Customer Reviews

Philip Glass/Robert Wilson - the CIVIL warS, a tree is the best measured when it is down

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first encountered Philip Glass when I saw a trailer for the film "Koyannisqatsi" years and years ago, at the Vallhalla Theatre in Sydney, Australia. I was like a rabbit in the headlights when the first notes of the organ struck. To a large extent, nothing has changed since then. I still listen to everything the man produces but take rather a lot of care to not let minutae and pedantry get in the way of the impact of the music. In this way, I suppose, I prefer "Akhnaten" to "Music In Twelve Parts" and "Einstein on the Beach" to "1000 Aeroplanes on the Roof." Now that you have a clue where I am coming from...

I think that "The Civil Wars" is easily the best thing that Philip Glass has ever made. It has the emotional impact of "Akhnaten" and "Einstein" the philosophy behind "Satyagraha" and the music is consistently as beautiful as the best parts of those operas, but is condensed into an astonishingly short (chronological) time frame. By this I mean that I will happily listen to "CIvil Wars" right through, in one sitting, and find when it finishes that I feel like I have been away from my life for weeks or months and that I have learnt things that I will never be able to put into words.

To say that i think that it is "good" would be a thorough-going understatement. I laugh out loud occasionally during it and usually, at other points, I cry. I have listened to it about once a month every month or so since 1999 and I would be hard put to tell you which bits are "funny" or why I cry. The music is like a dream, which enfolds me while I listen to it, and then fades as normal life reasserts itself.

As far as I am concerned, this is the best of all Philip Glass' works and that means that while it is definitely not for everyone, it is the best, of the very, very, best.

I am not a musician so I can't explain in technical terms why I love this CD but, of the 40 plus Philip Glass CDs I have, this instantly became one of my top 2 or 3 favorites. I have enjoyed PG's music for many years and as an assemblage sculptor, I love to listen to his music when I work. After the first track, I said to myself "That's just the beginning! That could be a whole work in itself." The second track explodes with power and passion. Amazing. Stunning. Explosive. Abstract. Wonderful to get lost in. The singing voices are breathtaking. I'm sure an onlooker would think I was batty if they saw me in the studio listening to this cranked at full volume with headphones on. It's impossible not to pretend to sing along in Italian and play conductor at the same time.
I hope this is in the juke box in heaven.

Contrary to what one reviewer said, when Glass wrote this opera, it still was the 80's. 1984 to be precise. The narration is slightly annoying, if you are purely interested in the music, but it wasn't meant to be just another opera either. This opera is, I believe, more Robert Wilson, the librettest, than Philip Glass. This was Wilson's dream opera, and Glass stepped in to fill the role of composer. The narration parts, like Einstein, are Wilson's touch. I thought I would clarify that from the earlier review.

This music does sound like typical Glass, though. I had already purchased his Symphony No. 5, and that is what this opera reminded me most of, although Symphony No. 5 was written after The Civil warS. If you are familiar with Koyaanisqatsi, The Photographer or Ahknaten, this opera comes from the same time period in Glass's developement. This happens to be my favorite time period of his work, so I was thrilled when I first heard the music.

Mostly the work is a series of repeating major and minor arpeggios with changing tonal center and orchestration. Although this sounds simple, it is anything but. It stays fresh the whole time, and if you are like me, when it does finally end, you are left wanting more and more repetition, not because Glass didn't offer enough, but because the repetitions become so addictive.

I highly recommend this for any Glass fan who wants to get a closer look at Glass's operas without having to pay for any of his other pricier ones.

The indomitable Philip Glass impresses me once again with an "oldie" that I had not heretofore heard. I have enjoyed his work from the first time I ever heard his records ("Koyaanisqatsi") to the two performances I have seen live ("La Belle et La Bete," "Monsters of Grace"). His latest release on Nonesusch Records, "CIVIL warS," is comparable to much of his other concept-operas. Avant-garde a-la "Einstein on the Beach" yet rich in texture like "Itaipu," this record grabs you by the neck and commands further listening. Hurrah, Mr. Glass, your work continues to intrigue me.

I'm afraid I am biased in two ways. First, I am a long time fan of Glass' music. Second, I have lived with an aircheck recording of the broadcast of the Los Angeles premiere performance of 1984.

It is indeed a shame that Robert Wilson's magnum opus CIVIL warS (sp?) was not performed in its entirety as originally intended. It featured operas by several composers from various countries and was to have been performed complete at the 1984 Olympics.

