Customer Reviews

God in Disguise / Winter's Tale / Pastoral Suite

5 star:		(4)
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I have KUSC to thank for introducing me to God in Disguise, which--though I became late for an appointment--kept me sitting in my car, glued to the radio, jaw dropped open. The work entire is difficult to describe, to compare to other compositions; I would ascribe flavors of Beethoven, Wagner and even Danny Elfman (who must certainly have heard Verse VI, "What shimmers in the forest?") to this work which mightn't be described as musically groundbreaking, but must be described as simply beautiful.

I first heard the original Swedish text and put the album on my wish list; my wife, not realizing there was a difference, purchased this album with the English translations. I thoroughly enjoy the recording, but I'm putting the album back on my wish list--this time specifying the Swedish version. To my ears untrained in Swedish, the voices become instruments, enhancing the haunting mystery of the composition.

I was already familiar with Larsson's music before buying this CD. In fact, I was hesitant about buying it because I already have these works on other disks. The thing that tipped the balance for me was the fact that the dialog for "God in disguise" is in English rather than Swedish. I'm very glad that I did, it is now one of my favorites CDs! Quite apart from the language issue, these performances are fabulous - sublime music sublimely performed and recorded.

I can't think of a better way of unwinding at the end of a stressful day than to pour a glass of wine, turn down the lights - and listen to this disk.

While on vacation with my wife in San Diego, we turned on the radio in our hotel room after returning from a late dinner. It was about 12:30 AM and this piece came on a station in Tijuana,
Mexico, XNLC. My wife said: what is that piece ? I answered I'd never heard it before. Well, we listened intently and when it
ended we both marveled at what a great piece it was. When we returned to the Washington,DC area (home) I checked and found a web site for XLNC, found their play list, found the piece and ordered the CD. We've probably listened to it a hundred times since.We've also bought many more CD's for friends. This CD has it all: excellent orchestral, solo and choral voices and spoken word too! The sound quality is also excellent.

Buy this recording now!

I would never have known about this work if it didn't seem to be a favorite of radio XLNC, the Mexican classical station that broadcasts across the border from Tijuana to San Diego. After finally tracking it down to identify it via their web-site, I promptly ordered the CD, and it has been growing on me ever since. I'm not sure how to describe it: a song-cycle with operatic overtones. Dare I call it Tolkienesque? Because that might hint at its Elven flavor. It also sounds a bit like a particularly haunting film score. In addition to the title piece, the composer also wrote a song cycle about trees. Don't pass this one up, if you can find a copy in print.