| Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes 2 CD |
Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes 2 CD 
σÉ<> Philip Glass (Artist, Composer), Maki Namekawa (Artist, Conductor, Orchestra, Performer)
σÉ<> Filmoví producenti by měli vzít na vědomí. Každý kus má svůj vlastní odlišný charakter, ale všechny mají podobný styl a tón. Společná je melancholie setu, ale ne bez romantické krásy a třpytivých doteků (bright spots).
Location: New York, NY
Album release: US: 25 Nov 2014; UK: 25 Nov 2014
Genres: Classical, Music, Modern Era, Piano, Contemporary Era, Minimalism
Record Label: Orange Mountain Music
Product Details:
Performer: Maki Namekawa
Orchestra: Maki Namekawa
Conductor: Maki Namekawa
Composer: Philip Glass
Duration:
Tracks:
Disc: 1
01. Etude No.1
02. Etude No.2
03. Etude No.3
04. Etude No.4
05. Etude No.5
06. Etude No.6
07. Etude No.7
08. Etude No.8
09. Etude No.9
10. Etude No.10
Disc: 2
01. Etude No.11
02. Etude No.12
03. Etude No.13
04. Etude No.14
05. Etude No.15
06. Etude No.16
07. Etude No.17
08. Etude No.18
09. Etude No.19
10. Etude No.20
℗ 2014 Orange Mountain Music
Editorial Reviews
σÉ<> In 1994, Philip Glass resolved to become a better pianist, setting to work on a series of short compositions that would help him hone his skills at the keyboard. Two decades in the making, his 20 exquisite etudes have recently been completed, standing as a record of one man s deeply personal relationship to his instrument and an embodiment of his evolving style. Orange Mountain Music is proud to announce the availability of The Complete Piano Etudes, a two–disc set covering both volumes of Glass piano etudes, 20 pieces in all. In addition to the first book — Etudes Nos.1–10 — recorded anew with virtuoso Maki Namekawa, this set contains the world premiere recording of the second book of etudes — Nos.11–20 — including the incredibly Romantic 20th Etudes. 125 minutes of music in total.
Review
By John Garratt 12 December 2014, PopMatters Associate Music Editor
Score: 8
σÉ<> Subjectively speaking, some artists work better under pressure than not. Case in point: I’d much rather listen to piano exercises composed by Philip Glass designed to improve his technique than listen to his soundtrack for The Hours. Nobody made the minimalist composer write these 20 numerically titled etudes; instead, he took that initiative. He never even published sheet music for the first ten, keeping them to himself while releasing a lone recording of them. It wasn’t until Glass got around to the second set of ten that he considered having someone other than him perform them. This is where pianist Maki Namekawa, the first musician to record the second set of etudes, comes into the picture.. Together, these 20 etudes cover a 19–year arc in Glass’s composing career, a considerable stretch of time for a series of piano studies. This affords the composer a shift in attitude that keeps the music alive and listeners enrapt. The double–sided release of Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes unleashes these 20 poignant miniatures. Fanfare is minimal, but praise is due nonetheless.
σÉ<> The formatting is a no–brainer: the first ten etudes go on the first disc and the second set of ten go on the second disc, giving you two solid hours of solo piano music. Orange Mountain Music gives The Complete Piano Etudes a low–frills packaging, giving only a quick biography of Namekawa, a photo of her performing, and two short essays by Glass in the disc sleeve. Of course, how can one be expected to analytically dissect a collection of etudes in a way that would interest the laity? σÉ<> About the most useful background one can give is that, back in 1994, Philip Glass decided to make himself a better piano player. However, by 2013, he had written the “Etude No. 20” free with the knowledge that he wouldn’t have to be the one performing it. “Etude 1” is a study in rapidly arpeggiating chords tracing themselves over a cinematically minor key figure. At 4:39, it is the second–shortest piece on The Complete Piano Etudes. “Etude 20”, at 10:25, is the longest and does not concern itself with right hand precision. It creeps and crawls its way to life through thick and sticky rubato, only to slowly sway high up in a leafless tree as the two hands perform a simple dance of give–and–take.
σÉ<> The musical themes of the first disc are aggressively sticky, pounding their way into your mind after just one or two listens. “Etude No. 2” could easily be sold to a film studio. “Etude No. 3” picks up on “Etude No. 1”‘s combination of spidery finger work within the heavily–imposing minor key. But Maki Namekawa knows that this isn’t all about her. Her performance of the earlier etudes have just as much warmth in them as they do virtuosity, a skill that helps make a good classical album an even better classical album. Her expansive readings of the later, more sprawling etudes like “Etude No. 16” don’t threaten to go clinical for even a second. Philip Glass may be a minimalist composer, but Namekawa is on top of how she feels about each piece. And that turns out to be the nice surprise: a collection of piano exercises written by a minimalist composer turns out to be a very moving listen. Film producers, take note.
