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4.0 out of 5 stars
WARNING: Contemporary flavor in this CCM release, July 29, 2001
This review is from: In Concert (Audio CD)
This Cincinnati Wind Symphony disc, recorded when Eugene Corporon was on the CCM faculty several years ago, contains several recent works worth hearing. Opening with IUP professor Jack Stamp's abrasive "Gavorkna Fanfare," (still hair-raising after repeated hearings), the disc heads over to Ivan Tcherepnin's excellent two-part "Statue." Written to celebrate the Statue of Liberty rededication in 1986, the work quotes American and French motives amid its modern harmonic language. Following is British composer Michael Tippett's complex "Mosaic," a work that explores various timbral combinations, some subtle, some not so. Afterward, the disc pairs together two Grainger favorites. First, the familiar "Irish Tune" in a not-so-familiar highly chromatic and contapuntal setting, and then the rousing "Gumsucker's March" of 1942. Afterward, the listener will encounter the 1st and 3rd movements of Michael Weinstein's "Concerto for Wind Ensemble," a difficult but satisfying work. To round out the program, four of Nikos Skalkottas' brilliantly-orchestrated and exciting "Greek Dances" are featured.
This CD stands out from the other Klavier releases in this series in that it was recorded LIVE - so it does not have the same buttery sound of some of the others. The band works on here, while not totally inaccessible, definitely are more attuned to the tastes of contemporary music enthusiasts, so if you are entrenched in the neo-Romantic camp, maybe you should save this CD for after both semesters of your music lit class.
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