John Adams: Fearful Symmetries; Chamber Symphony; Four Songs; Christian Zeal and Activity

Editorial Reviews
From ClassicsToday.com
John Adams is perhaps the only minimalist left who is still coming up with good ideas. At the very least he has demonstrated that there is more to minimalism than mere staccato repetitiveness (Philip Glass, especially in his symphonies) or the repetition of simple melodies or sequences that long outlive their welcome (Steve Reich's dreadful and terrifying The Cave is a good example of this). This release by the French label Actes Sud has taken works from the last three decades of John Adams' career that show this composer's versatility and inventiveness. Best are Fearful Symmetries of 1988 and his Chamber Symphony of 1992.

There are no themes, as such, in Fearful Symmetries. Instead, Adams announces his ideas and frames them in odd meters, and this in turn creates some very interesting syncopations, all of which verge on atonality--an aspect of Adams' work that separates him from both Glass and Reich. The Chamber Symphony is more courageously atonal and often goofy, as in the first movement where the cello goes one way, the violins another, and the brasses and winds do their own thing, with each instrument group playing in a different key. In many ways the Chamber Symphony is a throwback to the jazz-oriented experiments of the 1930s, particularly among the French (the middle symphonies of Darius Milhaud come to mind.)

The remaining works on this disc are more problematic. Four Songs from Adams' musical, I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky, aren't sung particularly well. Emmanuel Djob's voice in "A sermon on romance", the second song, is grating and strained while the voices of the women, Virginie Pesch and Odile Fargere, are much too weak to project above the orchestra. And Christian Zeal and Activity merely seems like filler. Still, the major works here are very much worth the price of admission. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tracks:

Fearful Symmetries - Montpellier PO/Rene Bosc
Chm Sym: Mongrel Airs - Montpellier PO/Rene Bosc
Chm Sym: Aria With Walking Bass - Montpellier PO/Rene Bosc
Chm Sym: Roadrunner - Montpellier PO/Rene Bosc
Four Songs: Song About The Bad Boys And The News - Ens Diagonales
Four Songs: A Sermon On Romance - Ens Diagonales
Four Songs: Leila's Song - Ens Diagonales
Four Songs: Earthquake - Ens Diagonales
Christian Zeal And Activity - Montpellier PO/Rene Bosc

Customer Reviews:

Good, not great.......2000-12-28

These are all exciting pieces, but those interested in the music of John Adams would probably do better to start elsewhere. It's hard to imagine a better recording of the Chamber Symphony than that by Ensemble Modern--if you're able to find it--and Fearful Symmetries is recorded on the same Nonesuch Records disc as Adams' essential orchestral song 'The Wound-Dresser.'

The 'Four Songs,' from the song-play 'I Was Looking at the Ceiling and then I Saw the Sky,' are masterpieces of American text-setting. To hear them sung with thick French accents is positively unheimlich. The songs are definitely worth a listen, and the Nonesuch recording of 'Ceiling/Sky' is a little lifeless, but "A Sermon on Romance" (for example) is performed so superbly on that disc that this rendition is agonizing by comarison. Likewise, 'Christian Zeal and Activity,' not one of Adams' most memorable pieces in the first place, is seriously overshadowed by the recording on Nonesuch Records, on which it is paired with more interesting and popular pieces than these.

Though I must point out: any Adams completists out there should take note of "The Earthquake"--this is the first available recording of this music. It's a very interesting "rock-instrumental" style movement from 'Ceiling/Sky' that was not included on the Nonesuch disc.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

Gone Woman Blues: Country Blues Collection

Wild Man Blues: 24 Clarinet Classics

Living Loud [Enhanced] [Import]

Gone Wild [Explicit Lyrics]

Emergency Ward!/It Is Finished/Black Gold [Import] [Live]

Compositions of Isang Yun, Vol. 9: Gong-Hu, for Harp & Strings / Concerto for Flute & Small Orchestra / Salomo, for Solo Alto Flute / In Balance, for Solo Harp

Danse, mon coeur danse

Impulsions [Import]

Double Nickels on the Dime

Cocktail Hour

Como Un Milagro [Import]

Some Assembly Required

New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits