Atlas Eclipticalis / Variations

Cage (Artist), Carter (Artist), Levine (Artist), Cso (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001GEW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,848 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Recording!, June 14, 2002

By 

Eric (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Atlas Eclipticalis / Variations (Audio CD)

The Carter, Cage, Babbitt and Schuller are spectacularly colorful and vivid. This is great music that deserves its place in the cannon. Each composer is well represneted here - superb recording!

Especially of note here is the Carter Variations for Orchestra - A brilliant piece (terribly neglected!) wonderfully presented. Mr. Levine and DG are to be congratulated for making this music so easily available. Keep up the good work!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too bad it's out of print...., May 3, 2004

By 

D. Castillo (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atlas Eclipticalis / Variations (Audio CD)

This is a really good CD! I owned a burned copy <gasp!> but liked the music so much I thought I would seek out the original. I would buy this disc solely for the last 6 minutes of the Variations for Orchestra. The CSO trombones really do a GREAT job in the soli that takes place in this section. They make a difficult part sound really easy. Other highlights from the Carter are: The Introduction and Theme, Variation III, and Variation VII. What I like best about this piece is that, even though it's an abstract musical language, Carter still makes emotion and drama the most important thing about the music. Listen to it a few times and you'll see what I mean. The Babbitt and Schuller also seem interesting, but I am not as familar with them so I will not comment.

I agree with a previous reviewer about the inclusion of the John Cage piece. It's an aleatoric work so, since it will sound different at each performance, a recording really doesn't serve the music's purpose. There are several other pieces that would have been better to include here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Carter Variations, September 30, 2005

By 

Stephen Gilbert "stefano" (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atlas Eclipticalis / Variations (Audio CD)

I got to know the Carter Variations on a vinyl disc back in the 1960's and have loved them ever since. Levine has my gratitude for championing this work. He's even performed it at Carnegie Hall with the Met Opera Orchestra. This performance by the Chicago Symphony is brilliant.