Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
The music of Elliott Carter is one of the best connections that New Music has to Ives and his generation, including Cowell and Nancarrow. Carter, as catholic in his spools of influences as was Ives, wrote many acclaimed chamber works before his Piano Concerto, played here by Ursula Oppens. But the concerto takes the full weight of the chamber works and sends them loudly and intricately to a higher level, with a more developed hugeness. The Variations for Orchestra are likewise powerful illuminations of previous Carter works, but they too roll so many influences--many of them mainstream--into the mix that the breadth of music alone is staggering. Carter loves the long, large dips and dives, as well as the emergent loudness and lushness that an orchestra can heave much more strongly than a chamber group. But these pieces also show the flip side--that Carter is an astute composer in regard to granular details. --Andrew Bartlett

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto, Music, Barry Green, John Sharp, Thomas LeGrand, Elliott Carter, Michael Gielen, William Harrod, George Hambrecht, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Ursula Oppens, Marna Street-Ramsey, Phillip Ruder, 20th/21st Century Variations, Classical, Classical Music, Concerto, Orchestral, Orchestral & Symphonic, Piano Concerto

The Music of Elliott Carter Vol. 7; Boston Concerto, Cello Concerto, ASKO Concerto, Dialogues
Average customer rating:

Some of the Carter's best works flow from his pen at ninety-plus

The masterpieces just keep coming!

spectacular works from Elliott Carter!

Dialogues repeats the success of the much ealier Piano Conce

Late Carter at its best

The Music of Elliott Carter Vol. 7; Boston Concerto, Cello Concerto, ASKO Concerto, Dialogues

Manufacturer: Bridge Records; Inc.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Music of Elliott Carter, Vol. 6

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Elliot Carter: String Quartets 1-4; Elegy

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions

ASIN: B000C6NO6E
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Tracks:

Dialogues
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Boston Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
Cello Concerto
ASKO Concerto

Product Description

This highly anticipated recording, a Bridge co-production with the BBC, presents first recordings of four major Elliott Carter compositions, all composed within the past six years. Conducted by the distinguished British conductor, Oliver Knussen, these recordings tell the amazing tale of an American composer, well into his nineties, composing at the peak of his powers. Malcolm McDonald writes that Â“Carter is not far short of his own centenary, and continuing to produce highly complex, sophisticated scores with an energy that would hardly be conceivable even in a much younger man.Â” The composer traveled to London and Amsterdam to oversee the performance and recording of these four works. Dialogues for piano and chamber orchestra was a BBC Radio 3 commission for the brilliant young British pianist Nicolas Hodges and is scored for piano solo and a chamber orchestra comprising 18 instruments. Carter writes that Â“Dialogues is a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra: responding to each other, sometimes interrupting one another or arguing.Â” Hodges, Knussen and the London Sinfonietta give a reading of electrifying intensity. Boston Concerto was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and is based on a William Carlos Williams poem, Â“RainÂ”, a verse chosen to convey the composerÂ’s enduring love for his wife Helen, the dedicatee of Boston Concerto. Describing the diaphanous textures of this work, Bayan Northcott writes of Boston Concerto that Â“despite occasional deep sonorities, the whole work has a kind of distanced lightness, seeming to hover in mid air.Â” CarterÂ’s Cello Concerto is a twenty minute span introduced by the soloist alone, playing a cantilena that presents ideas later to be expanded into a series of linked movements. The concerto is played by long-time colleague and valued Carter interpreter Fred Sherry who, during the composition of the work, consulted with Carter about the finer details of the cello writing. Scored for a large orchestra that frequently plays with intimately drawn orchestral textures, the Cello Concerto was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was first performed by the CSO with Yo Yo Ma, cello soloist and Daniel Barenboim, conductor. Carter completed the concise 12 minute Asko Concerto in January 2000 to a commission from the Asko Ensemble of Amsterdam and the recording on this disc is of its first performance in the Concertgebouw on April 26 of that year. The composer writes: Â“Although the music is in light-hearted mood, each soloistic section approaches ensemble playing in a different spirit.Â” Bridge has also just issued Volume Six of this series which features Rolf SchulteÂ’s performance of CarterÂ’s Violin Concerto (BRIDGE 9177).

Customer Reviews:

Some of the Carter's best works flow from his pen at ninety-plus.......2007-07-05

It's amazing enough that Elliott Carter is still composing at nearly a hundred--the works here were all written after his ninetieth birthday--and to his usual standards to boot, but what is even more remarkable is that these recent works a great deal of artistic evolution. Carter has been consistently "mellowing" since his brash music of the 1960s, but these four pieces show a new interest in smaller proportions, where the instrumentalists generally chat instead of shout, though Carter's language with its sharp atonalities and interest in polymetric slitherings remains the same. Oliver Knussen leads various ensembles, and the soloists are the composer's choice musicians.

The first piece on this disc, "Dialogues" for piano and chamber orchestra (2003) is a good example of this new style. Carter's Piano Concerto of 1965 was a monster of a piece where, in a nod to the dire situation in East Germany the composer heard about while writing the concerto in Berlin, the piano (the individual) is beaten down by the orchestra (the mob, or the state). In "Dialogues", on the other hand, the mood is conversational instead of confrontational. The piano part here is just as virtuosic as in the old concerto, and the dedicatee Nicholas Hodges gives a fine performance.

Two works here are for ensemble without soloists. In the "Boston Concerto" for full orchestra (2002), each portion of the orchestra performs in turn, rarely talking over each other. I find Carter's Concerto for Orchestra from the 1960s to be something of a failure, since it doesn't truly show off the sonorities of the ensemble in a virtuosic fashion, but the composer more than makes up for it here. A lush passage of woodwinds and pitched percussion is especially memorable, one of the most simply beautiful things he's ever written, but in no way compromising on his traditional line of writing.

The "ASKO Concerto" (2000), written for the small ensemble of that name, is also something of a concerto for orchestra, It's got a light and airy feel too, with downright humourous moments, but for most of its length a strong dramatic feel prevails. Portions of the orchestra clash, and it gets pretty close to the old aggressive Carter. This is the second recording, but the first where the ASKO Ensemble actually performs, as the world premiere recording on ECM has different players led by Peter Eotvos. I find both performances satisfactory, but as the ECM disc couples this concerto with Carter's controversial opera "What's Next?", this disc might be a more satisfactory purchase.

The Cello Concerto is also reminiscent of the Carter of yore, as the orchestra rains blows upon the solo line at times. However, for much of the piece the cello sounds alone, and it turns out to be some of the most straightforward music Carter has ever written, certainly the answer to critics who claim he's all about noise and brouhaha. The concerto was written for Yo-Yo Ma, but Fred Sherry performs here. Sherry played the drafts for Carter while the composer was writing the piece (see them at work on the Labyrinth of Time documentary DVD), and I find him an all-around more interesting performer of contemporary music than Yo-Yo Ma, so I welcome his presence here.

