Customer Reviews

James Galway Plays Lowell Liebermann

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The concertos on this album contain some of Liebermann's most satisfying and idiomatic music, all compellingly performed by James Galway at his most committed and inspired. The slow movement of the Flute Concerto soars through lush washes of splendorous colors to emotional peaks of glorious sonority, the likes of which have been sadly absent from any composer's bag of tricks since the arching oceans of sound that flowed so effortlessly from Richard Strauss.

The idea of a piccolo concerto might seem preposterous, until one hears the warm, rich voice the instrument assumes in Galway's hands. Simply put, never before has a piccolo sounded like this. The piccolo has always been something of an orchestral extravagance, added to a piece in much the same way that a chef garhishes the main course. What a revelation it is to hear this diminutive instrument's hidden lyricism swell to operatic proportions.

Liebermann's music itself is significant not only for its sonic beauty and often profound emotion, but for its impeccably detailed architecture, as well. Each piece grows organically and naturally from small, meaningful sounds and figures. One is never lost, even though it may not be apparent exactly why, because the elements that hold each piece securely together are subtly interwoven beneath the surface in a masterful manner that often remains elusive to an untrained ear. In a sense, Liebermann is a musicologist's dream, for the complexity of his music unfurls in astonishing, graceful layers, somewhat in the manner of a sweet yet sharp Vidalia onion.

Unhappy, cynical music critics -- most of whom are, unfortunately, bitter, failed musicians -- would be quick to dismiss the sometimes sensuous, sometimes austere lyricism of Liebermann's music as derivative. Those professional musicians among us who have had the pleasure both to hear and to perform the works of this remarkable artist know better. Liebermann's music is derivative in the same way that Beethoven is derivative of Haydn, the way Strauss is derivative of Wagner, only Liebermann draws effortlessly from the entire spectrum of Western music, to which any curious musician living in this age of recordings cannot be oblivious. There is no truly new music, and that's a good thing. Anything worth playing or hearing is a culmination of its musical heritage, which any composer is foolish to try to subjugate. All the elements of Liebermann's immediately identifiable works come together to reveal a uniquely individual musician elegantly situated along the timeline of musical history.

Lowell Liebermann is known to most flutists as one of the most prolific and outstanding composers of music for flute in recent times. The three concertos on this disc are all premiere recordings and showcase not only Liebermann's ability to write for the flute, but his powerful and lyrical sense of orchestration. Galway's recording has solidified these works as classics of the flute repertoire. What is more exciting is that these wonderful concertos are available now for everyone to hear. Highly recommended.

There is a very good reason why the music of Liebermann has become so popular with flautists all over the world. As we all know, the flute does not have a very large repertoire, and certainly not a large repertoire of good pieces. Although there have been some very good flute concertos written this past century, Liebermann's concerto has to be considered the strongest, on the basis of its melodic, harmonic and technical inventiveness, not to mention the wildly colorful orchestration that surpasses even the concertos of Nielsen and Ibert. An even stronger argument in Liebermann's favor is the very high percentage of standing ovations his pieces receive in concert. When was the last time YOU saw an audience rise spontaneously to its feet after the Prokofiev Sonata or a Mozart concerto?

Add to this Galway's impeccable playing and you have a disc that every serious flute student should own, not to mention anyone interested in the future of American music.

Having studied flute, I was excited to hear the new repertoire being hailed as an "instant classic" . . .after all doesn't the CD cover say "these compositions have become staples of the modern flute literature?" Well, give me a staple remover. How something becomes a staple within a year or two is beside the point. The music is repetitive, the harmonic language cloying, the orchestral colors almost non-existent. (I know you have to write lightly to showcase these solo instruments, but enough celesta already!) You hear a heavy John Williams influence throughout . . .unfortunately the influence does not take seed to produce an individual vocabulary. This review may not ssem "helpful" because it is so critical, but I am generally easy to please. One listen is all I could bear.

I was privileged to be at the world premiere of the Liebermann Flute Concerto in St. Louis years ago. The audience went nuts afterward. My impression of his music has only gotten stronger since that time.

This disc contains wonderful performances of exciting music which satisfies one more with repeated listening. I don't know any greater measure of good music.

Here, the world's greatest living flautist, and perhaps the greatest flautist of all times, plays three Concertos by one of the most talented composers of our time. Listeners who prefer their contemporary music to sound like nails scratching on blackboards should stay away; this music is melodic, memorable and thrilling. Liebermann fits so much variety, beauty and lyricism in these works that I found myself listening to this release over and over again.

Galway's performances are spectactacular: any flautist will recognize the superhuman level of the playing. The big surprise is the piccolo Concerto: no-one has ever made a piccolo sound so fluent, full bodied and IN TUNE.

This recording is a must for anyone interested in wind music or the music of our time.

My country was not able to buy it out of stock.I think including the carriage to be cheap.

I am a piccolo player and the Liebermann piccolo concerto was the first major work that I tackled on this tiny instrument. I have never gotten so many compliments on playing one piece of music as I did with this concerto. The lyricism in the first movement gives way to a furious middle developmental section then returns to the calm or the first themes. Some of the reviewers seemed disappointed that is contains "movie music" influences. Well not gonna lie- it does and I like it for that- as does the audience. I performed this 30 minute long work on my senior recital and afterward my friends were in disbelief that it lasted that long because they enjoyed it so much that time lew as they were listening.

Kudos to Sir Galway for a wonderful recording. Anyone how is studying any of the works on this album should make it part of their library. The orchestra is conducted by liebermann, and unlike other Galways recording the tempos are not at light speed and true to what Liebermann envisioned.

This music brings new definition to the words monotonous and uninspired; however, if we are to give credence to annotator (Richard) Freed's ridiculously praise-filled profile of composer Liebermann, we might think the latter some twentieth century Mozartian "wunderkind," which he is painfully not. Such obviously gratuitous backslapping, ballyhoo-ing and name-dropping is, frankly, a tad embarrassing, I think, because the concertos presented here are simply vacuous, tedious efforts. Moreover, there's a predictable and false attempt at emotional depth that I find particularly bogus and downright deceitful. So much similarity abounds in Liebermann's musical vocabulary that were it not for the piccolo in Op. 50 (prominent and totally irritating) or the harp in Op. 48 (bland and inconsequential at best), one could program the seven CD tracks randomly and produce exactly the same compositional effect.

Is this the Emperor's New Flute? Probably. These concertos are hardly "classics," unless you're a student of the mundane. And, whatever scant lyricism Liebermann teases us with dissipates quickly enough into the ordinary. What remains is, well, empty, repetitious posturing, sophomoric musical idioms and the possibility of promise that never comes close to materializing.

Galway, who I have always thought played flute like a well-oiled machine, blows this already trite material into total monochromaticism.

Very much a "vanity" release, it seems, by BMG, Galway and Liebermann of "premiere" recordings.

[Running time: 69:38]

If this is the finest of American flute music, as one reviewer insists, then the flute is in some major trouble. Seriously. If you enjoy listening to this garbage, then you should do so secretly - as a guilty pleasure. I mean, come on...this music is the Florence Foster Jenkins of the flute world. (Not to say that I don't have a huge affinity for FFJ! Check out my review on her CD.)

The recording quality is okay, ensemble is ok at best, soloist is tired and a bit sloppy for my taste. Nice tone, but that's about it. No color. No shape.

The writing is juvenile. I think I know something like four people who wrote like this in high school. They all adored the 'Moonlight' Sonata and listen to N*Sync. There - now you have my two cents. Please don't spend it all in one place.