Alban Bergesque aleatory quality, and by adding the amusing springy college marching band episodes.

FIVE STARS to the Kernis Double Concerto. Also, FIVE STARS to Kernis' Colored Field with English horn, as recorded by the San Francisco Symphony.