This disc would make a fine introduction to Carter's music, though those looking for a budget presentation could instead choose the Ars Nova disc with the Piano Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra (bad-boy 1960s Carter) or the Warner Apex disc with works starting from the late 1970s (the first mellower period). Still, fans of the composer should certainly pick this disc up sooner or later, along with the other discs in Bridge's Carter series. Bridge is doing fans a great series with this edition, and it's a pity that it doesn't get as much attention as the complete Ligeti edition or DG's Boulez discs.

The masterpieces just keep coming!.......2006-02-24

All of these works, written between 2000 and 2003, are superb additions to Carter's flawless string of masterpieces. In fact Carter's "late period" may be his most fertile and beautiful of all. Of course, as we know, Carter was something of a "late bloomer", as he did not begin to produce works in his "mature style" (beginning with his String Quartet No. 1) until he was in his mid-40's. From that point he produced his complex music slowly (by neccessity) but as he has aged he has produced more and more great music, including short incidental chamber and solo works. The works on this superb CD are among his best ever. It is great to see an icon of 20th-century modernism bring his distinctive style intact into the 21st century. Don't wait for Yo Yo Ma to record the Cello Concerto...Fred Sherry's reading is matchless, understandable considering his long-standing association with Carter. Knussen brings all his intellectual rigor and warmth of soul to these works, imbueing them with color and vigor. The recording by Bridge is perfectly crystal clear and perfectly balanced.

spectacular works from Elliott Carter!.......2006-02-13

Easily the record of the year 2005 in contemporary classical, this latest Bridge release presents four of Elliott Carter's latest compositions in superb performances and recordings. Another recording of the "ASKO Concerto" (2000 -- 10'38") was previously released on ECM along with the opera "What Next?" (see my review), but this is actually the first recording, a recording of the live premiere by the ASKO Ensemble on 4/26/00 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The other three works are also premiere recordings, but never before heard -- the piano concerto "Dialogues" (2003 -- 13'28"), the "Cello Concerto" (2001 -- 20'06"), and the "Boston Concerto" (2002 -- 16'54"). Nicolas Hodges plays piano, Fred Sherry plays cello, and Oliver Knussen conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta and the ASKO Ensemble.

Excellent liner notes by Bayan Northcott provide insight into the works' contents. The booklet includes a great painting for the cover by Pavel Tchelitchew, apparently from Elliott Carter's collection, and several photos, including two of the composer and his late wife Helen to whom the "Boston Concerto" is dedicated. These are magnificent pieces at the highest level of sustained imagination, wit, and craft. This music of Elliott Carter makes no concessions to popular sensibilities, but it has the elegance, balance, drive and sparkle of Mozart.

Viva la Carter! Happy 97th!

Dialogues repeats the success of the much ealier Piano Conce.......2006-01-16

Among the Carter blockbusters the Piano Concerto (1967)is one of the undoubted triumphs as was clearly evident in the recent retrospective held in London.Many decades on and it's once again the same form which shows Carter to best advantage.The compact 'Dialogues' (a mini piano concerto)is composed in the familiar rebarbative musical language but there's an urgency to the invention and even an joyfulness which immediately excites the senses. Nicholas Hodges is on brilliant form and Knussen exudes a tremendous sense of authority in Carter's music.

Late Carter at its best.......2006-01-01

Elliott Carter's compositional career has already lasted far beyond what anyone could have expected, with works still flowing from his pen at the age of 97. This disc confirms the composer's continued late success; all four works on it date from the composer's nineties and three of them are previously unrecorded.

Dialogues, for piano and small chamber orchestra, is one of those works whose titles does describe the musical content very effectively. Starting (and ending) with the soloist playing unaccompanied, the music moves through a series of contrasting moods and colors, sometimes piano alone, sometimes orchestra alone, sometimes both playing together (or against each other). What stays with this listener, though, is not the structure of the work, but its rhythmic and harmonic vibrancy and its range of color.

Both the Boston Concerto (for full orchestra) and the ASKO Concerto (for fifteen instruments) share an overall design which has become common in Carter's recent work--a kind of concerto grosso where ever-shortening tuttis alternate with contrasting passages for subsections of the ensemble. The ASKO Concerto is a playful piece indeed--particularly in the bassoon solo that precedes the final, brief tutti--but it is the Boston Concerto that is the major work of these two. Here, pitter-pattering tuttis that evoke the sounds of rain alternate with lyrical and dramatic episodes--and in the slower episodes some of Carter's most emotive and lyrical writing (in passages such as the Boston Concerto's string cantilenas I see a clear parallel between late Carter and the lyrical side of late Lutoslawski). Certainly, I'd have no hesitation in regarding the Boston Concerto as one of the two finest Carter works since Symphonia (and it shares a sense of weightlessness with the latter work's finale).

The other work I'd rank up with the Boston Concerto is the Cello Concerto, even if it is by some way the hardest piece to get into here. It shares some of the abrasive nature of the concertos of the 1960s, even if the scoring is much lighter and, as in most of Carter's recent concertos, the soloist plays almost continuously. Here, in complete contrast to Carter's 1960s concertos, the orchestral parts are often extremely simple (though sometimes explosive in nature), while the soloist winds its way through an impassioned monologue ranging from lyricism to ferocity through icy cold sonorities and almost jazzy rhythms, eventually reaching a ferocious climax before sputtering out in a whimsical passage for the soloist alone.

The performances here are excellent--Oliver Knussen has known Carter's music for decades and it shows, while the BBC Symphony, London Sinfonietta and ASKO Ensemble are all effortlessly adept in this repertoire. Nicolas Hodges and Fred Sherry are excellent soloists and where there is competition (in the ASKO Concerto) I would say Knussen's performance trumps the earlier reading.

This is a disc every Carter fan probably already owns, but those who don't will need no encouragement to snap it up. Meanwhile, those wondering what the fuss is about could do a lot worse than start here.

Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

Average customer rating:

like listening to barbed wire (double concerto)very good(cello sonata)
3 Carter masterpieces
A good place to start with Carter
An outstanding introduction to a contemporary music giant
The Essential Elliott Carter

Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
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Elliott Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras; Varèse: Deserts; Ecuatorial; Hyperprism

ASIN: B000005IZ1
Release Date: 1992-03-24

Tracks:

Sonata For Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpischord: Risoluto
Sonata For Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpischord: Lento
Sonata For Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpischord: Allegro
SONATA FOR CELLO & PIANO: Moderato
SONATA FOR CELLO & PIANO: Vivace, molto leggiero
SONATA FOR CELLO & PIANO: Adagio
SONATA FOR CELLO & PIANO: Allegro
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Introduction
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Cadenza For Harpischord
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Allegro scherzando
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Adagio
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Presto
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Cadenzas For Piano
Double Concerto For Harpischord & Piano With Two Chamber Orchestras: Coda

Customer Reviews:

like listening to barbed wire (double concerto)very good(cello sonata).......2005-10-08

The Double Concerto begins promisingly enough with mysterious percussion rustlings from which string tremelos emerge,soon echoed by the solo piano and harpsichord.All this has undoubted poetry but it has to be said,returning to the piece after some ten years that grasping the whole is pretty tricky and the climactic moments (track14!) are somewhat akin to listening to barbed wire.For all Carter's harmonic formulations(or perhaps because of) the pitch content often sounds rather lifeless,it's as if there's no centre of any kind.Yes,the various skitterings of the two soloists are enjoyable but i can't imagine this piece ever being taken up in a big way.
The cello sonata is the best piece on the disc.The rhetoric is more conventional than the concerto,even neo-classical and Carter is on much more sure territory here:There's a fantastic jazz-like swing to the second movement and the opening moderato with the mechanical ticking on the piano accompanying the passionate cello is one of Carter's most inspired creations.

3 Carter masterpieces.......2005-10-01

The Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord is immediately appealing. Carter's signature complex crossrhythms are present but they are delightfully airy and not at all forbidding. This is an excellent place to start your exploration of Carter's vast and imaginative work. The Cello Sonata is also quite accessible . It's a big and exciting piece. The Double Concerto is another matter! It took me many listenings before I really started enjoying it but it was worth the effort. These performances are thrilling.

A good place to start with Carter.......2004-05-17

Carter is considered to be perhaps the greatest living composer, and I didn't know any of his music, so after browsing the internet (and in particular,Amazon) for a place to start, I obtained this CD. I have been delighted with it. All of this music takes some acclimation, but that's the nice thing about a CD--you can stick a CD of new music in the car stereo and play it as often as you need to until it starts to reveal its treasures. In the case of this CD, all three works are rich in complexity and have required quite a bit of listening, but the effort was well worth it--two of the three works have revealed lots of treasures. The Cello Sonata is full of wonderful, even magical moments. The Sonata for Flute, Oboe... has been only slightly less rewarding. I like its playfulness. The only work on this disc that has proved resistant so far is the Double Concerto. Carter's unique twist on tonality that makes the other works so interesting seems to have disappeared in the Double Concerto, written later in his career, and I haven't found much to like in it. But the CD is worth obtaining for the two sonatas. They are great works.

An outstanding introduction to a contemporary music giant.......2004-01-11

This disc collects three classic performances of major works from Elliott Carter's early maturity. The two sonatas date from the end of Carter's period of neo-classical writing, at a point where his music had started to achieve its trademark rhythmic complexity, though the harmonic and melodic writing is less dense than it was to become, and still largely tonal. In contrast, the concerto is a classic example of the hyper-complex, dense atonality that was to characterise the composer's mid-period works.

The Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord was written in 1952 and combines the neo-classical style Carter had learned so well from Nadia Boulanger with an increasing density and complexity of rhythm. (The composer, in his helpful inlay notes, observes that the work owes something to Debussy, and that is certainly true.) The sonata is in three movements: the first a rather ambiguous Risoluto, the second a slow movement with more vigorous undercurrents that briefly break through in a scherzando passage towards the end, and the finale a sequence of vigorous dances that sometimes overlap. This performance features four legendary figures in the performance of contemporary American music, and is the finest I've heard.

Equally fine is the rendition of the Cello Sonata by Joel Krosnick (ex-Juilliard Quartet) and Paul Jacobs. This four-movement work has always struck me as the finest of Carter's tonal works and the ideal introduction to the composer. Its opening movement counterpoints intense, lyrical melody in the cello against regular percussive rhythms and jazzy chords in the piano. The second movement is a jazz-inflected scherzo, with the cello solo's notes often failing to coincide with those of the more rhythmically regular piano part. The third movement is an intense, rhythmically complex slow recitative for the cello and the finale a vigorous rondo that ends by returning to the music of the first movement, only with the instrumental roles reversed.

The hyper-complex, atonal Double Concerto for Harpsichord and Piano with Two Chamber Orchestras, written between 1959 and 1961, is a very different work. A single-movement structure, conveniently separated into seven tracks on this recording, it begins with a percussive outburst that leads into an introductory section with musical exchanges between the two antiphonally divided ensembles that gradually grow in complexity. This is followed by a vigorous cadenza for the solo harpsichord and then a lively scherzo that is dominated by the sound of the piano and its accompanying ensemble. The music then gradually slows to a near halt for an elegiac section whose mood is only temporarily broken by a vigorous duet for piano and harpsichord. There then follows a brief presto, dominated by the harpsichord and its associated ensemble, a series of interrupted cadenzas for the piano and a coda in which the music disintegrates in a process similar to that of the introduction, only in reverse. This is music that takes some time to get to know, but it is unquestionably worth the effort.

This disc is the ideal introduction to Carter's music. The Cello Sonata is the most accessible of all Carter's major works, and should appeal to almost everyone, and while the Double Concerto is less accessible, hearing it in the context of the works that lead up to it is the best way to understand it. Given that this recording contains an outstanding selection of works, presented in performances that have stood the test of time, it merits the highest possible level of recommendation to Carter fanatics and newcomers alike.

The Essential Elliott Carter.......2001-02-18

Carter has been composing so much good music over the last decade that it's easy to forget he was writing classics before many of us were born. The pieces on this disk are a case in point--two generations of musicians have grown up since the earliest of them, the Cello Sonata, appeared in 1948. The sonata has been recorded probably more often than any other of Carter's works. New performances are appearing almost every day, but it's hard to see how they can better Joel Krosnick's warm, fluent interpretation. The rendition of the Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello, and Harpsichord is the best of several available--exuberant, dancelike, unbuttoned--and the performance of the Double Concerto is the only one available at present. That would scandal if the playing weren't so supple and sensitive. This disk is essential Carter: three masterpieces, each from a different decade, and each one a milestone in the composer's development. It is the one CD I would recommend to anyone approaching Carter's mature work for the first time.

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions

Average customer rating:

Amazing performance of an extremely difficult piece
Two interesting but thoroughly ugly concertos, followed by a display of colour
Ugly Ugliness
A classic Carter recording reissued
worth having for the piano concerto-one of EC's best pieces

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions

Manufacturer: Arte Nova Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Elliott Carter: The Complete music for Piano
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Elliott Carter: Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei (1993-96) / Clarinet Concerto (1996) (20/21 series) - Oliver Knussen

ASIN: B0009ML2N8
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Tracks:

I
II
Concerto For Orchestra
A Celebration Of 100 x 150 Notes
Remembrance
Anniversary

Customer Reviews:

Amazing performance of an extremely difficult piece.......2007-03-01

I cannot understate the difficulty of the Piano Concerto by Carter which by all measures is difficult. It sways back and forth like the tides of the ocean. The opening is rivetting with its intense rhythmicity.

