Search - John [Composer] Adams, David Lang, Stephen Mosko :: John Adams, David Lang; Works for Wind Ensemble

Not the Best Pairings for Good Adams Works

Daniel G. Berk | West Bloomfield, Michigan | 01/17/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"From purely the standpoint of length, the two works by David Lang dominate slightly over the two works by John Adams. To me this is unfortunate, as I found the Lang works extremely difficult to understand and downright unpleasant.The Adams works are excellent, but there are better places to find them. "Short Ride on a Fast Machine" is available on three other CD's, and "Grand Pianola Music" is available by the London Sinfonietta, coupled with Adams' "Chamber Symphony". Pursue the Adams there and avoid the Lang."

Questionable pairing

Sean M. Kelly | Portland, Oregon United States | 04/21/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Being a huge fan of Adams' music, I find it uncomfortable for me to give any of his recordings less than 4 stars, yet here I am doing just that.Dan Berk's review is dead on in terms of several of the problems I have with this recording. In terms of length, the Adams portion of the cd is less than that of David Lang. Whether this was an honest mistake or not by the Chandos Dig label is irrelevant, but does take away from the overall effect of the cd. The fact remains that Adams should be granted more space on the cd.While I disagree with the prior review in that I found Lang's pieces listenable and at moments interesting, I have to question the placement of these 2 composers together on the same cd. Their styles do not match well at all and left me with a very unsatisfying feeling.As for the recordings themselves, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble plays Adam's pieces quite competently, especially the famous "Short Ride in a Fast Machine." Lawrence Odom's arrangement of the pieces for the ensemble was wonderfully done, accentuating the ensemble's many strengths. While "Short Ride" can be had elsewhere, the ensemble's vision of it is quite good.Their rendition of "Grand Pianola Music," however, leaves much to be desired. While the playing is fine, the detail paid to it seems at moments to be lacking, as does the wonderful exhilleration that Adams cajoles out of the last movement. Moscow's conducting falls flat in this case.The Adams pieces can be had elsewhere, and this recording does not come highly recommended unless you are interested in hearing Lang's pieces. Again, the pairing is questionable and takes away from the overall effect of the cd."