Wagnerian leitmotifs meet Stravinskyian ostinati in Ulysses
It’s hard to believe that Pulitzer prizewinning composer John Harbison, who turns seventy this year, composed a full length ballet nearly a quarter of a century ago and it has yet to be staged. Ulysses (1984/rev, 2003), has been played piecemeal by various orchestras over the years; Andre Previn and the Pittsburgh Symphony recorded its second act, “Ulysses’ Bow,” for Nonesuch; but it wasn’t until 2003 that an orchestra performed the work in its entirety.
While this recording whets ones appetite for a staging of the full work, Harbison couldn't wish for better advocates or interpreters of Ulysses than Rose and the BMOP; an excellent recording.