Two interesting but thoroughly ugly concertos, followed by a display of colour.......2006-10-25

I discovered the ever-controversial composer Elliott Carter through his recent works like the "Symphonia" and the Cello Concerto. "What's the big deal," I thought, "he's no more out there than Lutoslawski or Lindberg, so why the public rage against him?" Well, on this Arte Nova release, a reissue of a 1992 disc, I got an answer. Michael Gielen leads the SWF Symphony Orchestra, with Ursula Oppens as piano soloist.

The two-movement "Piano Concerto" (1964-1965) is notable for its overt dramatic arc. The piano is a lone individual against the orchestral mob, and their interaction is violent. The piano is surrounded by a small ensemble of seven players who seem to support the piano, but are ultimately false comforters to the piano's Job, as Carter puts it. This form has been used successfully in Lutoslawski's cello concerto and Schnittke's viola concerto, and here it holds interest. And as ever, there are delightful experiments with varying rhythms. But there's a major problem with Carter here: his music is totally void of colour. I listen exclusively to modern repertoire, so I've no fear of the atonal, but you'd think an orchestra has more sonorities to offer then the same drab thumps that characterize this piece.

The same problem plagues the single-movement "Concerto for Orchestra" (1969). Still, one can admire the virtuosity present in the writing of all orchestral parts, and the way in which the spotlight is passed from each of the four instrumental groups to another is somewhat elegant. But in addition to Carter's monochromatic palette, the recording of these first two pieces is not ideal, it sounds as if the entire orchestra were playing inside a clown car.

With the "Three Occasions for Orchestra" (1986-1989), Carter has mellowed, and colour is definitely present. These three pieces were composed at different times and merely collected together for convenience. The first, "A Celebration of 100 x 150 Notes" was writen for the Houston Symphony to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Texas. It's a fanfare lasting exactly 150 bars that, for has its uncomprising modernism, has some downright charming writing for brass. "Remembrace" was written as a memorial for Paul Fromm, its sad expanses foretell the middle movement of his "Symphonia". "Anniversary" was written on the occasion of his fiftieth wedding anniversary to his wife Helen Carter, it's an airy piece, though feels somewhat fluffy and insubstantial after a few listens.

The disc comes with liner notes amounting to two pages. These lack any analysis of the pieces, giving instead mere context on when they were written. For more in-depth coverage of the music, I'd recommend David Schiff's THE MUSIC OF ELLIOTT CARTER (Cornell University Press, 1998).

For listening for mere idle pleasure, the recent Carter serves much better. These pieces here have some fascinating rhythmic and programmatic features, which does provide a reason to buy the disc for Carter fans, but the two concertos are pretty ugly music.

Ugly Ugliness.......2006-06-23

and dull....there are pieces that are Beautiful Ugly like Beethoven's Grosse Fugue or Varese's Arcana - but the music on this CD is just Ugly Ugly - Carter knows instruments, but his palette is soooooooooooooooo dull - this is the Concerto for Orchestra - to describe the work as busy music would be an understatement - only the beginning and end of a Carter work is mildly ear-catching - in between you have an unsustainable music - this is no exception - and with a lot of music after WW2, the more organized a work is on paper, the more chaotic it seems when heard - no exception there, either - the Concerto for Orchestra is a work which a dedicated conductor and orchestra should perform without anyone actually hearing it -

Some have mentioned how Carter differentiates musics by using specific instruments and intervals - so what? and what about the resulting music? The Piano Concerto uses the soloist and a chamber group to distinguish itself from the rest of the orchestra - ah yes, if they were in two different cities, perhaps - The most interesting thing about the Piano Concerto for me, aside from its two-movement form (borrowing from Berg's fiddle concerto), is the ugliest bass clarinet solo ever conceived this side of a mouthpiece - a more hideous creation could not be immagined -

The Three Occasions is good if you drop the last two, which leaves you One - at just over three minutes, it has somes nice fifths, which would be appropriate for a fanfare (except for the blips at the end) - Less is more -

A classic Carter recording reissued.......2006-03-04

This budget-price recording, featuring two Elliott Carter specialists, the pianist Ursula Oppens and the conductor Michael Gielen, has long been a highlight of the composer's discography. Now reissued in rather more attractive packaging, it remains an essential disc for those who know and love Carter's highly complex, densely atonal music.

The 1965 Piano Concerto is one of the composer's most difficult--yet most rewarding--pieces. It's written in two movements, and to add to the complexity of the music, there's a small sub-orchestra that acts as an intermediary between the soloist and the full orchestra. (No wonder that Carter now says he could never again write works like the Piano Concerto--they'd just take up too much time.) It's a highly dramatic work, with the piano constantly at odds with the orchestra, and the sub-orchestra attempting to bring about some kind of rapprochement between the soloist and orchestra. In the end, this fails, and in a truly terrifying climax the pounding drums finally silence the soloist--only for her to start up again in a slow, quiet coda.

Of the three recordings--all very good--that I've heard of this concerto, this is the strongest. Mark Wait's on Naxos lacks the truly apocalyptic resonances of the climax, and Oppens' earlier New World recording, to my mind, operates on a slightly lower level of tension than the present reading.

The Concerto for Orchestra was written soon after the Piano Concerto, and is a similarly dramatic work, if slightly less fierce. It has an openly literary program, being inspired by St John Perse's poem "Vents," which depicts the destruction and renewal of America through violent windstorms. After an opening tutti, the work evokes the winds of the four seasons by focusing on a different section of the orchestra for each season, before reaching a violent climax and fading away.

Of the easily available rivals to this recording, Oliver Knussen's recording with the London Sinfonietta is the most competitive. It features somewhat better playing and clearer detail, though it doesn't quite have the dramatic sweep of the present recording. Leonard Bernstein's Sony recording, while dramatic, disqualifies itself as a first choice through the many inaccuracies in the playing.

The disc closes with a less ambitious, more recent piece, the Three Occasions for Orchestra. Compared to the two earlier works, this one shows the slimming down of style that has been prominent in Carter's work over the last 20 years, to my mind, with mixed results--though the textures are clearer, more joyous, something of the dramatic sweep and intensity has been lost. The work begins with a complex fanfare, continues with a bleak elegy and concludes with a celebratory last movement. While not major Carter, it can perhaps be considered significant as it forms a sort of miniature prototype of his key 1990s work, Symphonia.

Knussen's London Sinfonietta recording is, again, the competitor here. It is technically superior, but I find Gielen has a warmth that Knussen doesn't quite match.

