Ives: Symphony No. 4 / Three Places in New England / Central Park in the Dark

Charles Ives (Composer), Michael Tilson Thomas (Conductor), Seiji Ozawa (Conductor), Boston Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Jerome Rosen (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Jerome Rosen
• Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas, Seiji Ozawa
• Composer: Charles Ives
• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001G8V
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,354 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Orchestral Set No. 1: Three Places in New England, for orchestra, S. 7 (K. 1A5): 1. The "St. Gaudens" in Boston Common. Col. Shaw and

2. Orchestral Set No. 1: Three Places in New England, for orchestra, S. 7 (K. 1A5): 2. Putnam's Camp, Redding, Connecticut

3. Orchestral Set No. 1: Three Places in New England, for orchestra, S. 7 (K. 1A5): 3. The Housatonic at Stockbridge

4. Symphony No. 4, for orchestra (& optional chorus, theremin et alia), S. 4 (K. 1A4): 1. Prelude. Maestoso

5. Symphony No. 4, for orchestra (& optional chorus, theremin et alia), S. 4 (K. 1A4): 2. Allegretto

6. Symphony No. 4, for orchestra (& optional chorus, theremin et alia), S. 4 (K. 1A4): 3. Fugue. Andante moderato

7. Symphony No. 4, for orchestra (& optional chorus, theremin et alia), S. 4 (K. 1A4): 4. Very Slowly - Largo maestoso

8. Central Park in the Dark, for orchestra, S. 34 (K. 1C27)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Muddled, January 22, 2005

By	C. Symonds (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I disagree with the previous reviewer. Ives' wild 4th deserves better treatment than this. Ozawa is known for making bad recordings with great orchestras and this disc is no exception. This was the first version I owned of Ives' 4th and I liked it enough to buy a second recording. Michael Tilson-Thomas' reading with the CSO is miles better than this, the detail, especially in the 2nd and 4th movements (the most rhythmically complex and difficult to conduct and perform) is brought out to a wonderful degree. Ozawa simply buries a lot of this. Furthermore, Ozawa does not bring out the American folk tunes and hymns that Ives so cunningly weaves into the overall fabric of this eclectic work. Tilson-Thomas does all of this AND manages to make the 4 movements cohere symphonically, something that not many conductors of this piece can do. Ozawa just flounders, frankly.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A more profound reading..., February 17, 2007

By	Todd E. Winkels (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've heard alot of readings of Ives's 4th, and each has it's merits. I personally prefer Ozawa's account over the Michael Tilson Thomas release. ALthough I enjoy MTT's version very much (and it is a reference recording no doubt) I also feel MTT is alittle too controlling or too articulated for Ives...his account is more "user friendly" than other accounts.

Ozawa, on the other hand, is a more mystical reading. With Ozawa, Ives is more than "americana"...Ives is a transcendentalist above all and this recording reflects this aspect of Ives more than other accounts.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ives' vision of a transcendental community, March 17, 2002

By	R. Hutchinson "autonomeus" (a world ruled by fossil fuels and fossil minds) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is fantastic music -- amazing that Ives composed it from 1903 to 1916, as it utilizes high/low juxtapositions, pastiche and "sampling" that would become important only in the postmodern art of the '70s and after! "Three Places" was recorded in 1970, and the 4th Symphony and "Central Park" in 1976. DG's remastering is superb, and the sound is all you could want.

I see it as unfortunate that Ives' image is that of quaint Americana. While he marched to his own drummer, and allied himself with self-identified "ultramodernists" only because they were the only ones to champion him, Ives' vision was truly a modern one, and his music should have a place of honor alongside the more influential Second Vienna School. While he personally was a product of small town New England, his music was anything but -- at least not the music on this disc!

"Symphony No. 4" is a masterpiece, from the mystical prelude, to the infamous second movement's wild dissonance and pandemonium, to a somber fugue, and finally a chorus with tolling bells in the truly transcendental finale. I can't yet compare this to other recordings, but Ozawa and Boston are magnificent!