NewMusicBox reviews David Rakowski: Winged Contraption

About a year and half ago, we did a NewMusicBox cover on David Rakowski, in preparation for which I studied his then 80 solo piano etudes and became a hardcore devotee. These quirky pieces are a rare breed—they’re pithy and some are even hysterically funny, no small feat to accomplish in the abstract, non-representational medium of music. As a result, pianists flock to them, and they are fast becoming staples of the contemporary solo piano repertoire. But all through our talk, David insisted that he’s more than “the piano etude guy”.

Media Date 
March 23, 2009
Media Source 
NewMusicBox
Media 
Media Quote 

All in all, the disc provides a much needed window into Rakowski's music beyond the piano etudes.

Media Contact Name 
Frank J. Oteri

International Record Review reviews Lukas Foss: The Prairie

The booklet informs us, ‘Lukas Foss, b. 1922’, but sadly, Foss passed away on February 1st of this year. So, a release which surely would have brought renewed attention to a worthwhile American composer now also must serve as a memorial.

Media Date 
April 6, 2009
Media Source 
International Record Review
Media 
Media Quote 

A release which surely would have brought renewed attention to a worthwhile American composer now also must serve as a memorial.

Media Contact Name 
Raymond S. Tuttle

The New York Times reviews Derek Bermel: Voices

Derek Bermel, like many composers born in the late 1960’s, is a natural eclectic who uses classical forms and timbres as his principal medium and draws on jazz, pop, and world music when he wants a particular melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic twist.

Media Date 
May 10, 2009
Media Source 
The New York Times
Media 
Media Quote 

The recording, beautifully detailed, packs a solid punch in stereo and is even more strikingly visceral in surround mode, which puts the orchestra around you but preserves the listener-ensemble distance of the concert hall.

Media Contact Name 
Allan Kozinn

American Record Guide reviews Derek Bermel: Voices

The American clarinetist and composer Derek Bermel is gaining increasing prominence as a postmodern force. His philosophy involves recreating the sounds of world music, jazz, rock, and funk in traditional instrumental genres, especially the symphony orchestra. This artistic viewpoint, of course, is hardly new; Mozart invoked the sounds of Turkish music, Debussy conjured the timbres of the Indonesian gamelan orchestra, and Bernstein was at home with jazz, Latin music, and the Western European canon.

Media Date 
July 1, 2009
Media Source 
American Record Guide
Media 
Media Quote 

Bermel does more than follow in their footsteps—his music is fresh, creative, and uniquely his own.

Media Contact Name 
Patrick Hanudel

Gramophone reviews Derek Bermel: Voices

You might say that Derek Bermel (b. 1967) is the quintessential 21st-century musician. A composition student of Henri Dutilleux, Louis Andriessen, and William Bolcom (among others), Bermel is also an accomplished jazz clarinetist, has traveled the world exploring folk traditions, and performs (singing and playing keyboards and percussion) in a rock band. This staggering eclecticism is apparent in all four works recorded here.

Media Date 
July 1, 2009
Media Source 
Gramophone
Media 
Media Quote 

I just hope that future performances are as authoritative as these by Gil Rose and BMOP. The SACD recording is thrillingly vivid.

Media Contact Name 
Andrew Farach-Colton

American Record Guide reviews David Rakowski: Winged Contraption

Born in Vermont in 1958, David Rakowski is best known for his long series of witty, extravagant piano etudes. They have been often performed, and recordings of them have been praised by ARG’s reviewers: Bridge 9121 (July/Aug 2003), Albany 681 (Jan/Feb 2005), Bridge 9157 (Mar/Apr 2005). Rakowski has written much else, too, including three symphonies, five concertos, wind ensemble pieces, and chamber and vocal music.

Media Date 
July 1, 2009
Media Source 
American Record Guide
Media 
Media Quote 

It does offer the listener more than enough incentive to go back and listen again, as I did with increasing pleasure and admiration, as the work's individuality became clearer and stronger.

Media Contact Name 
Mark Lehman

The Choral Journal reviews Lukas Foss: The Prairie

While the recent passing of Lukas Foss (1922-2009) strikes a sad note for many of us, the release of this superb recording of The Prairie serves to both celebrate and elucidate his unique genius and extraordinary life. Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany, Foss received his early training as a pianist and composer with Julius Goldstein (who, upon emigrating to the United States, changed his last name to Herford and ultimately became one of the most significant teachers of conducting and score study in American history).

Media Date 
October 1, 2009
Media Source 
Choral Journal
Media 
Media Quote 

The release of this superb recording of The Prairie serves to both celebrate and elucidate Foss' unique genius and extraordinary life.

Media Contact Name 
Sean Burton

Eric Chasalow: Left To His Own Devices

New Jersey-born Chasalow is Professor of Music at Brandeis University, so unsurprisingly the nine works presented on this varied and satisfying album reference a diverse range of influences and styles, from the post-modern reworkings of Beethoven and Brahms idioms (1998’s string trio Yes, I Really Did) to Jerome Kern (Crossing Boundaries), Dizzy Gillespie (Out of Joint), Eric Dolphy (In A Manner of Speaking) and the doyen of American academia Milton Babbitt.

Media Date 
July 31, 2003
Media Source 
Paris Transatlantic Magazine
Media 
Media Quote 

There's more life, energy, and creativity in any one of these fine pieces than the dreary stodge Philip Glass is turning out by the diskful every week.

Media Contact Name 
Dan Warburton

Sequenza21 reviews Lisa Bielawa: In Media Res

Lisa Bielawa is a phenomenon. The perky San Francisco native who, judging from her booklet photo, appears to be very much on the sunny side of life, started her career as a singer. After touring with the Philip Glass ensemble from 1992 and founding in 1997 the MATA Festival to promote the work of new composers, she began writing her own music about ten years ago. Right from the beginning, she showed a decided preference for the larger forms of music.

Media Date 
August 8, 2010
Media Source 
Sequenza21
Media 
Media Quote 

Seriously, I urge every aficionado of 20/21 music to give full attention to this rising star.

Media Contact Name 
Phil Muse

The Classical Voice of New England reviews John Harbison: Full Moon in March

This recording from Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project includes two of John Harbison’s prominent vocal works, the Mirabai Songs and his opera, Full Moon in March. The former is based on a text by a 16th-century Indian mystical poet and street-dancer, while the latter is loosely adapted by the composer from a play by William Butler Yeats. The last piece on this recording is an elegiac tribute to Calvin Simmons, a young conductor of the Oakland Symphony who died in a boating accident.

Media Date 
July 1, 2009
Media Source 
Classical Voice of New England
Media 
Media Contact Name 
Thomas Healy

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