Glass: A Madrigal Opera [Import]

Philip Glass (Artist, Composer), Jari Hiekkapelto (Conductor), Ooppera Skaala (Orchestra, Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Ooppera Skaala
• Orchestra: Ooppera Skaala
• Conductor: Jari Hiekkapelto
• Composer: Philip Glass
• Audio CD (November 10, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Orange Mountain Music
• ASIN: B002T4P33O
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,134 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally Recorded!, November 17, 2009

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OgreOgress productions - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Glass: A Madrigal Opera (Audio CD)

Having performed "The State of the Tibetan Nation: A Madrigal Opera" many times with Christina Fong in the late 1990s, it is wonderful to finally hear this little-known but very important Glass work on disc. I wish that we had been allowed to record our version back in the late 1990s when we performed it on a regular basis for a 2-year period throughout the midwest and Canada (Canadian premiere at Open Ears Festival). This is some of the finest solo string writing of Glass's early career. One can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (in the solo viola movement) along with Glass's unique choral writing style, soon to be heard in Satyagraha.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical Passion, December 17, 2009

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Marvin Cohodas "Glassoperaphile" (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Glass: A Madrigal Opera (Audio CD)

Well, there's the title and there's the music.

First the title. The Madrigal Opera is described by its composer as a chamber opera with an unspecified story line, allowing different narrative content to be inserted and thus making it potentially a different story each time it is performed. In this respect, it is more like a ballet than an opera. This is not surprising, since it is of the same period in the composer's career as Einstein on the Beach, which could also be described as more like a ballet than an opera.

Now the music. The piece is scored for 6 voices with violin and viola. The format is one in which Glass has often worked and continues to do so. The opening and closing pieces, here called "opening" and "closing" as in Glassworks, are bookends to four central pieces, here called Parts I-IV. However, musically parts III and IV combine to create a structure somewhat parallel to parts I and II.

The use of strings for accompaniment provide a clue that the music will be passionate. String writing seems to bring out the strongest, even delirious emotions in Glass' composition. Think of the string quartets, the third symphony with the sublime violin solo in the third movement, the obligato of the darkest song from Book of Longing (the heart-rending "Babylon"), or the breathtaking violin concerto number 1. And the Madrigal Opera doesn't disappoint in this regard. Errol Morris is known for saying that Glass "does existential dread better than anybody." I would add a paraphrase, relevant especially to parts 1 and 2 of the Madrigal Opera, that Glass does ecstasy better than anybody.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YEAH!, December 9, 2009

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Eric Mars (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Glass: A Madrigal Opera (Audio CD)

This truly IS an important Glass work. I'm elated!!! As the other reviewer says you can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (Pruit Igoe to be exact, but actually, more detailed, complex and emotional.) If you're a Glass devotee you're a bit jaded about new releases - so much repetition (ha ha). But this is truly glorious and different - it's not 'yet another soulless recording of Music in 14,257 parts' by any means. I would actually also have to put Naqoyqaatsi and EOTB Knee Play 5 in this family. It's PG without compromises and taking no prisoners. It's not decorative, it's not meant to prove you're smart. It's meant to move you. And it does. I give credit to the musicians - it's INCREDIBLY performed by musicians who truly understand the music. Very emotional. Not mechanical in the least. The non-initiated may hear squeaks on a chalkboard, those who understand. Will cry.