![]() ![]() Its three tonal, dirge-like movements are laments for the victims of World War II. As a result of this important collaboration, Minimalism became Mainstream.- Robert Levineĭawn Upshaw, David Zinman, London SinfoniettaĬomposed in 1976, Górecki's Symphony 3 had its admirers from the start within two months of its release 17 years later, this recording was on the Classical Top Ten charts, and quickly "crossed over," without a bit of marketing, to the pop charts as well. The score, underlining the imagery, contains some of Glass's most stunning music-the runaway arpeggios are here, and so is a gloriously low bass-voice drone at the film's start and finish, as well as some choral music the composer has yet to better. Godfrey Reggio's ravishing film is as important for Glass's music as for its images, which depict nature's, society's and technology's multiple relationships. Here is an example of a movie and its score being virtually inseparable, probably for the first time since the era of silent films. Michael Riesman, Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, Members of the Philip Glass Ensemble. The performances are impeccable, and the whole endeavor at least gave us the impression that we were in touch with a time long, long ago.- Robert Levine Who would have believed that this collection of wandering, twisting plainchant lines and more complicated pieces would usher in an era in which baby-boomers raised on Dylan and Hendrix, the Stones and the Beatles, would listen to chanting monks? The whole production was both mystical and approachable-the boyish purity of Emma Kirkby's soprano mingled with a recorded ambience that made us believe we were in or near an ancient monastery. With this gorgeous CD, Hildegard von Bingen, 12th-century abbess, composer, artist, poet, visionary, and friend and advisor to popes, kings, and emperors, became a household name. HILDEGARD VON BINGEN: A Feather on the Breath of God ![]() ![]() The set remains a milestone for these foundations of the symphonic repertoire.- Robert Levine It's not a perfect set (what is?), but the orchestra's fabulous enthusiasm, and the senses of unity, event, and achievement, are palpable. It remains the key example of the most important partnership of label, orchestra, and conductor in the history of recordings. Initially, those who wanted the set had to subscribe the LPs were sent, symphony by symphony. Von Karajan recorded the complete Beethoven cycle four times, but this was the first ever recorded and intended to be sold as an integral set. So is this, his later performance of the Goldbergs, now available in a boxed set along with the 1955 recording, in excellent sound and for the first time using the original analog tapes, made as backups because the engineers didn't altogether trust the new digital technology.- Robert Levine Fleet-fingered, incredibly accurate, with soul and intelligence in equal parts, Gould was it. By the time of this remake, Gould's eccentricities-humming along, odd tempo choices and accents, a refusal to perform anywhere but in the recording studio-were well-known, as were his spectacular gifts. With Gould's first recording of the Goldbergs in 1955, the world was introduced to a unique artist and began listening to Bach differently. Other Rings do this or that a bit better, but for sheer grandeur, this is still it: In the stereo era, much of the cast has still to be bettered (ditto the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic), and sonically, it's still a masterpiece.- Robert Levine Furthermore, with the brain-splitting clang of Donner's hammer and the subsequent thunderbolt near the end of Das Rheingold, every audiophile in the world had a new demonstration disc. With the Ring, recording opera became an art form. But with stereo and advances in technology, Decca and producer John Culshaw eventually did so, and revolutionized the way opera was recorded-with stage details, movement, perspective, tricks of amplification and tape speed to alter pitch and tone quality), and more. The fact that Wagner's Ring is undeniably the finest music-drama ever written did not encourage record labels to record it with the invention of the LP-it was simply too vast and expensive an undertaking. Sir Georg Solti, Vienna Philharmonic, et al ![]()
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