Title : Rainbow Body / Blue Cathedral / Symphony 1 / Appalachian Spring Suite
Author : Theofanidis, Christopher
Release Date : 20030527
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $17.98
Amazon.com Price : $13.49
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Editorial Reviews : lanking two major works from an earlier generation of American composers are two shorter ones by contemporaries whose command of orchestral textures and hues make for a stimulating program. Christopher Theofanidis' Rainbow Body opens quietly, and builds to a shattering brass-and-percussion-led close, fully exploiting the rich colors of Atlanta's crack orchestra. Jennifer Higdon's Blue Cathedral, which closes the disc, is a finely textured exploration that, in her words, represents an imaginary journey 'through a glass cathedral in the sky.' It has a soaring quality that captivates, and while not as melodic as Theofanidis' piece, is as compelling in its own way. Spano excels in the Barber and Copland works too; the Barber Symphony No. 1, played with coiled energy, the Copland Suite from Appalachian Spring, full of atmosphere and momentum. Both are among the best available. This brilliantly engineered disc is a winner. --Dan Davis
Buyer Reviews : Conductor Robert Spano, his Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Telarc brought home, not one, not two, but 3 Grammys with their previous release, Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony: Best Classical Album, Best Engineered Album, and Best Choral Performance (of course the Atlanta Symphony Chorus had a prominent role in that case). And it deserves every bit of the wild, unanimous acclaim it's received (just take a look at the customer reviews of that recording here on Amazon!)
This new release is certainly a worthy successor... let's hope there are many more to come from this masterful team. I just can't stop listening to it. The choice of repertoire is brilliant in its novelty and variety, yet coherence and pacing. The Theofanidis title track is, for severe lack of vocabulary, drop-dead dazzling. It moves compellingly from ravishing, breathtaking beauty to spine-tingling, hair-raising power. It's especially enjoyable to listen to in conjunction with Hildegard's 'Ave Maria, O Auctrix Vite' (as on Sequentia's Canticles of Ecstasy), the chant which inspired and permeates the piece.
Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral is every bit as irresistibly gorgeous and effective. You really MUST hear these pieces, especially performed at this superb level of musicality and recorded in Jack Renner's customarily peerless sound.
In case the new stuff isn't enough to persuade you to purchase, you should know that the accounts of Barber's First Symphony and Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite are unsurpassed in the recorded catalog. There... intrigued?
