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作曲家: Glass, Philip / Montgomery, Jessie / Raimi, Max
演出者: Jessie Montgomery / Elizabeth DeShong (mezzo-soprano)
指揮家: Riccardo Muti
樂團: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
芝加哥長久以來一直是受作曲家歡迎的工作地點, 他們會在該城市發現芝加哥交響樂團處於音樂生活的核心中. 在這張專輯中演奏的三位美國作曲家的音樂都和芝加哥交響樂團有重要的關聯, 從1950年代葛拉斯發展時期在音樂廳當學生聽眾, 到傑西.蒙哥馬利(Jessie Montgomery), 她是該樂團現任的駐團作曲家(Mead Composer-in-Residence), 還有麥克斯.雷米(Max Raimi), 他是一位作品豐富的作曲家兼樂團中提琴組的長期團員.
蒙哥馬利和雷米的作品都是他們的第一次受CSO委任之作. 也是世界首錄演出. 蒙哥馬利的(凡人讚美詩 Hymn for Everyone)是一首給管絃樂團的冥想曲, 透過對2021年春季時個人和集體挑戰(新冠疫情)的沉思, 來表達她在今日的文化氣氛中嶄露頭角的重要意義. 在此曲中, 一段如讚美詩般的旋律穿越不同的管弦樂合唱團, 產生淒美動人的效果. 在雷米的三首配樂給麗澤.穆勒的詩(Three Lisel Mueller Settings)中, 他各自選擇一位敬仰的同事加入一個與女中音伊莉莎白.德尚(Elizabeth DeShong)的對話. 在其中精彩的部份有首席單簧管音樂家史蒂芬.威廉森(Stephen Williamson)的一段瘋狂的華爾滋, 首席巴松管音樂家凱斯.邦克(Keith Buncke)悲哀的輓歌, 和首席低音大提琴音樂家亞歷山大.漢納(Alexander Hanna)的一段希望的隱喻, 帶有高昂如歌曲般的樂句, 超越這些樂器表達可能性的標準概念.
葛拉斯的第11號交響曲是他從學生時期就著迷於交響樂傳統的一部份. 每一個樂章有其獨自的特色 – 第一樂章是大膽而且強力的, 第二樂章是緩慢展開的旋律一直到巔峰, 第三樂章則是連續如瀑布般的能量和緊促的打擊樂.
在五零年代是指揮弗里茨.萊納(Fritz Reiner)支持葛拉斯. 在今日是里卡多.慕提與芝加哥交響樂團擁護這個時代作曲家表達的聲音. 葛拉斯說芝加哥交響樂團演奏現代音樂的歷史事蹟是: ＂這需要有勇氣, 而且這勇氣變成一種傳統＂.
Chicago has long been a welcoming home to the working composer, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the heart of the musical life they found in the city. The three American composers whose music is performed on this recording all have important ties to the CSO, from Philip Glass' formative years as a student listener in Orchestra Hall in the 1950s, to Jessie Montgomery, who is the Orchestra's Mead Composer-in-Residence today, and Max Raimi, who is both a prolific composer and a longtime member of the CSO's viola section.
The works by Montgomery and Raimi were both their first CSO commissions, and these are their world premiere performances. Montgomery's Hymn for Everyone is a meditation for orchestra that speaks to the significance of her emergence in today's cultural climate through its reflection on the personal and collective challenges of the spring of 2021. In it, a hymn-like melody traverses different orchestral choirs to poignant effect. For each poem in Raimi's Three Lisel Mueller Settings, he selects an admired colleague to enter into a dialogue with the soloist, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong. This highlights the talents of Principal Clarinet Stephen Williamson in a frenetic waltz, Principal Bassoon Keith Buncke in a tragic elegy and Principal Bass Alexander Hanna in a metaphor for hope, with soaring, song-like phrases that transcend standard conceptions of the instrument's expressive possibilities.
Glass' Symphony No. 11 is part of the symphonic tradition that captivated him as a student. Each movement has its own unique character — the first bold and driving, the second crowned by a slowly unfolding melody and the third a barrage of cascading energy and racing percussion.
For Glass in the '50s, it was Fritz Reiner. Now Riccardo Muti champions the compositional voices of the age with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. ＂It takes courage,＂ says Glass of the CSO's legacy of performing contemporary music, ＂and that courage becomes a tradition.＂
ABOUT THE CSO: A musical force in Chicago and around the world, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the finest international orchestras. Its expansive catalog of recordings has earned 63 Grammy Awards.
