The absence of rough edges lends Debussy's music
a potency over the tempo of our lives today that
begs for a greater realization of evanescent
temporal duration.
Olivier Messiaen's music sets itself apart from
most other late 20th century composers on at least
two fronts: its warm tonality and its transcendent
spiritual quality.
György Ligeti's austere individualism is a
preeminent quality of his work. While the discord
found in most of his static compositions seems to
negate all possibility of harmony, there is a
profound tone in his music that seeks what can be
regarded as a centerless form.
On Peter and the Wolf, Friday and his
musical collaborator, Maurice Seezer, have turned
their talents and energies to classical music:
Serge Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf,
composed in 1936 as an introduction to the
orchestra for children.
The Tolkien Ensemble is a group of
classically-trained Danish musicians formed in 1995
by its leader and main composer, Caspar Reiff, for
the purpose of recording and performing all the
songs and poems from The Lord of the
Rings.
Sometimes, when a movie flops, there are good
reasons. In those cases, the only possible reaction
can be a sigh of relief that we were not unduly
inflicted with the film. However, when a good movie
tanks and blips off the radar with barely a trace,
the resultant loss can be close to tragic.
Ciele di Toscana is Andrea Bocelli at his
very best. A wildly accessible album that
nonetheless does much to celebrate the voice of
this greatest of classical tenors of our time.
You simply can't review the autobiography of a
15-year-old without first offering up some comments
on the crazy nature of a world where enough people
care about the wisdoms that a 15-year-old might
impart to publish a book about it.
As well produced as it is performed,
Neapolitan Café pumps with the energy
of this rare foursome: talented musicians with a
charisma that cuts right through the distance of
recording.
The moniker cuts a broad swath through a very
large musical region. Too often, the word
"classical" when hung together with "music" evokes
visions of powdered wigs and evenings spent in
stupefying boredom listening to complicated
compositions that have little bearing on music as
we've come to understand the word.
