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Editorial Reviews
Review
Shuffle.Play.Listen. is by far one of the most eclectic and interesting audiophonic adventures that I ve had the pleasure of embarking upon of late. Celebrated cellist Matt Haimovitz, longtime proponent of breaking down musical barriers, pairs up with NPR/PBS From the Top host and acclaimed pianist Christopher O Riley (known for his 2003 solo piano recording of Radiohead and similar covers), for a mind-blowing, genre-bending two-disc release that travels across a vast and variant symphonic landscape.
There s no time to work your way into the discs, no time to stop for a cup of tea and catch your breath before being launched into the music.
Still, the recordings do open with a prelude, but not in the traditional sense. Shuffle.Play.Listen. revs up with an eerie and powerful new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann s Prelude Suite from the iconic Hitchcock film Vertigo (in honor of the maestro s 100th birthday).
If you re brave and choose to settle in for a beginning-to-end, back-to-back listen of both discs (which I highly recommend), be prepared for a wild ride. Haimovitz and O Riley s lineup boldly brings together such pop and classical fare as Piazzolla, Radiohead, Martinu, Arcade Fire, Janacek, the Cocteau Twins, and Stravinsky. Despite the seemingly haphazard selection, this collection is beautifully stitched together. It never feels trite, and the second disc which showcases the bulk of the more contemporary piece is far from a sterile recapitulation of pop tunes rehashed for strings.
Each piece, traditional and otherwise, carries serious symphonic weight and Haimovitz and O Riley own each line this twosome creates a singular, new interpretation of each of these previously recorded works that successfully sounds and feels electric and alive.
Haimovitz s musical zeal, plus O Riley s amazing finesse, equals a powerhouse sound that vacillates wildly between whispery plaintiveness (Arcade Fire s In the Backseat ), emotive intensity (Herrmann Carlotta s Portrait ), and enviable improvisational prowess (John McLaughlin s A Lotus on Irish Streams ). The latter piece closes this unconventional recording, appropriately rounding out a wonderfully diverse musical experience performed by two incredibly complex artists --Heather Scott, All Things Strings
It s a terrible title for some terrific music. Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O Riley have eclectic tastes that they d like to share. Take a suite from Bernard Herrmann s music for Hitchcock s movie Vertigo and intersperse its episodes with vaguely related pieces by Stravinsky, Martinu, Janacek and Piazzolla. That s the first disc, and it s a blinder.
The second is even better a set of O Riley arrangements of recent rock numbers and some jazz, going from Arcade Fire s Empty Room (2011) back to Radiohead s magical Pyramid Song and fast-forward to the same group s Weird Fishes (2007). Known to me or unknown, it s compelling stuff, sitting perfectly on the two instruments. The oldest it gets is a 1971 Dance of Maya by John McLaughlin.
I can t wait to play this CD to people a third of my age and set them guessing where it s from. The categories are irrelevant. This is good music, fabulously played. I can see where they are coming from with the title, but it gives no sense of the content. This could well be the coolest classical disc of the year. --Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley did everything wrong when they made their collaborative CD, Shuffle.Play.Listen.
Among their mistakes:
They made a two-CD set. Who takes the time to listen to two CDs these days?
They decided to mix both classical music and pop music on the record. How do they expect radio stations and retail outlets to deal with music that so dramatically crosses genres and confuses list --Bob Keyes, Portland Herald
It s a terrible title for some terrific music. Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O Riley have eclectic tastes that they d like to share. Take a suite from Bernard Herrmann s music for Hitchcock s movie Vertigo and intersperse its episodes with vaguely related pieces by Stravinsky, Martinu, Janacek and Piazzolla. That s the first disc, and it s a blinder.
The second is even better a set of O Riley arrangements of recent rock numbers and some jazz, going from Arcade Fire s Empty Room (2011) back to Radiohead s magical Pyramid Song and fast-forward to the same group s Weird Fishes (2007). Known to me or unknown, it s compelling stuff, sitting perfectly on the two instruments. The oldest it gets is a 1971 Dance of Maya by John McLaughlin.