:: http://www.popmatters.com/
Website: http://www.philipglass.com/?%3E
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GlassNotesBlog
Philip Glass performs NY premiere of his complete Etudes at BAM:
:: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2014/12/10/philip-glass-performs-ny-premiere-his-complete-etudes-bam
BAM: http://www.bam.org/music/2014/the-etudes
Philip Glass
σÉ<> Philip Glass, one of America's most celebrated composers, applied his musical encounters in India, North Africa, and the Himalayas to his own compositions and, by 1974, had created a large body of work in a distinct idiom. His early music inspired pieces by the Mabou Mines theater company, which he co–founded; he later formed his own performing group, the Philip Glass Ensemble. This period reached its apogee with Einstein on the Beach, a landmark in 20th–century music–theater presented at BAM's 1984 Next Wave Festival (and revived in 1992 and now again in 2012). Glass' work since that groundbreaking piece has included opera, film scores, dance music, symphonic work, string quartets, and unclassifiable work such as The Photographer/Far From the Truth (BAM, 1983) and 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. Glass has a rich performing history at BAM, including the world premieres of Low Symphony (1992) and Symphony No. 2 (1994); revivals of Einstein on the Beach in 1984 and 1992; The CIVIL warS, Act V–The Rome Section in 1986; the New York premieres of Orphée (1993) and La Belle et la Bête (1994), and a presentation of Les Enfants Terrible: Children of the Game (1996) — all parts of his operatic trilogy based on the work of Jean Cocteau; 1998's Monsters of Grace; a live musical performance accompanying a screening of Koyaanisqatsi (1999); and 1999's Dracula: The Music and Film, featuring the Kronos Quartet. Both Koyaanisqatsi and Dracula were reprised for the Philip on Film series at BAM in Spring 2000, alongside Anima Mundi and Powaqqatsi. Glass collaborated with director Mary Zimmerman for the opera Galileo Galilei, presented as part of the 20th anniversary season of the Next Wave Festival (2002). Glass' most recent work at BAM included the collaborative concert work Orion, and a program featuring Symphony No. 6 and No. 8–all part of the 2005 Next Wave Festival. σÉ<>
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| Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes 2 CD |
σÉ<> Philip Glass (Artist, Composer), Maki Namekawa (Artist, Conductor, Orchestra, Performer)
σÉ<> Filmoví producenti by měli vzít na vědomí. Každý kus má svůj vlastní odlišný charakter, ale všechny mají podobný styl a tón. Společná je melancholie setu, ale ne bez romantické krásy a třpytivých doteků (bright spots).
Location: New York, NY
Album release: US: 25 Nov 2014; UK: 25 Nov 2014
Genres: Classical, Music, Modern Era, Piano, Contemporary Era, Minimalism
Record Label: Orange Mountain Music
Product Details:
Performer: Maki Namekawa
Orchestra: Maki Namekawa
Conductor: Maki Namekawa
Composer: Philip Glass
Duration:
Tracks:
Disc: 1
01. Etude No.1
02. Etude No.2
03. Etude No.3
04. Etude No.4
05. Etude No.5
06. Etude No.6
07. Etude No.7
08. Etude No.8
09. Etude No.9
10. Etude No.10
Disc: 2
01. Etude No.11
02. Etude No.12
03. Etude No.13
04. Etude No.14
05. Etude No.15
06. Etude No.16
07. Etude No.17
08. Etude No.18
09. Etude No.19
10. Etude No.20
℗ 2014 Orange Mountain Music
Editorial Reviews
σÉ<> In 1994, Philip Glass resolved to become a better pianist, setting to work on a series of short compositions that would help him hone his skills at the keyboard. Two decades in the making, his 20 exquisite etudes have recently been completed, standing as a record of one man s deeply personal relationship to his instrument and an embodiment of his evolving style. Orange Mountain Music is proud to announce the availability of The Complete Piano Etudes, a two–disc set covering both volumes of Glass piano etudes, 20 pieces in all. In addition to the first book — Etudes Nos.1–10 — recorded anew with virtuoso Maki Namekawa, this set contains the world premiere recording of the second book of etudes — Nos.11–20 — including the incredibly Romantic 20th Etudes. 125 minutes of music in total.
