Copland: Piano Concerto - The Tender Land (Suite); Old American Songs

Pasternack (Artist), St Charles Singers (Artist), Copland (Conductor), Hanson (Conductor), Elgin Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: Elgin Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Copland, Hanson
• Audio CD (May 27, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos American Classics
• ASIN: B001716IVG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,311 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

The Chicago Daily Herald, Bill Gowen, May, 2008
Already the fastest-growing regional orchestra in the United States, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra will make a quantum leap Tuesday with the release of its first commercially recorded compact disc.

And it's for none other than Naxos, which, since its founding in 1987, has become the world's best-selling classical music label. The ESO's disc, part of Naxos' critically acclaimed "American Classics" series, contains music by Aaron Copland (1900-90).

I have listened over the past several weeks to an advance copy of the recording, and can say without hesitation that it is one of those discs that lovers of classical music (and Copland in particular) will return to time and again. To have professional music organizations of the high artistic level of the ESO and St. Charles Singers in our area is especially gratifying.

The Beacoon News, Jim Edwards, May 2008
But for a project like this, not just any record company would do. The world's largest classical label, Naxos, sent out their firstline team of engineers from LondonTown under the leadership of legendary engineer Tim Handley. You can sure find Naxos CDs at your local book store/ music mart.

These magazines' critics will have nothing but fun reviewing this disc. Relax, sit back and let the brass section of the Elgin Symphony under Hanson take you to musical nirvana right from the first track of the disc, The Tender Land Suite.

The Naxos sound engineers have done their job brilliantly. When you hear brass you are sitting directly in front of the trumpets. When you hear the piano, you are on the piano bench dodging those marvelous hands of Pasternack as he "tickles the ivories". And when you hear the voices in the Old American Songs (10) you are right there standing by the soloist in front of Director Jeff Hunt's St. Charles Singers hearing great musical Americana.

Only rarely are orchestras given the privilege of doing studio recordings these days. It is far cheaper to simply record a "live" performance. A studio recording, however, allows the musicians to make corrections and adjust their performance for greater clarity and effect.

Having heard one of the fine live performances of these Copland works, what I hear on their CD surpasses even the live performance. The Elgin Symphony Orchestra has reached a new musical "high", in this, their first professional CD recording. I smell a 2008 Grammy nomination.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful !, May 29, 2008

By	Martin R. Lash (Sister Bay, Wisc) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a well recorded, generous disc that includes three fine works by Copland. The Piano Concerto is played with great urgency by Ben Pasternack. Copland's Tender Land Suite is also a winner. The best items on this CD are the beautiful Old American Songs. Here they are recorded with soloists and a chorus. After Copland recorded this music with William Warfield there was not much reason for anybody else to try them on CD. But given the choral settings these little gems are revealed in a new light. Great playing from the Elgin Symphony and their conductor Robert Hanson. I am so glad Naxos records lesser known orchestras like these. The Elgin sounds great. I hope more CD's from them will be forthcoming.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonder..., June 2, 2008

By	L. Ackerman "CD Explorer" (Ashburn, VA (USA)) - See all my reviews

I admit I was prejudicial when I saw the artist line up: Elgin Symphony Orchestra (Elg...what!?) from the Elgin Community(!) College somewhere in Illinois. And all those unkwnown names listed? Well; I admit to love when I have to eat my prejudices. This is a blockbuster! Both performance and sound (who needs Telarc et al with sound like this?) are terrific. I encourage you to hold your skin tight when you hear the Finale of 'The Tender Land Suite' (The Promise of Living): true American nobility.
These people play it as if it was a live concert, with virtuosity and gusto. Everything about this disc is outstanding. Another NAXOS success worth many more dollars than the asking price.
The 'Special Thanks' note in the booklet states that [the underwriters] "feel strongly that this recording will broaden the orchestras' reach, enhance its reputation and capture the music and artistry for many generations to come." Well: BINGO! A keeper.

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting program performed with style, but not at the highest level, September 20, 2008

By	Santa Fe listener - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Naxos didn't seize upon the best little amateur orchestra on the plains; the Elgin Symphony is a 58-year-old group in suburban Chicago that went pro in 1985. There's an abundance of musical talent in that area, as this orchestra demonstrates in its full, confident, accomplished sonority. Conductor Robert Hanson knows Copland better than Copland himself, so far as conducting goes, so from the start his version of the suite from "The Tender Land," which few besides the composer have recorded, goes to the top of the list. The opera lacks dramatic interest, but for anyone who love Copland in his cowboys-and-Shakers style, the suite fits the bill (none of the excerpts are of the caliber of his great ballets, however).

The Piano Concerto is equally populist but was composed at a higher level, and we get some dissonance and jazz to add interest. Any Copland piece that Leonard Bernstein recorded isn't likely to get a better performance. Pianist Ben Pasternak does better in the lyrical first movement than in the second, where he isn't bluesy or swinging enough. Nonetheless, he's quite good, and Naxos's big-as-all-outdoors recording adds the right atmosphere.

The "Old American Songs," as another reviewer says, received a once-in-a-lifetime recording from William Warfield (Sony), followed by a scarcely less powerful one from Thomas Hampson in his prime (Teldec). Baritone Nathaniel Staumpley has a lighter voice, and he isn't secure enough to cut loose with total abandon (he tends to wobble at loud volume), but he's enthusiastic and catches the folk idiom without retentious touches of the concert platform. It was smart to record the version Irving Fine made that includes a chorus, since it takes a lot of the burden off Staumpley. There are times, though, when conductor Hnason is too polite and the enterprise becomes a genial community sing-along.

In all, this is a real find at bargain price, even if none of the performances excetp 'The Tender Land' competes with the best.