I can t wait to play this CD to people a third of my age and set them guessing where it s from. The categories are irrelevant. This is good music, fabulously played. I can see where they are coming from with the title, but it gives no sense of the content. This could well be the coolest classical disc of the year. --Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley did everything wrong when they made their collaborative CD, Shuffle.Play.Listen.
Among their mistakes:
They made a two-CD set. Who takes the time to listen to two CDs these days?
They decided to mix both classical music and pop music on the record. How do they expect radio stations and retail outlets to deal with music that so dramatically crosses genres and confuses listeners?
They sequenced the songs with an arc in mind, so the CD set has a beginning, middle and end. It's a novel idea, but see above: Who has the time to pay attention to such details?
In truth, Haimovitz and O'Riley did everything right.
Shuffle.Play.Listen. feels like a landmark record, blurring the lines and what Haimovitz calls the artificial and outmoded boundaries that divide classical and popular music. Even if you don't know where to find it at the record store -- in the classical aisle or pop? -- it feels like a record for our times, reflecting our increasingly diverse and open-minded taste in music.
Released on Haimovitz's own Oxingale Records label, the CD has found a home on the radio and spawned a tour. The two men -- Haimovitz on cello and O'Riley on piano -- share the Merrill Auditorium stage on Friday in a concert sponsored by Portland Ovations.
The record includes songs by composers as varied and wide-ranging as Astor Piazzolla and The Cocteau Twins; Leos Janacek and Radiohead; and Bernard Herrmann and Arcade Fire.... --Bob Keyes, Portland Herald
There s no time to work your way into the discs, no time to stop for a cup of tea and catch your breath before being launched into the music.
Still, the recordings do open with a prelude, but not in the traditional sense. Shuffle.Play.Listen. revs up with an eerie and powerful new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann s Prelude Suite from the iconic Hitchcock film Vertigo (in honor of the maestro s 100th birthday).
If you re brave and choose to settle in for a beginning-to-end, back-to-back listen of both discs (which I highly recommend), be prepared for a wild ride. Haimovitz and O Riley s lineup boldly brings together such pop and classical fare as Piazzolla, Radiohead, Martinu, Arcade Fire, Janacek, the Cocteau Twins, and Stravinsky. Despite the seemingly haphazard selection, this collection is beautifully stitched together. It never feels trite, and the second disc which showcases the bulk of the more contemporary piece is far from a sterile recapitulation of pop tunes rehashed for strings.
Each piece, traditional and otherwise, carries serious symphonic weight and Haimovitz and O Riley own each line this twosome creates a singular, new interpretation of each of these previously recorded works that successfully sounds and feels electric and alive.
Haimovitz s musical zeal, plus O Riley s amazing finesse, equals a powerhouse sound that vacillates wildly between whispery plaintiveness (Arcade Fire s In the Backseat ), emotive intensity (Herrmann Carlotta s Portrait ), and enviable improvisational prowess (John McLaughlin s A Lotus on Irish Streams ). The latter piece closes this unconventional recording, appropriately rounding out a wonderfully diverse musical experience performed by two incredibly complex artists --Heather Scott, All Things Strings
It s a terrible title for some terrific music. Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O Riley have eclectic tastes that they d like to share. Take a suite from Bernard Herrmann s music for Hitchcock s movie Vertigo and intersperse its episodes with vaguely related pieces by Stravinsky, Martinu, Janacek and Piazzolla. That s the first disc, and it s a blinder.
The second is even better a set of O Riley arrangements of recent rock numbers and some jazz, going from Arcade Fire s Empty Room (2011) back to Radiohead s magical Pyramid Song and fast-forward to the same group s Weird Fishes (2007). Known to me or unknown, it s compelling stuff, sitting perfectly on the two instruments. The oldest it gets is a 1971 Dance of Maya by John McLaughlin.
