Customer Reviews

Diamond: Vol.5-Rounds/Adagio/Concert Piece For Orchestra/Elegy/Concert Piece For Flute And Harp

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

David Diamond is somewhat of a forgotten composer. One of the greatest symphonists of his day, his symphonies were often programmed by Leonard Bernstein in his American music concerts. Unfortunately, now his works are far underplayed in favor of more "established" works in programs such as "myclassic Russian" or "myclassic Fifth", as forgotten as Beethoven's great-yet-far-underplayed Eroica Symphony. His piece Rounds on this disc is by far his most popular work, and it is somewhat easy to see why. In the public's eye, it is very hard to go wrong with that classic Americana feel originated by Copland, even if it's somewhat contrived. Also in this vein is the Concert Piece for Orchestra, which sounds less forced and manages to maintain the dance-like spirit of the Rounds well.
The real gems on this disc from my perspective are the Elegy in Memory of Maurice Ravel and the Adagio from the Eleventh Symphony. Heard in it's rarely-recorded brass band version, the Elegy is a perfect example of decent "modern" music. It really pack a punch that is quite difficult to achieve in the version for strings, but maintains a beauty and inevitable structure that evens it out nicely. Elliott Carter, a composer with similar origins to Diamond in the Americana-esque qualities of his First Symphony and Holiday Overture, praised this work at a festival as being "the most original and daring new piece played...fittingly solemn, tragic and noble...with an impressive, dramatic mood." I'd agree. In a similar style is Elliott Carter's Cello Sonata, another brilliant work that seems to share this work's penchant for long, lyrical, yet quite expressive and often dissonant melodies. The Adagio assai e molto cantabile is one of the most interesting works I've ever heard out of Diamond. One can view it as sort of an elegy to the symphony itself as a creative genre, being from the sadly neglected Eleventh Symphony itself. It is a profoundly moving piece, with melodies tonal and atonal, but always going somewhere, with huge climaxes seeming to lead to even larger ones shortly after. It is hard to put the high trumpet line screaming above the orchestra in the climax out of one's mind.
The Concert Piece for Flute is somewhat of a bouncy and cheerful work, the sort you might listen to when one is eating dinner with friends. It is light music, but is not a bad work by any stretch of the imagination.
In general the performances on this disc are magnificent, Gerard Schwarz leading what should be the definitive recordings of Rounds, Concert Piece and the Elegy, and an appearance from the Glorian Duo that is simply shimmering with happiness to round it off. I only have two complaints: 1. Can't Naxos reissue this one?! 2. Why didn't Schwarz record the entire Eleventh Symphony? While the Adagio stands nicely on its own it only makes me more eager to hear the full symphony.
What a shame.

Bravo! The Seattle Symphony under the direction of Schwarz does an excellent job with this very technically difficult piece. A piece which demands so much concentration and technical ability also demands an excellent orchestra, and this ensamble shines in their performance of this piece. With good precision, dynamics, and rhythm, this recording is a must for any aficionados of David Diamond's music.

This CD is one of the most entertaining and satisfying classical compilations I have ever heard. If you think classical music is boring and sleepy, you haven't heard this cd!
I definately recommend it for anyone.

Although the last couple of pieces on this CD are carried over from previous releases, and although it would be nice to have the complete 11th Symphony instead of just the Adagio, this is still a recording definitely worth seeking out for fans of serious American symphonic music. Rounds for String Orchestra is the piece most likely to be familiar, as it has had previous recordings, most notably by Leonard Bernstein (I believe there was also a version on an old Nonesuch LP, with the Buffalo Philharmonic conducted by Lukas Foss, but my memory is a bit hazy), but the other pieces on this CD are all musically interesting and should appeal to a wide variety of tastes. As a bonus for audiophiles, the performances are framed in excellent sound by engineer John Eargle.

Many years ago I recommended Volume I of this series in The $ensible Sound, and I have since enjoyed the succeeding volumes, but for some reason have never seen fit to recommend any of them. If you buy any one of them, you may well wind up with all five.