The Juniper Tree [Import]

Philip Glass and Robert Moran (Artist, Composer), Richard Pittmann (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Richard Pittmann
• Composer: Philip Glass and Robert Moran
• Audio CD (April 14, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Orange Mountain Music
• ASIN: B0022NT5U4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,824 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Historical Periods > Modern & 20th Century

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I waited 24 years for this album to be recorded, October 14, 2009

By 

Monica J. Kern (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Juniper Tree (Audio CD)

I had the good fortune to be present at the world premier of this opera in 1985. I left the performance mesmerized, with the haunting refrain ("Mama killed me/ Papa ate me/ Little sister bundled my bones/ Under the Juniper/ Look, I'm a pretty bird!") running through my head, and I vowed to buy the recording as soon as it came out. But although I kept looking, it was never released... until this past spring. I'm not sure why this remained unrecorded for so long; perhaps it has something to do with the depressing nature of the opera, which is based on a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm. The plot is pretty much summarized in the quote I give above: Evil, jealous stepmother schemes to kill the boy; sister is unwittingly made an accomplice in the plan and suffers great guilt; boy returns in the form of a bird to wreak revenge. Although the opera has a happy ending (or, more accurately, what passes for a happy ending in a Grimm Brothers fairy tale), the overall tone is definitely dark.

But it is dark in a beautiful way. Fans of Philip Glass should consider this an essential purchase. The standout track, in my opinion, is Act II, Scene I, a 7 minute tour de force as the lead soprano sings the refrain quoted above and is joined eventually by many of the villagers. The music is powerful, both emotionally and lyrically, so much so that I was impressed that my memory of it from 24 years earlier turned out to be remarkably accurate. The music is trademark Glass: relentless arpeggios performed by strings in ominous keys. While it is easy to tell which sections were composed by Glass and which were composed by his collaborator, Robert Moran, Moran's contributions hold their own and add greatly to the overall musicality of the opera.

Bottom line: If you are not a fan of Glass, or minimalism in general, you probably won't like this album. But I think "The Juniper Tree" is one of the great modern operas, and I am delighted to see this underrated gem finally enter the recorded archives.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Philip Glass/Robert Moran- The Juniper Tree, December 4, 2009

By 

Michael C. Mahan "MC Mahan" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Juniper Tree (Audio CD)

"The Juniper Tree" consists of 30 minutes of music written by Glass and 42 minutes of music written by his collaborator, Robert Moran. The libretto is based upon the Grimm Brothers fairy tale about a magical juniper tree under his roots lie the remains of a man's first wife, and ultimately the murdered remains of his son from his second marriage. But all is not grim is this tale. Thinking herself the guilty party in the son's death, it is, in fact, the stepmother who is the guilty party. The son, reincarnated as a bird, seeks revenge on his murderer, which, once completed, paves the way for the father to be reunited with both his daughter and his resurrected son. All done by the magic of his first wife who lays buried under the juniper tree.

I have a certain sentimentality for this opera in that it is the only opera of Glass's that I saw, back around 1985 in Philadelphia at the old Walnut Street Theater. I remember it especially because it didn't "feel" like a real opera; it felt like something different. Maybe like "The Wizard of Oz" or something. It was a beautiful thing to experience. Although Glass was not present at the performance, Glass appeared many times in Philadelphia during the eighties, and I saw him at least three times during that decade with his ensemble; including one with a complete performance of "Music in Twelve Parts".

This recording is from the world premiere recordings in Cambridge, MA, back in 1985; performed by an orchestra assembled especially for the opera. In addition, keyboards augment the orchestra.

This work gives a good indication of the later operas that were to follow, serving as a bridge between ensemble driven pieces such as "Einstein on the Beach" and such later operas as "Belle et la Bete" that were more orchestral in nature. This work shows a strong early to mid-period minimalism of the Glass ensemble and such orchestral works as his score for "Koyanisqaatsi", and as such is a fusion of Glass's past, his 1985 present, and his 21st century future.

One thing that is of interest is to compare the movements written by Glass and those written by Robert Moran. Whereas the minimalism employed by Glass is more cyclic, or circular, and hence more emotional in intensity; the musical format employed by Moran is more traditional and therefore more linear in nature. The two styles offset one another, yet both move the story forward in different ways, and their fusion creates an interesting wholeness to the music and the opera.

(4.5 stars out of 5)

MC Mahan

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some technical negatives, but worth a purchase for Glass fans, March 29, 2010

By 

Douglas Burkett (Central FL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Juniper Tree (Audio CD)

This was a difficult review to write for a couple of reasons. For one, this is a split album with Glass' music taking up about half of the time (about 30 mins.) Secondly, the quality of the recording is only fair (it is a live recording).

Overall, it easy to tell the Glass tracks apart from the Moran tracks, but it is not too abrupt of a jump back and forth and the album as a whole still works; the Moran tracks hold their own and add to the overall effect of the work. While 'The Juniper Tree' is listed as an opera, it is much like a straight-forward recording of a play in the way 'The Witches of Venice' was done with the lines sung/spoken with the music. You will hear many spoken lines as opposed to sung lines in many of the tracks.

As for the music, the first track was composed by Glass and is the longest track at about 17 minutes. With all of the technical faults of this album I still stand by my first assessment that this first track alone was worth the purchase. As far as all of Glass' tracks, they are all original compositions with many nods and hints at his early styles but all very interesting to hear and worthy of the purchase. I'd give the music alone 4 stars without question. The sound of Glass' tracks are in the realm of his other early theater works. Other reviews have decently stated thoughts on the music itself so I won't go on too much beyond this.

However, the big disappointment is in the recording. Once again, we have a live recording (like Toltec) but nowhere in the notes on Amazon does it state that. And while I assume this is the only existing recording available and am glad to see it released, the live nature of the recording distracts more frequently than many others.

While the quality of the music starts out sounding clear enough, the deeper the music goes into the parts of the ensemble the more muddily and incoherently the instruments come through. It's as if microphones were placed just in front of the ensemble and not above or in any other places to pick up a good balance of the instruments. Percussion is there but barely heard in many sections and the lower-range instruments come through but in a very muddy, cluttered way.

The other problem is with the vocals/voices. With this being recorded in what I guess was a live, fully-staged performance, you often hear objects being moved on stage, the sounds of footsteps on the stage are picked up, the volume of singers goes loud and soft as they are likely moving around the stage moving toward and away from the mics, and there is the obligatory coughing/audience noises here and there. Just a distracting recording to what is otherwise a very good composition to be heard.

I can only give about 2 stars on the technical merits. This, combined with the fact that only half of the CD is Glass' music brings my overall rating to a 3. Definitely a purchase based on the 30 minutes of original composition, but don't expect much as far as quality of the sound from the ensemble along with some distracting staging/audience noises. I would love to have heard a professional, studio recording of this work but am still glad to have this over none at all.