Customer Reviews

Glass Cage: Music for Piano by Philip Glass & John Cage

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

 

 

This is a very rewarding disc. The Glass/Cage compilation shares the same kind of mesmerizing, meditative continuity as I find on the ECM discs of Arvo Part. I had not been familiar with Bruce Brubaker before this performance. By all accounts, he acquits himself well. I do not own the Glass piano pieces by the composer, so I cannot compare the performances. However, Brubaker held my attention completely for the full 63 minutes. The Arabesque label has produced many fine, adventuresome discs in the past and this adds to the list. Here's hoping they continue programming music that's off the beaten path.

My only caveat with this effort has to do with the recording. It seems, to my ears, rather closely miked. The first track jolted me a bit - if felt as if we were right on top of the piano. While your ears eventually adjust, I would have preferred a more distant perspective. I think this kind of minimalist music can benefit from a more distant recording perspecitve as it can add to the meditative quality. On the positive side, the recording is quite clean and crisp. Overall, I think listeners who are attracted to Cage, Glass, or Part will like what they hear.

I disliked Glass' piano music. The Solo Piano CD was dull, boring, unimaginative. Glass was hammering on the piano instead of playing (hey - this is a piano, not a Farfisa). This wonderful CD changes it all: Brubaker plays the Glass pieces with emotion & tenderness without loosing the accuracy of the pieces or running amok with wild interpretations (as was the case of the Italian pianist whose name skipped my mind. Arthuro something). Any Glass fan - buy this CD, close the lights, pour yourself a semi-strong drink, sit back and relax, hit play on the remote. The Cage pieces are nice (I have no acquaintance with other performances, so I can't really say anything else). Great job Brubaker - any plans for conducting?

This is one of most intensely beautiful performances of Philip Glass's work I've ever heard (and I've heard a lot). It's unbelievable to me that this recording isn't better known.

I was immensely lucky to have had Mr. Brubaker's intro to music class at the City University of New York in the mid 90s. He is an outstanding performer, and this disc will not disappoint (even if you are not a great fan of Cage's music). Highly recommended. Nice going, Bruce!

I hope it's not sacreligious to say I prefer these performances to the composer's, but then I also enjoyed Donald Joyce's "Mad Rush," organ interpretations of other Glass pieces. Mad Rush itself is the overlap, if this gives you a hint about my personal taste. "Mad Rush" has a hypnotic pulse that captured me in the film of Koyaanisqatsi and is given a fourth and different feeling compared to 1) the original soundtrack, 2) the new recording of the soundtrack, 3) Donald Joyce's organ version and now 4) this new contender. Clearly he loves this music the way Gilbert Kaplan loves Mahler's Second symphony. There's a warmth and a flow to the multi-part Metamorphosis that may not have been the composer's original intent, but it adds both beauty and texture. Satyagraha is a moving opera about Gandhi, but the "Act 3, Conclusion" featured here is given a stately, fitting nuance that to my ear eluded the original recording. The Cage pieces are impressive but more difficult to personally recommend, as I don't know other performances for comparison, but are essentially two small punctuations to the three larger Glass sections. If you enjoy Glass at all, you need to hear these pieces! If you DON'T think you like Glass that much, this may (at last) be your way into his world!

Brubaker really understands and enjoys the music he's working with here. His playing is cerebral, thoughtful yet emotional. One gets the sense that this selection reflects his personal taste. The Metamorphoses also appear on Glass's "Solo Piano" album, played by the composer himself. There they are mesmerising, but formal, structural, harsh. Brubaker lets the pieces breathe, finding individual character in each one of the five.

"Mad Rush" has a suitable wash of sound feeling, but the real standout is the "Satyagraha" excerpt. This long, unadorned piece has a beautiful, solid rythmic line that builds logically, linking each evolving section. It gives a kind of slow, ritual or martial feel to the act.

The Cage pieces are more challengingly unmelodic; I honestly seldom listen to them (though I do love some Cage music). The attraction of this cd is to hear Glass anew through a sensitive interpreter.

(Warning: the sound is not mixed for a rock audience, like many Glass cds. I find I need to turn up the volume on my system whenever I put this on, but there's little distortion).

I bought this based on a friend's recommendation. It is absolutely fantastic. Metamorphosis, in particular, is just such a beautiful piece of work. I listened to this album for a straight week.

I highly recommend this to everyone.

2 composers who challenge the genre and make a wonderful pairing in the 21st Century minimalist world. Must for the collector. 4 stars.