Search - William Sullivan :: Copland : Lincoln Portrait / An Outdoor Overture / Our Town / Quiet City and Morton Gould : Latin American Symphonette

An inspiring (& politically incorrect) Lincoln Portrait in f

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 12/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD sent me scurrying for more Abravanel recordings with the Utah Sym., given its spectacular sonics and exciting, even joyous playing. It would be cliched to say that Copland's patriotic panegyric and Charlton Heston were made for each other. Even Alzheimer's isn't enough to earn him forgiveness in some circles, but here Heston's narration is pitch perfect: deliberate, plain-spoken, utterly sincere. Abravanel's accompaniment is equally stirring and committed. This performance gives new stature to a work that can verge on hokum.



If you are in the mood, the pure Americana of the rest is just as heartwarming. We get Copland's populist Quiet City (with very outspoken solo trumpet and English horn), Outdoor Overture, and the nine-minute suite from his film score to Our Town.



The same virtues travel south of the border for Morton Gould's Latin American Symphonette, but by then I was stuffed with nostalgia. Its infectious four movements--a rhumba, tango, guaracha, and conga--are great for college and high school orchestras. For that matter, so is the Copland but at a much higher level of musical inspiration.













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