I can t wait to play this CD to people a third of my age and set them guessing where it s from. The categories are irrelevant. This is good music, fabulously played. I can see where they are coming from with the title, but it gives no sense of the content. This could well be the coolest classical disc of the year. --Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley did everything wrong when they made their collaborative CD, Shuffle.Play.Listen.
Among their mistakes:
They made a two-CD set. Who takes the time to listen to two CDs these days?
They decided to mix both classical music and pop music on the record. How do they expect radio stations and retail outlets to deal with music that so dramatically crosses genres and confuses list --Bob Keyes, Portland Herald
It s a terrible title for some terrific music. Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O Riley have eclectic tastes that they d like to share. Take a suite from Bernard Herrmann s music for Hitchcock s movie Vertigo and intersperse its episodes with vaguely related pieces by Stravinsky, Martinu, Janacek and Piazzolla. That s the first disc, and it s a blinder.
The second is even better a set of O Riley arrangements of recent rock numbers and some jazz, going from Arcade Fire s Empty Room (2011) back to Radiohead s magical Pyramid Song and fast-forward to the same group s Weird Fishes (2007). Known to me or unknown, it s compelling stuff, sitting perfectly on the two instruments. The oldest it gets is a 1971 Dance of Maya by John McLaughlin.
I can t wait to play this CD to people a third of my age and set them guessing where it s from. The categories are irrelevant. This is good music, fabulously played. I can see where they are coming from with the title, but it gives no sense of the content. This could well be the coolest classical disc of the year. --Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale
Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O'Riley did everything wrong when they made their collaborative CD, Shuffle.Play.Listen.
Among their mistakes:
They made a two-CD set. Who takes the time to listen to two CDs these days?
They decided to mix both classical music and pop music on the record. How do they expect radio stations and retail outlets to deal with music that so dramatically crosses genres and confuses listeners?
They sequenced the songs with an arc in mind, so the CD set has a beginning, middle and end. It's a novel idea, but see above: Who has the time to pay attention to such details?
In truth, Haimovitz and O'Riley did everything right.
Shuffle.Play.Listen. feels like a landmark record, blurring the lines and what Haimovitz calls the artificial and outmoded boundaries that divide classical and popular music. Even if you don't know where to find it at the record store -- in the classical aisle or pop? -- it feels like a record for our times, reflecting our increasingly diverse and open-minded taste in music.
Released on Haimovitz's own Oxingale Records label, the CD has found a home on the radio and spawned a tour. The two men -- Haimovitz on cello and O'Riley on piano -- share the Merrill Auditorium stage on Friday in a concert sponsored by Portland Ovations.
The record includes songs by composers as varied and wide-ranging as Astor Piazzolla and The Cocteau Twins; Leos Janacek and Radiohead; and Bernard Herrmann and Arcade Fire.... --Bob Keyes, Portland Herald
Product Description
Shuffle.Play.Listen unites ground-breaking, Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz with pianist Christopher O Riley, host of NPR and PBS s popular weekly radio and television series, From the Top, in a collaboration that blurs the boundaries between classical and pop music. Two performers, each a superstar in his own right, come together to plumb the virtuosic and lyrical possibilities of their instruments in an expansive 2-CD set from Oxingale Records.
Disc 1 features Igor Stravinsky s neo-classical Suite Itallienne, Leos Janacek s Fairy Tale, Bohuslav Martinu's Variations on a Slovak Folksong and Astor Piazzolla's Grand Tango, all interwoven with an arresting new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo film score, celebrating the composer s 100 birthday this year.
Disc 2 kicks off with Empty Room from the 2011 Grammy winning Album of the Year by Arcade Fire, and follows up with tracks by Blond Redhead, the Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, and more Arcade Fire, as well as supergroup A Perfect Circle s hit song 3 Libras and a jaw dropping rendition of John McLaughlin s Dance of Maya. All the arrangements for cello and piano were made with O Riley s signature passion and finesse, and realized with Haimovitz s uncompromising artistic depth. The pair display their considerable improvisational skills in several tunes, including their 9-minute un-cut interpretation of McLaughlin s Lotus on an Irish Spring.
