The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

Osvaldo Golijov (Artist), Hank Dutt (Artist), David Harrington (Artist), Joan Jeanrenaud (Artist), David Krakauer (Artist), John Sherba (Artist), Kronos Quartet (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 18, 1997)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B000005J4J
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,862 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Klezmer rules, July 19, 2010

By 

Discophage (France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Audio CD)

I've been able so far to remain immune of the Golijov disease - it hasn't struck Europe as hard as it has the Americas. This collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, dating back from 1996, is one of the events that made him hot stuff in town. I've been listening to recordings of The Kronos Quartet - they were the early champions of those crossover experiences that had them either playing arrangements of Jazz (Thelonius Monk Monk Suite, Bill Evans Music of Bill Evans, Ornette Coleman in White Man Sleeps, John Lurie and John Zorn in Kronos Quartet : Winter Was Hard) or pop (Hendrix' Purple Haze in Kronos Quartet: Sculthorpe, Sallinen, Glass, Nuncarrow, Hendrix), or commission works by World-Music composers (see my review of Pieces of Africa), or by classically-trained composers inspired by Folk and World-music. Some of the encounters have been merely entertaining but unsubstantial, some others have yielded what I consider to be masterpieces in the genre, infusing fresh sap into a time-old form. I've tremendously enjoyed the quartets composed for Kronos by Terry Riley (Cadenza on the Night Plain, Salome Dances) and Kevin Volans (the first quartet written for Kronos, "White Man Sleeps", is on the album "Pieces of Africa" already mentioned, and the second, "Hunting: Gathering" on Kevin Volans: Hunting: Gathering (String Quartet No. 2) (1987) - Kronos Quartet, but it is the Balanescu Quartet that recorded #3, "Songlines", String Quartets 2 & 3). They also recorded, on the "White Man Sleep" album referenced above, fine works by World-Music trumpet player Jon Hassell and by Ted Johnston, a micro-tonal composer who wrote (not specifically for them, though) a superb paraphrase on "Amazing Grace". So I decided to give this one a try.

I am not convinced. This is elaborate Klezmer music, integral with Dave Krakauer's clarinet; as such, it is fun and entertaining, but unlike the quartets of Riley and Volans, I find that Golijov does not transcend his sources to metabolize them into something entirely new and uniquely personal: he merely elaborates upon them. It kind of stands half-way between those unique recreations of Riley and Volans, and the pieces (other than Volans' White Man Sleeps") gathered on the disc "Pieces of Africa": World Music in string quartet attire rather than an appropriation and transformation of World-music by a classical musician. So entertaining, surely. Revelatory? I don't find so. There are a few ear-catching moments - not coincidentally, they are those where Golijov distances himself from the Kletzmer elaboration. But overall, Klezmer rules.

Another thing is that this is one of those half-full CDs Kronos has also made a specialty of: TT 32 minutes only.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hypnotic Music!, August 1, 2007

By 

B. Zhang "qwerty" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Audio CD)

I had a chance to attend their concert and listen to this album live. The music is just amazingly innovative -- probably like nothing you have heard before. Its exotic feel coats the classical nature of the music. The second movement almost put me in a trance.

15 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jewish Pride, August 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind (Audio CD)

This is such a fantastic and moving CD. Written with such exhilaration and power, Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind is sure to become a staple in classical music. What joy to hear the music of this gifted composer, Osvaldo Golijov.