Review
By John Garratt 12 December 2014, PopMatters Associate Music Editor
Score: 8
σÉ<> Subjectively speaking, some artists work better under pressure than not. Case in point: I’d much rather listen to piano exercises composed by Philip Glass designed to improve his technique than listen to his soundtrack for The Hours. Nobody made the minimalist composer write these 20 numerically titled etudes; instead, he took that initiative. He never even published sheet music for the first ten, keeping them to himself while releasing a lone recording of them. It wasn’t until Glass got around to the second set of ten that he considered having someone other than him perform them. This is where pianist Maki Namekawa, the first musician to record the second set of etudes, comes into the picture.. Together, these 20 etudes cover a 19–year arc in Glass’s composing career, a considerable stretch of time for a series of piano studies. This affords the composer a shift in attitude that keeps the music alive and listeners enrapt. The double–sided release of Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes unleashes these 20 poignant miniatures. Fanfare is minimal, but praise is due nonetheless.
σÉ<> The formatting is a no–brainer: the first ten etudes go on the first disc and the second set of ten go on the second disc, giving you two solid hours of solo piano music. Orange Mountain Music gives The Complete Piano Etudes a low–frills packaging, giving only a quick biography of Namekawa, a photo of her performing, and two short essays by Glass in the disc sleeve. Of course, how can one be expected to analytically dissect a collection of etudes in a way that would interest the laity? σÉ<> About the most useful background one can give is that, back in 1994, Philip Glass decided to make himself a better piano player. However, by 2013, he had written the “Etude No. 20” free with the knowledge that he wouldn’t have to be the one performing it. “Etude 1” is a study in rapidly arpeggiating chords tracing themselves over a cinematically minor key figure. At 4:39, it is the second–shortest piece on The Complete Piano Etudes. “Etude 20”, at 10:25, is the longest and does not concern itself with right hand precision. It creeps and crawls its way to life through thick and sticky rubato, only to slowly sway high up in a leafless tree as the two hands perform a simple dance of give–and–take.
σÉ<> The musical themes of the first disc are aggressively sticky, pounding their way into your mind after just one or two listens. “Etude No. 2” could easily be sold to a film studio. “Etude No. 3” picks up on “Etude No. 1”‘s combination of spidery finger work within the heavily–imposing minor key. But Maki Namekawa knows that this isn’t all about her. Her performance of the earlier etudes have just as much warmth in them as they do virtuosity, a skill that helps make a good classical album an even better classical album. Her expansive readings of the later, more sprawling etudes like “Etude No. 16” don’t threaten to go clinical for even a second. Philip Glass may be a minimalist composer, but Namekawa is on top of how she feels about each piece. And that turns out to be the nice surprise: a collection of piano exercises written by a minimalist composer turns out to be a very moving listen. Film producers, take note.
:: http://www.popmatters.com/
Website: http://www.philipglass.com/?%3E
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GlassNotesBlog
Philip Glass performs NY premiere of his complete Etudes at BAM:
:: http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2014/12/10/philip-glass-performs-ny-premiere-his-complete-etudes-bam
BAM: http://www.bam.org/music/2014/the-etudes
Philip Glass
σÉ<> Philip Glass, one of America's most celebrated composers, applied his musical encounters in India, North Africa, and the Himalayas to his own compositions and, by 1974, had created a large body of work in a distinct idiom. His early music inspired pieces by the Mabou Mines theater company, which he co–founded; he later formed his own performing group, the Philip Glass Ensemble. This period reached its apogee with Einstein on the Beach, a landmark in 20th–century music–theater presented at BAM's 1984 Next Wave Festival (and revived in 1992 and now again in 2012). Glass' work since that groundbreaking piece has included opera, film scores, dance music, symphonic work, string quartets, and unclassifiable work such as The Photographer/Far From the Truth (BAM, 1983) and 1000 Airplanes on the Roof. Glass has a rich performing history at BAM, including the world premieres of Low Symphony (1992) and Symphony No. 2 (1994); revivals of Einstein on the Beach in 1984 and 1992; The CIVIL warS, Act V–The Rome Section in 1986; the New York premieres of Orphée (1993) and La Belle et la Bête (1994), and a presentation of Les Enfants Terrible: Children of the Game (1996) — all parts of his operatic trilogy based on the work of Jean Cocteau; 1998's Monsters of Grace; a live musical performance accompanying a screening of Koyaanisqatsi (1999); and 1999's Dracula: The Music and Film, featuring the Kronos Quartet. Both Koyaanisqatsi and Dracula were reprised for the Philip on Film series at BAM in Spring 2000, alongside Anima Mundi and Powaqqatsi. Glass collaborated with director Mary Zimmerman for the opera Galileo Galilei, presented as part of the 20th anniversary season of the Next Wave Festival (2002). Glass' most recent work at BAM included the collaborative concert work Orion, and a program featuring Symphony No. 6 and No. 8–all part of the 2005 Next Wave Festival. σÉ<>
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