Inside the package, New York Times best-selling author Dan Levitin (This is your Brain on Music), interviews Haimovitz and O Riley on the making of Shuffle.Play.Listen.
One of the most anticipated collaborations of the 2011-2012 season, Haimovitz and O Riley will tour extensively in major concert series and university residencies throughout throughout the US. In addition, each continues to tour exhaustively as a solo artist in recital and as concerto soloist.
Shuffle.Play.Listen embraces a new kind of listening public who mix Wagner with Lady Gaga on their iPods, exploring new sounds and moving comfortably between genres. While Classical lovers will be drawn to CD1, more adventurous listeners will thrill to CD2, and both will want to shuffle, play and listen!
Disc 1 features Igor Stravinsky s neo-classical Suite Itallienne, Leos Janacek s Fairy Tale, Bohuslav Martinu's Variations on a Slovak Folksong and Astor Piazzolla's Grand Tango, all interwoven with an arresting new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo film score, celebrating the composer s 100 birthday this year.
Disc 2 kicks off with Empty Room from the 2011 Grammy winning Album of the Year by Arcade Fire, and follows up with tracks by Blond Redhead, the Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, and more Arcade Fire, as well as supergroup A Perfect Circle s hit song 3 Libras and a jaw dropping rendition of John McLaughlin s Dance of Maya. All the arrangements for cello and piano were made with O Riley s signature passion and finesse, and realized with Haimovitz s uncompromising artistic depth. The pair display their considerable improvisational skills in several tunes, including their 9-minute un-cut interpretation of McLaughlin s Lotus on an Irish Spring.
Inside the package, New York Times best-selling author Dan Levitin (This is your Brain on Music), interviews Haimovitz and O Riley on the making of Shuffle.Play.Listen.
One of the most anticipated collaborations of the 2011-2012 season, Haimovitz and O Riley will tour extensively in major concert series and university residencies throughout throughout the US. In addition, each continues to tour exhaustively as a solo artist in recital and as concerto soloist.
Shuffle.Play.Listen embraces a new kind of listening public who mix Wagner with Lady Gaga on their iPods, exploring new sounds and moving comfortably between genres. While Classical lovers will be drawn to CD1, more adventurous listeners will thrill to CD2, and both will want to shuffle, play and listen!
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Steve49w
Format:Audio CD
Last year Matt Haimovitz released an album by his 8 cello band "UCELLO" that was absolutely amazing. It was like a big band but made up of cellos. This year Matt teamed up with pianist and arranger Christopher O'Riley to create a CD that delves into the mosaic that makes up Matt and Christopher's eclectic musical taste.
The first of the 2 CD set mixes music by traditional classical composers and intersperses it with excerpts from the music by Bernard Herrmann for the Alfred Hitchcock film "Veritgo". As odd as that sounds the music just flows one track to the next.
CD #2 is a compilation of arrangements of music by bands like Arcade Fire, Cocteua Twins and more that just blows me away. Check out their version of Arcade Fire's "Empty Room", for example, if you don't believe me.
I can 100% without reservation or qualification recommend this CD!
The first of the 2 CD set mixes music by traditional classical composers and intersperses it with excerpts from the music by Bernard Herrmann for the Alfred Hitchcock film "Veritgo". As odd as that sounds the music just flows one track to the next.
CD #2 is a compilation of arrangements of music by bands like Arcade Fire, Cocteua Twins and more that just blows me away. Check out their version of Arcade Fire's "Empty Room", for example, if you don't believe me.
I can 100% without reservation or qualification recommend this CD!
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A wonderful CD. Enjoyed the music and would recommend it to my friends. Already a favorite CD to listen to.
0 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By phil
Format:Audio CD
Matt is a world class cellist. Any of us who play cello would want to have his chops. So it makes me wonder why he's covering other peoples tunes. Putting a romantic piano/cello spin on someone else's 3 minute pop song is not breaking any new ground. It's what cover bands do. I'd be more interested if he would get off the page, loosen up, get out on the edge, and create some new sounds.
