Solos, Duos, Trios [Limited Edition]

Alan Hovhaness (Composer), Paul Hersey (Performer), Prague Winds (Orchestra), Christina Fong (Performer), Karen Krummel (Performer), Michael Kornacki (Performer), John Varineau (Performer), Christopher Martin (Performer) | Format: DVD Audio

Product Details

• Performer: Paul Hersey, Christina Fong, Karen Krummel, Michael Kornacki, John Varineau, et al.
• Orchestra: Prague Winds
• Composer: Alan Hovhaness
• DVD Audio (January 1, 2008)
• Please Note: This is a DVD-Audio disc which is playable on most DVD players as well as all DVD-Audio players. Click here for additional information regarding compatibility.
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: OgreOgress productions
• ASIN: B002YBJHV6
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,117 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Listening to this collection of 14 rarely heard works of Alan Hovhaness (1911 2000) -- a total of more than two hours drawn from the years 1935-92 -- got me to thinking of the very different types of listeners who are drawn to the enormous output of this unusual composer. There are really three large groups, each of which sees the composer according to its own preferred orientation. Some view Hovhaness as a member of the conservative wing of 20th-century American composers, a defender of both beauty and tonality; others view him as an innovative musical thinker, who, along with such explorers of the exotic as Henry Cowell, John Cage, and Lou Harrison, laid the groundwork for the notion of 'world music'; still others regard him as a mystic, a visionary, a pioneer of the New Age aesthetic, who renounced intellectual approaches in favor of an appeal to the magical, the intuitive, and the spiritual, and who used his music to advocate pacifism and universal brotherhood. This trichotomy has made for some strange alliances within the pro-Hovhaness camp, and is reflected on this recording. --Walter Simmons, Fanfare, September/October 2010

In a century dominated by Americanists and serialists who sought to craft a response to European romanticism, Hovhaness joined Cage and Cowell in blazing a third path that embraced Eastern music as the logical solution in a world that, owing to faster travel and technology, was becoming increasingly smaller. He continued to write into the late 1990s, completing over 400 opus numbers, including almost 70 symphonies. His prolific career perhaps put him in danger of writing the same piece more than once, but even Bernstein came around to appreciate him, later commenting that Hovhaness's music was 'very, very good'. Chamber enthusiasts will discover a treasure trove of well-written and captivating music that transcends dogmatic stylistic philosophies and touches the soul. --Patrick Hanudel, American Record Guide, May/June 2010

Well if you are already keen on Hovhaness then this despite its format is generous and fills many a gap. The highlight? I'm very glad to have got to know the Viola Sonata. --Gary Higginson, MusicWeb, June 2010

Product Description

Fourteenth in a series with previously unreleased works by well-known composers, this 123-minute 96kHz|24bit Audio DVD features the world premiere recordings of 13 chamber works by Alan Hovhaness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Ogreogress Hovhaness collection, February 14, 2010

By 

music lover "rdm" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Solos, Duos, Trios (DVD Audio)

A truly stupendous collection of lesser known pieces by Alan Hovhaness performed mainly by viola player Christina Fong and various collaborators.

You get over two hours of music recorded in the higher quality and resolution given by DVD.

Hovhaness is perhaps best known as a symphonist, and composer for larger ensembles, but these solos, duos and trios are truly musical poetry.

It is extraordinary that some of these pieces have slipped by until now. Some are completely unknown (to me anyhow), others are better known (Poseidon Sonata for solo piano, for example) but not, as far as I know, previously recorded.

The works are presented in chronological order and date from the 1930s to the 1990s, so cover many of the various stages of Hovhaness' composing styles. There are some who think Hovhaness lost his magic touch in later years, but a listen to the final piece here, 1992's sonata for solo viola, surely puts paid to that idea. If you are already a fan of Hovhaness you should need no persuading. If you enjoy excellent contemporary chamber music, recorded with great immediacy, do NOT miss this limited edition disc.

I bought this disc direct from Ogreogress and it crossed the Atlantic to me very speedily.

One reservation I have is that little use is made of the additional features offered by the DVD format - the track titles do not appear on screen for example, and there are no pictures of the performers or other extras on the disc at all. It played without difficulty on my mass market cheap DVD player, no on my computer DVD rom player, so you should have no difficulty getting this disc to play.