Overall, this is an essential disc for any Carter enthusiast, though, due to the highly complex nature of the two concertos, it may not be the ideal place for a newcomer to start (I'd still direct such people to the Elektra Nonesuch disc of the Double Concerto, the Cello Sonata and the Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord).

worth having for the piano concerto-one of EC's best pieces.......2005-09-26

The Piano concerto is one of Carter's finest achievements.
Initially, seeming like the hermetic norm one assosciates with this composer it slowly emerges as a piece with a real sense of passion and fantasy.On this rare occasion unleashed from his Nadia Boulanger heritage,there's something very likeable about the way the piano weaves it's way through an unwieldy orchestral mass.The melodic writing(most notably a bass clarinet solo)is also surprisingly engaging.A bleak piece-composed in Berlin amidst the height Cold War tensions-but strangely compelling.

Concerto for Orchestra remains a tough nut to crack.Maybe i need to hear the Knussen recording but it's hard to fathom the continuity and allure of this piece.It seems to have been composed by the page,without the fierce sense of urgency which are the hallmarks of equally dense orchestral works of Xenakis and Stockhausen.
Still,there are interesting features.Most notably,the way in which the orchestral piano almost takes on a heroic,soloistic role.

The three occasions might veer slightly in the direction of dryness but atleast no.1 has a splendidly visceral climax 1.5 minutes in! Rather dreary trombone line in no.2,but things improve in no.3 where Lulu-like string lines are accompanied by spasmodic yet urgent ticking motifs.

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Westwood Wind Quintet

Manufacturer: Crystal Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000003J6V
Release Date: 1995-02-16

Tracks:

Con: I. Allegro
Con: II. Andante
Con: III. Allegro Assai
To The Dark Wood
Woodwind Qnt-1948: Allegretto
Woodwind Qnt-1948: Allegro Giocoso
Scherzo
Animal Ditties-Poems By Ogden Nash: The Osterich
Animal Ditties-Poems By Ogden Nash: Guppies
Animal Ditties-Poems By Ogden Nash: The Canary
Animal Ditties-Poems By Ogden Nash: The Kangaroo
Animal Ditties-Poems By Ogden Nash: The Fly
Suite: Prld
Suite: Blues
Suite: Toccata
Dances: Divert

Elliott Carter: Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto

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A slice of authentic Americana
An Introduction to Elliott Carter
Nashville Symphony does it again

Elliott Carter: Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions
Elliott Carter: Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei (1993-96) / Clarinet Concerto (1996) (20/21 series) - Oliver Knussen
Elliott Carter: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2
Rorem: Three Symphonies
The Music of Elliott Carter Vol. 7; Boston Concerto, Cello Concerto, ASKO Concerto, Dialogues

ASIN: B00019P6PO
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Tracks:

Holiday Overture (1944 Rev. 1961)
Moderately, Wistfully
Slowly, Gravely
Vivaciously
I
II

Customer Reviews:

A slice of authentic Americana.......2006-01-25

If Elliott Carter is not America's greatest living composer, he is its greatest living statesman in classical music. This CD traverses a relatively slight period in the composer's nearly 100 years and uses the included compositions as bookends on the growing midsection of the composer.

Both the "Holiday Overture" and Symphony No. 1 were composed during World War II and later revised. Neither bears the authentic stamp of this composer and, rather, bears the voice of his mentor, Charles Ives, along with other Americans of the era.

The meatier symphony begins allegro marked "Moderately, wistfully" and includes echoes of Schuman, Piston and Copland. It closes its 10 minutes with an endearing clarinet solo. The central section, marked "Slowly, gravely" seems to me more a lento on woodwind and string themes. It closes "Vivaciously" with quite vivacious Coplandesque dotted timpani.

The Piano Concerto, which dates from the mid-1960s, is typical of American and European atonal music written in that era. If you've ever listened to the music from the 1971 film, "Planet of the Apes", or the early Warren Beatty feature film, "Mickey One", you have an idea what to expect.

I liken the piano concerto to the first half-dozen symphonies of the German composer Hans Werne Henze for their dense themes, loud clangs of orchestral dissonance, followed by extremely thin thematic material in the strings. It also reminds me of the underpinnings of Schoenberg's "Pierrot lunaire" which, with Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", is credited as being the first piece of "modern" music.

The CD is a worthwhile investment for collectors and listeners that want a slice of Carter going from nondescript to descript. I don't find the music exceptional and believe the amassed forces have done good but hardly outstanding work on this CD, which is up to Naxos' typical standard for sound and production values.

An Introduction to Elliott Carter.......2005-07-07

This CD, part of the Naxos "American Classics" series will serve as a good introduction to the music of Elliott Carter (b. 1908) one of the most prominent and difficult of modern American composers.

As an adolescent, Carter met the great American composer Charles Ives who encouraged the fledgling composer. But Carter evolved as a composer very slowly and did not develop his own unique voice until the early 1950s. He has continued to compose and to develop well into his 90s.

This budget-priced CD with the late Kenneth Schermerhorn (d. April 18,2005) conducting the Nashville Symphony Orchestra allows a rare opportunity for the listener to explore Carter's development by presenting two early works together with Carter's difficult piano concerto, composed in 1964-1965.

The two early works are the short Holiday Overture (1944, revised in 1961) and the Symphony No. 1 (1942, revised 1954). These works are tonal and accessible -- perhaps excessively conservative even for their time. They show the influence of Aaron Copland and of an early Charles Ives without the fireworks.

The Holiday Overture was composed in 1944. It is a fanfare celebrating the liberation of France in WW II. It is uptempo, brassy, and uplifting with strong rhythm and a sense of optimisim. Aaron Copland, who greatly admired Carter's later, difficult scores, remarked tounge-in-cheek late in his life that the Holiday Overture was "another difficult piece by Carter."

The Symphony No. 1 is a quiet, pastoral piece somewhat in the manner of Ives's second symphony. It is in three movements and features nicely balanced writing between the strings and the winds and shifting rhythms that became a later characteristic of Carter's music.

I found the Holiday Overture and the Symphony pleasant if somewhat bland. But in the hearing them, I understood that Carter had not yet found his musical voice which he developed only in 1951 with his first string quartet. The piano concerto, dedicated to Igor Stravinsky, is a difficult bristling modern composition, atonal and dissonant in style with shifting complex rhythms and the many musical voices frequently working at cross-purposes with each other. Yet, with all its difficulty, this is the type of music that made, and justly so, Carter's reputation. The two early pieces heard on this CD have value primarily as a foil to this later work. With the development of his modernist style, Carter played to his strengths and wrote music that was uniquely his own.

