Customer Reviews

John Carbon

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this CD. I have listened to it in my car now at least 40 times. It is such beautiful music. It has lovely melodies and big moments as well as quiet, reflective parts as well. I love new music in general (hate baroque), but this is one of my favorites. Congrats John Carbon!

I had the opportunity to hear one of the pieces on this fine new recording broadcast in Boston on a classical radio station on Halloween. I think John Carbon is one of the most imaginative composers writing orchestral music today. His music really says something rather than being a collection of sounds designed to impress without touching the soul of the listener. The performances by three soloists (all unknown to me before) are very impressive and quite moving.

I recently saw a choreographed version of Rasgos and enjoyed it alot. There are driving rhythms and a good measure of humor in the piece. I like the Spanish flavor and the dance had some multmedia slides of Goya's sketches. Claire Chan's playing (the violinist) is really quite beautiful as is the harp writing. Really this is more of a concerto for harp and violin with winds--really unique. This is Carbon's more neo-classical mode (as opposed to his more brash neo-romantic fervor).

I heard the Rahpsody for Clarinet and Orchestra live in NYC at Lincoln Center several years ago and wanted the recording then, but now it's available! It's about the best recent piece for clarinet and orchestra I've heard and you will like the Piano and Violin Concertos on here as well. Doris Hall=Gulati rocks! She's got incredible technique and her high register is to die for.

Everything on this cd is meditative and full of energy. I love the Piano Concerto best. The pianist, I guess, is an unknown pretty much, but is a wonderful interpreter of this composer's work. The composer is fairly well known. I found lots of info about him on the web and ordered several other CDS. Can't find any more William Koseluk though. Maybe he's actually Czech and moved back there?

This CD begins with a virtuoso performance of Carbon's Piano Concerto. So far, my favorite of his concertos, this 24 minute fantasy has remarkable orchestral writing realized by the Czech Radio Orchestra and piano writing featuring both pyrotechnics and lovely meditative serene moments. William Koseluk gives a spectacular debut performance. Mr. Koseluk's playing is ferocious when necessary, but can also be achingly poetic and profound--what more could anyone ask for from a pianist who obviously has a flair for comtemporary music?

My discovery on this disc (which contains several worthwhile works) is the Violin Concerto, "Rasgos." These enigmatic sketches are beautifully orchestrated (one of Carbon's greatest strengths as a composer). The writing is melodically rewarding and harmonically appealing. Also especially enjoyable are the "Ghost Town Sketches."

This recording represents a valuable contribution to the archiving of Carbon's important works for orchestra (with one chamber work included). All of the performances are outstanding. Especially noteworthy is pianist William Koseluk's interpretation of the Piano Concerto, written especially for him in 1998. Koseluk's introspective romanticism matches the refined beauty of the middle section of the work and his roller-coaster technique gives the more vistuosic sections of the concerto an excitement that makes the entire package three dimensional in a way that most music of today falls short. Also outstanding are the performances of Doris Hall-Gulati (clarinet) and Claire Chan (violin).

I like melody and harmony and the Piano Concerto on this CD trips my trigger. The pianist has the ability to bring out the best in Carbon's long lines and has the chops to wow the listener in the many bravura passages (some sounding ferociously difficult). I haven't heard this composer's work before and I'm very impressed.

If you haven't heard Carbon's music yet, this is a great introduction to his work, since it containis 3 major orchestral and one chamber work. Carbon's music is diverse and wonderfully narative, and usually lyrical, although he exhibits the capacity for grit when needed. I highly recommend this CD for his orchestrational ability and mastery of the concerto idiom. Just plain fun to listen to.