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Editorial Reviews
Review
Musical America Conductor of the Year, 2008 -- Musical America, December 2008
Product Description
Philip Glass has enjoyed a degree of popularity unusual among contemporary composers. A pupil of Nadia Boulanger, he was also influenced by the Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar and has won a reputation as an exponent of minimalism, based on the systematic
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Along with his colleague John Adams, Philip Glass is the most familiar of the modern minimalists. Yet like Adams, Glass seems to be building a greater communicative sense with each new work I hear. These two symphonies were composed in the early nineties, and Naxos is now providing a 2003 recording of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra led by the insightful Marin Alsop. This is the same group of artists that played the wonderful version of Adams' "Shaker Loops" this past year, and this recording of Glass' works equals that one for dramatic insight and virtuosic preciseness.
A strings-only piece, Symphony #3 (23:58) has four conventional movements which build in drama and texture. It contains many of Glass' signature sounds with mono-tonal melodies that spiral in larger and larger circles and chords that feel like they are beating down an urban thunderstorm of clandestine activity - jabbing, throbbing, chugging - as they do in the second movement. Yet the music reflects some of his most gentle work especially in the first and third movements. There is an unexpectedly beautiful violin solo in the middle of the third movement that runs initially counter to his quietly driving sequential style until they eventually meld together. The drama turns fiery in the last movement as it broadens into an exciting albeit measured gallop, at the same time not sacrificing the virtuosity of the expert playing by the Bournemouth string section.
Symphony #2 (43:14) is a larger scale piece that makes dramatic sense to be played after the third, as it is a more ambitious work. It slowly builds in intensity with very broad strokes that deepen and darken when it comes to the bass-lines and the repetitive use of contrasting woodwinds. There is a vividly harrowing sense of adventure to the first movement that this section would not be inappropriate to be used as background movie music for a daring escape aboard a hot air balloon crossing the Alps. There is more of an orchestral sense to the second movement and an increasing ambiguity in tone that heightens the drama considerably with yet a new set of pronounced textures. The finale has almost a battle-cry exuberance but with a swooping, sinuous dramatic power with the addition of brass and even bells to the strings and woodwinds. The last movement truly feels like the culmination of what Glass has presented before in both symphonies.
Beautifully recorded at "The Concert Hall, Lighthouse, Poole" in Dorset, UK, this recording verifies that Glass' oeuvre is more than his famous operas often in collaboration with Robert Wilson. Producer-engineer Tim Handley has done an excellent job of keeping the impeccable sound in check throughout. And like the Adams recording, this one sells for the ridiculously bargain basement price of $6.98. Strongly recommended.
A strings-only piece, Symphony #3 (23:58) has four conventional movements which build in drama and texture. It contains many of Glass' signature sounds with mono-tonal melodies that spiral in larger and larger circles and chords that feel like they are beating down an urban thunderstorm of clandestine activity - jabbing, throbbing, chugging - as they do in the second movement. Yet the music reflects some of his most gentle work especially in the first and third movements. There is an unexpectedly beautiful violin solo in the middle of the third movement that runs initially counter to his quietly driving sequential style until they eventually meld together. The drama turns fiery in the last movement as it broadens into an exciting albeit measured gallop, at the same time not sacrificing the virtuosity of the expert playing by the Bournemouth string section.
Symphony #2 (43:14) is a larger scale piece that makes dramatic sense to be played after the third, as it is a more ambitious work. It slowly builds in intensity with very broad strokes that deepen and darken when it comes to the bass-lines and the repetitive use of contrasting woodwinds. There is a vividly harrowing sense of adventure to the first movement that this section would not be inappropriate to be used as background movie music for a daring escape aboard a hot air balloon crossing the Alps. There is more of an orchestral sense to the second movement and an increasing ambiguity in tone that heightens the drama considerably with yet a new set of pronounced textures. The finale has almost a battle-cry exuberance but with a swooping, sinuous dramatic power with the addition of brass and even bells to the strings and woodwinds. The last movement truly feels like the culmination of what Glass has presented before in both symphonies.
Beautifully recorded at "The Concert Hall, Lighthouse, Poole" in Dorset, UK, this recording verifies that Glass' oeuvre is more than his famous operas often in collaboration with Robert Wilson. Producer-engineer Tim Handley has done an excellent job of keeping the impeccable sound in check throughout. And like the Adams recording, this one sells for the ridiculously bargain basement price of $6.98. Strongly recommended.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this CD simply on impulse (it was on sale for $5.99) but it turned out to be a rewarding purchase. I have always thought of Glass's great works to be his operas and smaller pieces (Glassworks etc.) but the pairing of these two powerful orchestral works makes you wonder if his symphonies are underrated (and certainly underperformed). Alsop creates a unified structure that makes a more compelling case than the previous recording of the 3rd (I don't have any comparison for the 2nd). Bournemouth, as everybody knows, is a fine orchestra, but really shines when Alsop asks them to provide a little more 'oomphh' than is usually called for in Glass works. No serious contemporary collector should miss this set, and at the price I'd buy one for a friend.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a late convert to the music of Philip Glass. I was skeptical of it for a long time. Then I heard the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of his opera Satyagraha, which I was surprised to find had solid musical values. The same is true of the current CD. I don't think Glass is Bartok or Prokofiev, but that's not the point. He certainly can be mentioned in the same breath as an earlier American master like Howard Hanson. Indeed the Second Symphony, despite its minimalism, has melodies and structures reminiscent of the symphonic masters of the middle of the last century. Glass has said that the writing of Honegger and Milhaud in symphonic form still offers avenues for exploration, and he gleefully picks up their torch in this work. Surprising for minimalism, it even has a real finale that's reminiscent of the first two symphonies of Charles Ives. I have read a published review of this album that calls both works "unrepentant minimalism." That simply isn't true. The Third Symphony, written for 19 string players, is a beautifully accomplished piece of music. At times, particularly in the second movement, it is reminiscent of Stravinsky's concertos for strings. And in the sonorities of the last movement, there is even an evocation (unintentional?) of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera. This is a very enjoyable disc, beautifully played and recorded.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superbly engineered recording
If you're a Glass fan, this recording of Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3 can't be beat for audio engineering and conducting. Read more
Published on March 10, 2011 by Hunter
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you want a Modern Symphony look here
Glass is not Mozart. But if you like Mozart, you probably will like these symphonies of Glass. They have a lot of wind parts for symphony 2. And symphony 3 is unique. Read more
Published on October 14, 2009 by Classics Explorer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Philip Glass Music, Symp 2 and 3
I thought the Philip Glass music I bought was very good Philip Glass. It wasn't as good as his Symp #8 but still very good. Glass gets better with age. Read more
Published on January 12, 2009 by Frank Gross III
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
Two months ago I had never heard of this over productive composer! I am totally hooked already. I saw a performance in Amsterdam by a dance group, moving on music of Philip Glass,... Read more
Published on October 17, 2008 by J. C. J. Mols
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very engrossing
I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to sections 1 through 4 of symphony #3 several times in the day since I got this CD. Read more
Published on August 7, 2005 by W. Kosar
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