Jennifer Higdon: Piano Trio; Voices; Impressions

Alisa Weilerstein (Performer), Wilhelmina Smith (Performer), Jennifer Higdon (Composer), Adam Neiman (Performer), Hsin-Yun Huang (Performer), Anne Akiko Meyers (Performer), Melissa Kleinbart (Performer), Nicholas Kitchen (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Alisa Weilerstein, Wilhelmina Smith, Adam Neiman, Hsin-Yun Huang, Anne Akiko Meyers, et al.
• Composer: Jennifer Higdon
• Audio CD (December 12, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos American
• ASIN: B000JVSVDS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #162,444 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is great music beautifully performed, January 1, 2007

By	Michael Tierra "robert michaels" (Santa Cruz, California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jennifer Higdon is emerging as one of America's greatest living composers. Her music has the distinction of being at once complex, sophisticated but readily accessible emotionally. Her compositional techniques are eclectic, tonally familiar and can reach to levels of high lyricism to fiery bartokian savagery. These string quartets are worthy extensions leading from Debussy to Bartok. The music is technically very demanding but this performance is fantastic, bright, fresh and spontaneous even upon frequent listening. With its unselfconscious style, there is something uniquely fresh and American sounding to Higdon's music. This album should be a treat for any lover of 21st century contemporary music.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Higdon Chamber Music, July 12, 2008

By	Mr. Ra Gannon (Tamarac, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An interesting and enjoyable program by an exciting new composer. Anyone interested in approachable modern music should try this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Lovely Music, July 7, 2009

By	Karl W. Nehring (Ostrander, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having previously been quite impressed by some Telarc recordings of Jennifer Higdon's orchestral music, I looked forward to auditioning this new Naxos release of some of her chamber music. I was not disappointed, for there is some lovely music to be found here.

The first movement of the Piano Trio, which opens the CD, is titled "Pale Yellow." True to its title, it is soft and lovely, very beguiling. "Fiery Red," as you might expect, is anything but soft and lovely, but it is listenable and enjoyable. Similar contrasts in mood are to be found in the string quartet, Voices, which for me and for others may be the least satisfying piece on the CD. It is not bad, but seems to lack the charm of the Trio or the smooth craftsmanship of the other quartet, Impressions, which closes the CD with a look back toward the music of Debussy and Ravel. Voices was written in 1993, a decade earlier than the other two pieces--newer seems to mean better, at least in this instance. Voices is certainly worth a listen; Impressions invites and rewards repeated listening.

Overall, this is a most rewarding CD. I look forward to auditioning future recordings of Ms. Higdon's music. She seems to be a composer with a bright future in both large- and small-scale musical forms.