The piano concerto is in two movements of approximately equal length. The piano part is juxtaposed not only against the orchestra, as in a traditional concerto, but in a small concertante ensemble consisting, according to the informative liner notes, of flute, English horn, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Each of these instruments has short solo or ensemble passages in which it plays with the orchestra. The first movement opens with a piano solo followed by various combinations of the piano and the concertante group with the orchestra in the background. In the second movement, I think, the procedure is reversed with the orchestra playing a dominant role early in the movement and developing it as the movement progresses until the concertante group and the piano take over at the quiet close of the piece. The lines in the piece are generally short with the various instruments playing against each other. The most sustained passages are in the loud orchestral outbursts in the second movement. Rhythmic shifts are frequent and the music is atonal. This is a difficult, challenging piece, but I found it rewarding. Mark Wait, Dean and Professor of Music at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, plays admirably this extraordinarily difficult piano music.

This concerto is tough, uncompromising and bristling modern music but it is full of emotional power. At a time when he had already reached mid-life, Carter saw the need to channel his talents in a new direction and to leave the rather conventional paths his music had followed in his early years. His path was full of risk and uncertainty. But he has produced music that is modern, unique, and his own.

This CD -- in the contrast between the two early works and the later piano concerto -- reminded me of the difference between following convention and striking out for oneself. Carter certainly made the right choice when he pursued the latter course.

Robin Friedman

Nashville Symphony does it again.......2004-12-09

Nashville Symphony releases another outstanding disc (two 2005 Grammy nominations--including album of the year)! Amazon should really have put the name of the orchestra in the main heading for this listing, as they are becoming more and more prominent--they are the most recorded orchestra in America in the last 5 years, as well as having the most CD sales of any American orchestra.

Kenneth Schermerhorn delivers solid performances of these rarely recorded works from Carter's early and later periods. The Symphony and Holiday Overture are from his early tonal period, and really deserve to be played more often. (This is only the second recording of the Holiday Overture.)

The fiendishly difficult Piano Concerto is from Carter's later period, with all of his trademark metric modulations and atonality. The real fascination here is listening to soloist Mark Wait (up for a Grammy) mastering the unbelievably difficult solo part (how many piano soloists would be willing to spend the amount of time needed to play this work?).

All the accolades and honors are well deserved.

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Fired Up!

Modern Trumpet

Manufacturer: Capriccio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Thomas Stevens Trumpet Sonatas

ASIN: B000001WPT
Release Date: 1992-11-23

Tracks:

Fanfare For a New Theatre;2.Intrada for Trumpet and Piano;3.Toccata (Allegro con brio);4.Canzone;5.Segnali;6.Mit Kraft;7.Mäßig schnell;8.Trauermusik;9.Graceful, talking;10.Not too bit, intimate;11.Allgreo giusto;12.Introduktion (Adagio sostenuto - March - Meno);13.Thema und 7 Variationen (über eine deutsche Schnulze);14.(olla podrida);15.I;16.II;17.III;18.I;19.II;20.Trio for two trumpets ;21.Moderato;22.Canon for 3

Customer Reviews:

Fired Up!.......2000-12-29

Friedrich really fires things up on this CD! He plays some unbelievable things on this disc, which has The Honnegger Intrada, Hindemith Sonate, Stravinsky Fanfare for a New Theatre, and other really hard tunes. He really gets it out front on every track!

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A Portrait

Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Etudes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

Percussion | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004Y6RG
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Tracks:

Italian Con, BWV 971: I. Allegro - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: I. Allegro - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: II. Romanze - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Pno Con No.20 in d, K 466: III. Allegro Assai - Columbia Conc Orch/Howard Barlow
Hungarian Rhap No.13 - New York Phil/Efrem Kurtz
Pno Con No.2 in c, Op.18: II. Adagio Sostenuto - New York Phil/Efrem Kurtz
Pno Son: I. Allegro Con Moto - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: II. Adagietto - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: III. Allegro Vivo - Teresa Sterne
Pno Son: IV. Allegro - Teresa Sterne

Tracks:

Ov To An English Opr, Hob 1A-3 - The Little Orch Of London/Leslie Jones
Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen - Paul Jacobs
Herzlich Thut Mich Verlangen - Paul Jacobs
Etude, Book II - Paul Jacobs
Five Pno Pieces, Op.23: II Sehr Rasch - Paul Jacobs
Ionisation - The New Jersey Perc Ens/Raymond DesRoches
The Ragtime Dance - Joshua Rifkin
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair - Jan DeGaetani/Gilbert Kalish
Blondel Zu Marien, D 626 - Jan DeGaetani/Gilbert Kalish
Double Con: Intro - Paul Jacobs/Gilbert Kalish
Pno Son No.2, 'Concord, Mass': III. The Alcotts - Gilbert Kalish
Wait 'Till The Sun Shines, Nellie - Joan Morris/William Bolcom
Graceful Ghost - William Bolcom
Ancient Voices Of Children: III. De Donde Vienes, Amor, Mi Nino?/IV. Todas Las Tardes En Granada... - Jan DeGaetani/Michael Dash
Nyamamusango (Meat In The Forest) - Hakurotwi Mude/Cosmas Magaya/Ephat Mujuri
Vetar Vee - Vasilka Andonova/Kremena Stancheva
Ta Shto Mi E Miloj, Mamo - Nadezhda Georgieva Klicherova/Gena Ivanova Bodenova/Nadezhda Georgieva Paleastova
Ketjak Dance - Teresa Sterne
I Big You Goodnight - Edith Pinder/Geneva Pinder/Raymond Pinder/Joseph Spence
Oyun Havasi - Teresa Sterne
Ketawang Puspawarna - Teresa Sterne

Amazon.com

The life of Teresa Sterne is as noteworthy as the label she once presided over (Nonesuch). As a child prodigy, she successfully filled world-class auditoriums in the 1940s with audiences eager to hear her piano playing. Then, inexplicably, Sterne abandoned her concert career only to resurface as the leader behind Nonesuch Records in the late 1960s, turning the budget classical label into one of the more adventurous and consistently rewarding labels around (and generally keeping quiet about her earlier fame). Half of this double-CD tribute collects recordings of a teenage Sterne at the keyboard; the second disc is devoted to some of the finest recordings from her Nonesuch tenure (1965-1979)--both are engrossing.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Intro to American Classical Music - Almost a Short Course!.......2005-07-12

Many reasonably sophisticated American and European musiclovers still think there are really no American classical music composers of note other than perhaps Gershwin and Copland. It is to the credit of the Naxos label, via their 'American Classics' series, that the lie is put to that notion. Each month there are new issues from Naxos containing music by American composers. And it was a brilliant idea for them to take selections from their dozens of releases of this music to put together this sampler of such music to illustrate a 100+ page essay on the subject by an eminent writer on music, Barrymore Laurence Scherer. The combination of 2 CDs of music tracks, Scherer's essay, a chronological outline, suggestions for further listening, even a map showing where various composers were born helps the 'student' learn much about our nation's musical heritage.