The work at hand is, I believe, the concluding section of the entire work. Glass did another section for Cologne, Germany which has yet to be recorded.

After repeated listenings over the years I became entranced by the grand mythical quality of the work. It has the most effective use of voice-over techniques since "Einstein" and the choral, solo and orchestral writing show Glass at his peak with this work a contemporary of Satyaraha, Akhnaten, Itaipu, etc. This is a lush, romantic work with a grand sweep and shows Glass' ability to write for musicians other than those trained in his ensemble.

That said I have had difficulty adjusting to the (authentic and viable) but markedly different performance style of this recording. Dennis Russel Davies, a long time Glass promoter, does a fine job of conducting but the voice overs by Robert Wilson and Laurie Anderson took some getting used to. This is not so much a criticism as it is a statement of the uniquenes of every performance.

What I truly longed for and did not get was Jessye Norman. The mezzo part was originally written with her in mind and I can only imagine the beauty and sweep her talent would have added to Glass' bold octave leaps particularly in part A.

Overall a well done recording which improves with repeated listenings.

"CIVIL warS" has become my essential album. I have listened to this piece nearly once a week since it was first released on CD in 1999. This certain piece of music, for some reason I can not explain, has a hold of me and has become a voice in my expression. I am a portrait artist and on nearly every occasion of a model possing, I have played this piece. We sit silent - I paint and they focus - the dialogue of this piece speaking volumes. The third and forth acts, contrary to others, are my favorite parts. They seem to me to be people dealing with emotional problems in their mind by analyzing their pain over and over again. The way they change the emphasis is beautiful and haunting.

This is my absolute favorite piece of music - and just to give you an example of my tastes - my second favorite piece of music is Pink Floyd's "Animals".

I think if you like any of the following Philip Glass works: "Symphony No. 2", the "Kundun" soundtrack, "Akhnaten", "Low Symphony", or "Metamorphosis" and "Mad Rush"
then you will like "CIVIL warS". It truely is a brilliant piece.

I haven't really been a fan of Philip Glass before, but I have to admit that Civil WarS is a hugely enjoyable work. It opens with a mesmerizing, surging movement where dramatic, typically Glassian brass and arpeggio strings give way to floating, almost otherworldly vocal lines (mezzo-soprano, soprano and baritone). Scene A starts out as a mock battle march and develops from there, while scene B applies Glassian treatment to a spiritual-like theme overlaid by `war narratives' spoken by Robert E. Lee with singing responses from Mary Todd Lincoln. Scene C returns to material from the introduction, opening with a quietly running syncopated rhythmical figures in the strings accompanying a transfigured, broken fanfare-like theme in the trumpets. This turns into a confused (or stream-of-consciousness) narrative by Mary Todd Lincoln, then evolves into a solemn, hymn-like octet "of gods and heroes" ending in "sounds of nature" (complete with samples of animal sounds). The end result is one of Glass's strongest works - although it is more a cantata than an actual opera) - a surging, haunting score, excellently performed and recorded. Enthusiastically recommended.

In my opinion, this is Glass's most beautiful opera. His others are filled with nervous and akward repetitions on electronic instruments. But, "CIVIL warS- a tree is best measured when it is down" flows with slow, romantic repititions in the strings, with occassional, mournful lilts in the bassoons and soft calls of the French horns. However, this is only the American Composer Orchestra's interpretation. The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra's version of the CIVIL warS interludes is on Glass's Symphony no. 3 recording.

This soundtrack to one Act of yet another epic Glass/Wilson collaboration provides us with the best of this composer. It marries Einstein on the Beach's landmark textual overlays with Akhnaten's choral operatic sweep. It's Glass at his most accessible, but still intriguing and mesmerising. The US has in these two men (Glass and Wilson) the towering theatrical giants of the late 20th century. I only hope American audiences appreciate your access to their work - most Australians can only dream about their productions (though Einstein did feature at the 1992 Melbourne Festival for four performances).

While the expansive Einstein on the Beach has some truly amazing moments, and I cherish my copies of Akhnaten and Satyagraha, it's the relatively short 'The Civil Wars' that gets the most play. It contains what I believe are some of the most achingly beautiful vocal & instrumental harmonies I've had the pleasure of experiencing. And I LOVE Robert Wilson's cameo, as he playfully explores the mechanics of speech; dissecting sounds and words, turning them over, rearranging them, exposing their limits. Wilson had a speech impediment as a youth, and language (like everything else in his work) takes on special significance. It's too bad this project was never fully realized.