Isle of the Dead / The Rock / Symphonic Dances
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RACHMANINOV
Isle of the Dead / The Rock / Symphonic Dances
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton
[ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD ]
Release Date: Thursday 1 November 2012
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Andrew Litton and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra follow their acclaimed recordings of ballets by Stravinsky with a disc that features the first and last published orchestral works by Sergei Rachmaninov.
The disc opens with The Isle of the Dead, which was inspired by the painting by Arnold Böcklin and based on the first notes of the plainchant setting of the Dies iræ.
The Rock was inspired by an image from a short story by Chekhov, and shows the youthfulness of a composer just turned twenty.
The Symphonic Dances, by contrast, sum up a lifetime's musical and emotional experience. The composer noted that its three movements depicted the sequence of Midday - Twilight - Midnight.
"This is a very impressive programme...performances distinguished by expressive warmth, an intense sense of conviction and very fine playing from the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra...[Isle of the Dead] is utterly convincing and inherently dramatic. The brooding atmosphere is very powerfully conveyed." (BBC Music Five Stars)
"Litton has a good grasp of [The Rock's] romantic sweep and sustains its narrative and emotional thread." (Gramophone)
Tracks:
Symphonic Dances, Op. 45
The Isle of the Dead - Symphonic Poem, Op. 29
The Rock - Fantasy for Orchestra, Op. 7