There are selections by twenty-eight composers stretching from the amazing Wagnerian 'Macbeth' Overture by William Henry Fry (1813-1864) to the very recent 'Rapture,' a percussion concerto by Michael Torke (b. 1961). Some selections are complete movements, others are shorter passages from larger works. Included are such gems as the first movement of Arthur Foote's Piano Quartet, the third movement of Henry Hadley's Fourth Symphony, Charles Ives's 'The Unanswered Question,' 'King Cotton' by John Philip Sousa, 'Maple Leaf Rag' by Scott Joplin, a passage (the exciting Spanish Waltz) from Walter Piston's 'The Incredible Flutist,' the finale of Copland's 'Billy the Kid,' the opening of Samuel Barber's luminous 'Knoxville - Summer of 1915,' 'Tonight' from Bernstein's 'West Side Story,' the opening of George Rochberg's masterful Violin Concerto, and John Adams's incredibly popular 'Short Ride in a Fast Machine.' Plus selections by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Edward MacDowell, George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Charles Wakefield Cadman, George Gershwin, George Antheil, Zez Confrey, William Schuman, John Cage, Gunther Schuller, Alan Hovhaness, Elliott Carter and Philip Glass. The performances are more than acceptable and in some instances ('Knoxville,' Rochberg's Violin Concerto) definitive.

I would heartily recommend this set (especially at its superbudget price) to anyone wanting to know more about the history of American classical music -- Scherer is a master of cogent, clear prose -- and wishing to hear examples of the broad range it has taken over the past couple of centuries. I can easily imagine this set being used in a music appreciation course. And I am sure it will spark interest in the newcomer to this branch of classical music.

2 CDs TT=ca. 160 mins.

Scott Morrison

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Modern Trumpet

Manufacturer: Capriccio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Duets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
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La Belle Epoque: French Music for Trumpet and Piano
Reinhold Friedrich Plays Mason, Walter, Rihm

ASIN: B00005YLJ3
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto / Concerto for Orchestra / Three Occasions

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Two interesting but thoroughly ugly concertos, followed by a display of colour
strong 1992 performances -- look for the reissue
Great stuff, but not for Carter newbies
Piano Concerto goes well, the others don't
Gielen and Oppens make good Carter synergy

Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto / Concerto for Orchestra / Three Occasions

Manufacturer: Arte Nova Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Elliott Carter: Symphonia: Sum Fluxae Pretium Spei (1993-96) / Clarinet Concerto (1996) (20/21 series) - Oliver Knussen
Elliott Carter: A Symphony of Three Orchestras; Varèse: Deserts; Ecuatorial; Hyperprism
Carter: Oboe Concerto, Esprit Rude - Esprit Doux, a Mirror on Which to Dwell
Elliott Carter: Piano Concerto; Concerto for Orchestra; Concerto for Orchestra; Three Occasions
Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

ASIN: B000005I5T
Release Date: 1998-01-01

Tracks:

Concerto For Piano And Orchestra: I
Concerto For Piano And Orchestra: II
Concerto For Orchestra
Three Occasions For Orchestra: A Celebration Of 100 X 150 Notes
Three Occasions For Orchestra: Remembrance
Three Occasions For Orchestra: Anniversary

Customer Reviews:

Two interesting but thoroughly ugly concertos, followed by a display of colour.......2006-10-25

I discovered the ever-controversial composer Elliott Carter through his recent works like the "Symphonia" and the Cello Concerto. "What's the big deal," I thought, "he's no more out there than Lutoslawski or Lindberg, so why the public rage against him?" Well, on this Arte Nova release (recently reissued at budget price), I got an answer. Michael Gielen leads the SWF Symphony Orchestra, with Ursula Oppens as piano soloist.

The two-movement "Piano Concerto" (1964-1965) is notable for its overt dramatic arc. The piano is a lone individual against the orchestral mob, and their interaction is violent. The piano is surrounded by a small ensemble of seven players who seem to support the piano, but are ultimately false comforters to the piano's Job, as Carter puts it. This form has been used successfully in Lutoslawski's cello concerto and Schnittke's viola concerto, and here it holds interest. And as ever, there are delightful experiments with varying rhythms. But there's a major problem with Carter here: his music is totally void of colour. I listen exclusively to modern repertoire, so I've no fear of the atonal, but you'd think an orchestra has more sonorities to offer then the same drab thumps that characterize this piece.

The same problem plagues the single-movement "Concerto for Orchestra" (1969). Still, one can admire the virtuosity present in the writing of all orchestral parts, and the way in which the spotlight is passed from each of the four instrumental groups to another is somewhat elegant. But in addition to Carter's monochromatic palette, the recording of these first two pieces is not ideal, it sounds as if the entire orchestra were playing inside a clown car.

With the "Three Occasions for Orchestra" (1986-1989), Carter has mellowed, and colour is definitely present. These three pieces were composed at different times and merely collected together for convenience. The first, "A Celebration of 100 x 150 Notes" was writen for the Houston Symphony to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Texas. It's a fanfare lasting exactly 150 bars that, for has its uncomprising modernism, has some downright charming writing for brass. "Remembrace" was written as a memorial for Paul Fromm, its sad expanses foretell the middle movement of his "Symphonia". "Anniversary" was written on the occasion of his fiftieth wedding anniversary to his wife Helen Carter, it's an airy piece, though feels somewhat fluffy and insubstantial after a few listens.

The disc comes with liner notes amounting to two pages. These lack any analysis of the pieces, giving instead mere context on when they were written. For more in-depth coverage of the music, I'd recommend David Schiff's THE MUSIC OF ELLIOTT CARTER (Cornell University Press, 1998).

For listening for mere idle pleasure, the recent Carter serves much better. These pieces here have some fascinating rhythmic and programmatic features, which does provide a reason to buy the disc for Carter fans, but the two concertos are pretty ugly music.

strong 1992 performances -- look for the reissue.......2005-08-06

This Arte Nova disc has now been reissued with a new cover, an aerial cityscape much more appropriate to the dynamic music than this still-life flower vase.

This is the second recording of the "Piano Concerto (1964-5 -- 22'31) by conductor Michael Gielen and pianist Ursula Oppens, following their 1984 recording with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on New World. This recording from eight years later with the SWF Symphony Orchestra of Baden-Baden is much, much better. The "Piano Concerto" is not one of Carter's best works, but this is its best performance and recording. It was written in Berlin near an American target range not long after the Wall went up, and the sound of machine guns is echoed in the eruptions of the orchestra in the second movement. Metaphysically, the "Piano Concerto" seems to have been inspired by the global "Cold War" conflict to address the tragedy of intractable human conflict.

