John Adams: San Francisco Symphony/MTT to Produce New "Harmonielehre" Recording

On John Adams' excellent blog, "Hell Mouth," the preeminent American composer of today recounts in a recent post the difficult birth of his 1982 Harmonielehre, which sprung out of the most profound period of writer's (composer's?) block he had ever experienced. It's a fascinating--and funny--read, recounting the frantic push to complete the piece only hours before its first rehersal.

Adams also offers an exciting announcement: that the San Francisco Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, will be recording the massive work next week. There's much reason to cheer this announcement--Harmonielehre is a milestone work that I think will be regarded as one of the crowning American achievements in classical music in the late 20th century. And yet, it has only been recorded a handful of times: by Edo de Waart and the San Francisco Symphony shortly after the work's première, by Simon Rattle and his orchestra in Birmingham, England (for my taste, the definitive recording), and very recently by the adventurous, rising conductor in St. Louis, David Robertson.

Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony are in top form at the moment. Their recent Mahler cycle was beautifully played and produced by their in-house label, and I'm sure they'll knock Harmonielehre out of the park. Looking very forward to getting my hands on the recording!

What I've Been Listening To: Gergiev's Excellent "Daphnis et Chloé"

Ravel: "Daphnis et Chloé, Boléro and Pavane" Valery Gergiev/London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live)

Three years having passed since Valery Gergiev was appointed the London Symphony Orchestra's Principal Conductor, I think the relationship can be assessed as an enormous and unqualified success. Last year's Rachmaninov 2 with the Londoners was simply stunning; their recent Prokofiev "Romeo and Juliet" tops the pile of available recordings; and their Mahler cycle has had more ups (1, 2, 4, especially 6, Adagio from 10) than downs (3, 7, and 8).

Although Gergiev's expertise in Russian music is widely recognized, it comes as a surprise to hear him lead a French masterpiece like "Daphnis" with as much skill and panache as this one. The recorded sound is better than any LSO Live disc I've heard; the LSO Live engineers have apparently worked out just how to put the acoustically dry Barbican Centre in its best light. The performance itself is expertly well-played--though perhaps not as diaphanously "French" as other great recordings (Munch/Boston Symphony and Chung/Orchestre Philharmonique and Choeur de Radio France come to mind). In fact, the general heaviness of the playing ("Danse grotesque de Dorcon") is really the only notch against this recording. "Boléro" and, especially, the "Pavane" fill the album out nicely; the LSO's principal horn shines in the difficult solo work of the latter piece.

In short, this is an excellent collaboration between the LSO and Gergiev. Highly recommended.

(Available for download at http://www.amazon.com/Ravel-Daphnis-Et-Chloé/dp/B004APZT8Y/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk?ie=UTF8&qid=1291247902&sr=8-1)