John Adams's new album, featuring his Son of Chamber Symphony and String Quartet, is out today. The first piece, deemed "dangerously exhilarating" by the Financial Times, is performed on the album by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), led by the composer. The second, which the Philadelphia Inquirer calls "a knockout," is performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Audiophile Audition gives the album a perfect five stars: "This is a magnificent addition to the Adams’ discography that will win him new fans. The performance and recording are exemplary, a real feast for the ears and your stereo system."
John Adams's latest Nonesuch release, featuring his Son of Chamber Symphony and his String Quartet, is out today. The first piece, deemed "dangerously exhilarating" by the Financial Times, is performed on the album by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), led by the composer. Adams says the new piece is closely related to its predecessor Chamber Symphony, with "the same buoyant quality" as the original. The second piece, which the Philadelphia Inquirer calls "a knockout," is performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the ensemble for which the piece was written. The album is available now in the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s at checkout.
Audiophile Audition gives the album a perfect five stars. "It’s always a pleasurable challenge to review a disc of new compositions by John Adams, arguably the greatest living American composer of our time," writes reviewer Robert Moon. "This is a magnificent addition to the Adams’ discography that will win him new fans. The performance and recording are exemplary, a real feast for the ears and your stereo system ... For Adams lovers, this disc is a mandatory purchase. Newcomers to him will find this disc a stimulating introduction to his music." Read the complete five-star review at audaud.com.
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San Francisco Classical Voice reviewer Janos Gereben writes of Son of Chamber Symphony: "Playfulness is instantly obvious when you start listening to the first movement. It’s abandoned, bouncy music, a fun piece, music in high spirits—something we all could use more of." Gereben goes on to say of the album: "A sense of freedom is one of Adams’ many attractive musical qualities, and the two works on this CD are excellent examples of that." Read the review at sfcv.org.
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Son of Chamber Symphony recently received its Twin Cities premiere when the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra performed the piece on a program with works by Beethoven and Dvořák. Minneapolis Star Tribune reviewer Larry Fuchsberg says the piece "has the buoyancy, the sporadic wackiness, the diabolical virtuosity of its popular progenitor, the cartoonish Chamber Symphony of 1992: the acorn hasn't fallen far from the tree. But the piece also has the pathos and poignancy I'd missed in its parent ... As unpredictable as the father, the ambitious son may well prove the more enduring of the two." Read the concert review at startribune.com.
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International Contemporary Ensemble performs a free concert tonight at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York City as part of its ICELab 2011 LPR Residency. ICElab is the International Contemporary Ensemble's new model for commissioning, developing, and performing new music, designed to nurture the essential composer-performer collaboration. Tonight's program features the work of composer Nathan Davis. For more information, visit lepoissonrouge.com.
Adams's String Quartet will next be performed at Riverside Church in New York City this Thursday by the Locrian Chamber Players. For details, visit locrian.org.
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