Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man; Seven Poems of Bob Dylan; Three Hallucinations

Corigliano (Artist, Composer), Plitmann (Artist, Performer), Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (Artist, Orchestra), Falletta (Artist, Conductor, Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Plitmann, Falletta
• Orchestra: Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Falletta
• Composer: Corigliano
• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: NAXOS AMERICAN
• ASIN: B001DELX6W
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #121,157 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Performing Songwriter Magazine, Lee Zimmerman, December 2008

The premise seems bizarre at best. A renowned classical composer unfamiliar with Bob Dylan's music studies his lyrics and is subsequently inspired to re-imagine them as a classical concerto, recasting the works with new melodies wholly divorced from Dylan's original compositions. That's the bewildering back story behind John Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man, a song cycle that expropriates Dylan's discography - seven songs in all - to underscore a journey of emotion and awareness. Sung by acclaimed soprano Hila Plitmann with JoAnn Falletta conducting the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the music meanders from the idyllic sentiments of "Mr. Tambourine Man" to the call of "Blowin' in the Wind" and concludes with the uplifting optimism of "Forever Young".

Product Description

World Premiere Recording

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delicious Box of Ear Candy, October 1, 2008

By	Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Scoring poetry has had a long tradition, whether for art songs in classical music or for religious rites. Each poem challenges the classical composer to create music to reflect themes and specific phrases, producing a series of miniatures often of great variety. The American poems of Walt Whitman, for instance, were scored by John Adams, Howard Hanson, and Vaughan Williams, and those of Emily Dickinson were the focus of works by Aaron Copland and John Adams. The songs of the young Bob Dylan still have great appeal because of their poetry, besides the social and political commentary, and with this album they are elevated to high art in the hands of John Corigliano, who states that he was not familiar with the songs (hard to believe as he was age 30 in 1968) and reached his compositions solely through the written lyrics. Of course, the listener MUST forget about Dylan's original tunes, though strongly etched in the mind; something composers of Whitman et al. poetry need not be concerned. The result is a short series of wonderfully interesting music, full of orchestral color and mood and here nicely performed by soprano Hila Plitmann and the Buffalo Philharmonic. The second set of music are three religious "hallucinations"...wonderful title!....that also demonstrate the excellent orchestral abilities of Corigliano, who deserves more public attention beyond his popular Red Violin. Throw in Naxos budget pricing and you have a most splendid purchase. Buy it for your kids and enjoy their reactions!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars To borrow from Monty Python. "and now for something completely different"!, October 18, 2008

By	Steven I. Ramm "Steve Ramm "Anything Phon... (Phila, PA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you haven't read the information before, the major part of this CD (and it's featured composition) is a series of seven of Bob Dylan's lyrics (here called "poems", though Dylan never meant them as such) set to a musical score by composer Corigliano, who - surprisingly - says he never heard sung before. (Yeesh, is there ANYONE in the world who has NEVER heard ANYONE sing "Blowin' in The Wind"?? Really??)

In addition to "BitW" there are other popular Dylan compositions ("Mr. Tambourine Man", "All Along The Watchtower") as well as less familiar ones ("Clothes Line", "Chimes of Freedom").

The concept is interesting, that's for sure. I did like the composer's musical settings, but had a hard time with the vocals sung by "Amplified Soprano", Hila Plitmann. In fact, I had to refer to the lyric booklet a few times to even guess which song she was singing. I'll admit I'm not a big fan of sopranos, and I listen mostly to folk, jazz and EARLY pop music, as well as film scores, but I wanted to give this album a chance. It lost my attention after one playing and I can't see playing this piece often.

The last third of the disc (15 minutes worth) was based on the composers score for the film "Alterted States" and I found this much more interesting, and will certainly return to those tracks again.

Certainly Naxos low retail price makes this a CD you can try and not break the bank. Amazon has "samples" of the tracks to hear so you can get the idea as to whether this is something you want to hear more of. And I'm certainly glad that Naxos recorded these pieces - as they have done with many "overlooked" classical compositions. It should be documents and I'm sure Dylan completists will want this in their collection.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It should have been AMY !, April 5, 2009

By	Gordon L. Wilson (Fountain Hills, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've heard most of these pieces performed previously, live at the Cabrillo Festival in Santa Cruz, CA. There, Amy Burton, a soprano who regularly appears with the Metropolitan Opera, was the featured vocalist on Corigliano's TAMBOURINE MAN. I liked Amy's voice and interpretation much better than the woman on this recording. This woman seems much too percussive, overly dramatic, and quite pushy with her tone; almost as if she was singing a Torchy, Blues song down in New Orleans. Amy,on the other hand, is much more musical, tender, and seductive. I guess it boils down to ones likes or dislikes. In any event, I have no problem whatsoever with the instrumental portions of this recording. I really like the music of America's Dean of Composers, John Corigliano. I would recommend this CD to anyone who cares for Serious Contemporaneous Classical music, especially that of Mr. Corigliano. Gordon Wilson, Ariz.