Things You Already Know - Chris Campbell's personal soundscape

Things You Already Know
Chris Campbell
Innova

Composer Chris Campbell has created an album of deeply personal music. Campbell's carefully constructed soundcapes use a variety of sources -- acoustic instruments, electronics, found objects, and home-made instruments. The result is an intriguing journey for the ear. Campbell's music manages to hover between contemporary classical music and electronica without fully landing in either camp.

And that's what keeps it interesting. It's music that almost reminds me of something I've heard before, but I can't quite place it -- so I just have to keep listening.

Stanislaw Moniuszko: Overtures - Polish treasures

Stanislaw Moniuszko: Overtures
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; 
Antoni Wit, conductor
Naxos

In Poland, Stanislaw Moniuszko is a national hero. Like Dvorak, he was able to retain the characteristic sound of his country's folk music in classical works, creating music that sounded distinctively Polish. Most of Moniuszko's composition are for the human voice; songs, cantatas, anthems and especially operas.

This new release features ten opera overtures from "the Father of Polish Opera," and what a treat they are. Tuneful, straightforward, and full of energy -- to my ears they sounded like a blend of Weber, Suppe and Dvorak. And there's plenty of variety. some, like "The Hetman's Mistress" are real curtain-raisers, uptempo and sprightly. Others, like "the Raftsman" are quieter, setting the stage with long, languorous melodies of tender beauty. And almost all have slightly unusual chord progressions or rhythms that give them a distinctively Polish sound.

Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra are admirably suited to these works. Just as a Viennese orchestra instinctively knows how to add a little something to a Strauss waltz, this Polish orchestra knows what Moniuszko's referencing, and play it as it should be.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys mid-century romantic music -- especially opera.

Toward a Season of Peace - Richard Danielpour's masterwork

Ricahard Danielpour
Toward a Season of Peace
Hila Plitmann, soprano
Pacific Chorale
Pacific Symphony, 
Carl St. Clair, director
Naxos

Richard Danielpour's "Towards a Season of Peace" is an ambitious work -- and one that succeeds in that ambition. Danielpour combines texts from Jewish, Christian and Persian (Arabic) sources in his oratorio for peace. By doing so, he shows the parallels and common ground between the three major religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim -- currently at war with each other in the Middle East.

Unlike Bernstein's "Requiem Mass," Danielpour never gets preachy. He lets the inherent beauty of the poetic texts, supported by his music, speak for itself. The work is tonal and quite easy to follow -- which I suspect was Danielpour's intention. This isn't an esoteric work for the cognescenti, but rather a work that can be heard and enjoyed by a much wider audience. If you enjoy "modern" composers such as Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, or Michael Tippett, then you should find much to like in Daneilpour's composition. Not that he sounds like any of those composers, but Danielpour seems to be coming from the same place.

In the liner notes Danielpour talks about reconnecting with his Persian musical heritage, and several parts of the score reflect that, adding a verve and excitement not found in works sticking to just Western traditions.

Hila Plitmann's in fine form, letting her clear soprano voice float lightly above the orchestra in her solos. The overall performance by the Pacific Chorale, Pacific Symphony and conductor Carl St. Clair benefit from their close working relationship with the composer. This may be a world-premier recording, but the ensemble performs it as if it were a work they had been playing for years.