Customer Reviews

The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The issue I have with some of the new music of our time is that listeners are often drawn in by some musical program rather than by the music itself. When the program is one with which listeners feel some deep personal connection, such listeners then project their personal feelings and experiences onto the given music. This creates a sense of depth and connection to that music which may not actually be present. When confronted with programmatic music, I prefer to listen first, without direction, influence or the reading of liner notes, so that the music will either communicate something to me (or not). When listeners rely on whatever gloss a composer has imposed on his/her music, they may be lulled into a false belief that the music itself is profound. That is my problem here with Professor Golijov's work.