The highlight of the disc is a performance of one of Carter's masterpieces, the "Concerto for Orchestra" (1969 -- 22'23). Commissioned by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, their original recording failed to do justice to this fantastically complex composition. The "Concerto" features four groups of instruments, each proceeding at a different tempo through the work, one of the best examples of this core Carter innovation in his oeuvre. Gielen's recording follows by only a year the recording by Oliver Knussen and the London Sinfonietta, a performance supervised by the composer. I believe that 1991 Virgin recording is the best available (see my review), but it is harder to find. If you cannot locate a copy (try amazon.co.uk), this is a strong alternative. Gielen leads the SWFSO to more powerful tutti passages than Knussen, but Knussen's reading is more transparent, more like Boulez in laying bare the intricacies of the score. Another advantage of the Virgin disc is that the "Concerto" is separated into six tracks, which makes it easier to hear the logic of the movements by listening to them one at a time.

The "Three Occasions for Orchestra" (1968-9 -- 17') is also found on the 1991 Virgin disc. This live recording does not compare to the crisper studio recording, but this Arte Nova disc affords an opportunity to hear an excellent Carter work at a bargain price.

Great stuff, but not for Carter newbies.......2003-12-04

This disc, conducted by Michael Gielen, a long-time Carter veteran, contains two of his thorniest scores and a rather more accessible--though less important--work. Hence this disc, while an essential for Carter fans, is not ideal for those coming to the composer for the first time (which is a shame, as it is very cheap).

The Piano Concerto (written in the mid-1960s) is a phenomenally complex score, with ferocious, virtuoso atonal writing in the solo instrument against stabbing interjections in the orchestra, frequent changes of perspective, and a brutal climax where pounding drums silence the soloist, only for her to re-emerge, a small, hopeful voice at the end of the work. This is Ursula Oppens' second recording, and her playing is outstanding, as is the support from Michael Gielen and the SWF Symphony Orchestra.

The Concerto for Orchestra, completed in 1969, is still very complex, though perhaps less so than the Piano Concerto. Like many of Carter's work, this one takes a poetic inspiration, in this case from St John Perse's poem Vents, which depicts America swept by great winds of change, destruction and eventually renewal. Accordingly, after a brief introduction, the opening music is appropriately autumnal, dominated by the cellos, wooden percussion, lower piano notes and harp. This music gets more and more frantic until it triggers off a scherzando section focused on violins, flutes and metal percussion. This scherzando music becomes gradually slower until the music sags down into the deep bass (double basses, tubas, trombones, timpani, bass drum) before a restoration of energy (violas, trumpets, oboes, clarinets, snare drums) brings it to a vigorous close.

In contrast, the Three Occasions for Orchestra are much lighter works, ones that to my mind sound like studies for Carter's 1990s masterpiece, Symphonia. The first is a playfully complex fanfare; the is second a bleak elegy with a prominent solo trombone part; the finale brings relief in a warm-hearted celebratory music.

This is an outstanding disc, and could be recommended at full price, let alone the $5.98 it's currently listed at. The performances of all three works can be regarded as the finest available. If you're a Carter fan, don't hesitate--if not, this probably isn't the best place to start (the two concerti are very tough listening, though in my opinion amongst the best orchestral works of the 20th century). Newcomers to Carter would probably do better with the Nonesuch disc containing the Cello Sonata and Double Concerto, or maybe the DG disc of Symphonia.

Piano Concerto goes well, the others don't.......2001-07-13

I'm not going to argue the merits of the music - if you're not already familiar with Carter's style, this disk is *not* the place to start - so let's get right to the performances.

In the Piano Concerto, Oppens does a fine job, actually a bit better than on her previous recording (on New World). The same goes for the orchestra. But they're in way over their head in the Concerto for Orchestra. The strings in particular are consistently either inaudible or else a smudged mess, grabbing frantically at whatever notes they can.

This is, of course, very common with pieces of this difficulty. The attempted premiere of the Concerto for Orchestra (NY Phil/Bernstein) was instead declared an 'open rehearsal', and the recording which followed was an embarrassment. The premiere of the Piano Concerto (Lateiner/Leinsdorf/BSO) was almost as bad.

'Three Occasions' goes better; unfortunately, the audience noises in the quiet and sombre second movement pretty much ruin it.

Fortunately, there are terrific performances of both the Concerto for Orchestra and Three Occasions with Knussen and the London Sinfonietta (on Virgin). They really get it sounding like *music*, not just notes; at least except for the last few minutes of the Concerto, when the strings get all flustered, just like these other performances. Sounds like they ran out of rehearsal time.

Recommended for the Piano Concerto, which, at the super-budget price, is probably enough.

Gielen and Oppens make good Carter synergy.......2000-04-09

It's absolutely incredible the amount of reviews Carter gets, time was no one knew who he was, and if they did, they'd run for the exit doors, some still do. Carter if anything else gets people tied up in his structural constructs, pitch sets, harmonic schemes and metric modulations and conceptual facility. But answer me who can hear all that complexity, not even Carter I dare say, who has a memory to recall when a pitch permutation has occurred from the strings to the winds, no one. What remains, is incredibly expressionistic music with thory strident textures. The darkly brooding Piano Concerto to me recalls the anxiety, the hidden violence that is Americana, they below the surface tension of the problems that exist in this country. The Concerto for Orchestra was written during the Anti-War Vietnam times, and is Carter's contribution to that. In that context he is a great creator, in that his music becomes a document of history, reflecting a specific time where people lived and died. The fact that Carter does both attenuates the structural with a wider social perspective is a sign of genius in this age, of homogenized art. Oppens and Gielen bring the violence and coldness here, as well as opaque feel and violence this music harbors.

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Music Review

One in the Sun

Piano and Percussion in the XXth Century - Germaine Tailleferre: Hommage à Rameau (1964) / Suite Burlesque & Première Prouesses, for Piano 4 Hands / Bruno Maderna: Concerto for 2 Pianos & Instruments (1948) / Serenata per un Satellite (1969) / Franco Donatoni: Cloches III (1991) - Támmittam Percussion Ensemble / Aldo Orvieto & Renato Maioli, Piano

Nielsen: Concerto for Flute / Clarinet & Orchestra / Hindemith: Violin Concerto

Fingerprints

Nothing But Green Lights [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

Mother & Baby [Import]

Magical Moments in Cantorial Music [Live]

Love Spit Love

Our Grain Could Fill Your Stadium

Mozart - Mitridate / Bartoli, Dessay, Sabbatini, Asawa, Piau, Flórez, Les talens lyriques, Rousset

Nature: The Essence, Pt. 3

Los Esenciales [Import]

La Nueva Cara de la Bachata

Franck and Mendelssohn: Violin Sonatas

You're Living All Over Me