Adès; Higdon; MacMillan Orchestral Works
Vivid accounts of visceral, career-launching contemporary works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: James MacMillan, Thomas Adès, Jennifer Higdon
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: LPO
Magazine Review Date: 2/2009
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 61
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: LPO0035
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Chamber Symphony |
Thomas Adès, Composer
London Philharmonic Orchestra Marin Alsop, Conductor Thomas Adès, Composer |
Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra |
Jennifer Higdon, Composer
Colin Currie, Percussion Jennifer Higdon, Composer London Philharmonic Orchestra Marin Alsop, Conductor |
(The) Confession of Isobel Gowdie |
James MacMillan, Composer
James MacMillan, Composer London Philharmonic Orchestra Marin Alsop, Conductor |
Author: Richard_Whitehouse
Where Adès intrigues listeners, James MacMillan fairly bludgeons them into submission with The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, though this depiction of a 17th-century Scottish woman tortured then burnt at the stake for witchcraft could hardly afford to be self-effacing. And the initial accumulation of intensity, spilling over into an extended onslaught then recalling the opening in expressively heightened terms before the accusatory final crescendo, is nothing if not powerful. Marin Alsop, moreover, has its measure far more than Sir Colin Davis, while the LPO give everything in an account that should convince those hearing the piece for the first time.
Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto (2005) might also be found engaging on first hearing. The solo part, dispatched with aplomb by Colin Currie, is disappointingly limited in its invention and rhythmic profile, while the orchestral part – a mild distillation of Stravinskian and Coplandesque gestures – is unlikely to set the pulse racing. The sound and booklet are on a par with earlier LPO releases, however, making this disc well worth investigating for the MacMillan alone.
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