Aaron Copland Michael Tilson Thomas San Francisco Symphony Orchestra - Copland Appalachian Spring Billy the Kid Rodeo +Album Reviews

Self-indulgent interpretation

maestra | NY, NY | 07/04/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess to an anti-Tilson-Thomas bias; but only as a result of this recording (and DVD) of Copland's Appalachian Spring. T-T has taken so many liberties that the piece is barely recognizable; well, okay, you can recognize it, but you wonder what the hell happened to it. It sounds like robots trying to play the blues, which is to say it's stiff, choppy, and doesn't swing. It slows down and speeds up with no apparent reason, other than perhaps their circuits going haywire. The music has so much inherent emotion and grandeur, T-T really shouldn't have made such a point of making it his own: Copland's is much better.

That said, the reason I gave it two stars instead of one (or none) is that it did make me listen to the score differently, and hear things that I hadn't heard in a more traditional interpretation. But I so disliked T-T's take on it in its entirety, that it just made me want to go back to the original and listen with perked-up ears, not listen to T-T's version again. Ever again."

Different

D. C. Eaton | Avon, IN United States | 03/13/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Well, unlike another reviewer, I don't have an anti-Tilson-Thomas bias, but this is not my favorite rendition. Its OK and different, but just a little too dramatic. It does not seem to me to be what the composer intended. Try instead "Bernstein Century - Copland: Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, etc / Bernstein, New York PO"

Or you could try "Copland conducts Copland - Appalachian Spring, etc by Aaron Copland, Aaron Copland, Helmuth Kolbe, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and London Symphony Orchestra.""

Appalachian Spring

Gary Graf | 05/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are so many performances of this work that it has practcally become cliche. I have searched for years for a particular performance which has a small fugue in the violins. No, it is not the "Simple Gifts" theme. This performanc has it. It is exquisite and performed with sensitivity and skill under the baton of Tillson-Thomas. The entire work is played excellently with quality sound (concert hall experience). I have other recordings of the "Spring," but this one will be my mainstay."

Fresh and exciting interpretation

Michael P. Mossey | Pasadena, CA USA | 03/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a big fan of Copland. His music can be dramatic, sad, joyful, and just plain fun. I also think his music is a good vehicle for personal expression of the performer/conductor. I don't think this is true for all composers---I cringe at some interpretations of Bach---but I usually enjoy it when a performance of Appalachian Spring or Bill the Kid contains some individual stamp that indicates the performer is really feeling and enjoying what they are doing. The combination of Copland's timeless compositions and subtle playing effects can be very sophisticated indeed.

Michael Tilson Thomas is truly crafting this music, measure by measure. His ability to get organic effects from the orchestra is wonderful. In Billy the Kid, when the music is exciting, you can just feel every player bound together in energy... and then the mood changes character, it becomes slow and soft, and the transformation is astonishing, every instrument now singing a sad song together.

Some reviewers have said that his Appalachian Spring is too dramatic. First you have to realize that the sound on this recording is extremely dynamic. Too often modern recordings of orchestras sound pinched or constrained. Orchestral fortississimos don't have their true impact. Here, RCA has captured much of the power and impact of the low drums and the brass. So any part in the music that calls for drums and brass (and Appalachian Spring often does) is going to be very powerful. If you don't like it, maybe you would have liked it at an actual concert. Recordings never "work" perfectly---effects which sound great live sometimes fail to translate.

For me, I'm very glad to have a recording with such dynamics and impact.

Overall I like the Appalachian Spring here. It's quiet and tender parts are tender indeed. It's exciting parts are very exciting. Although I'd rather have the performer take chances than do what is expected, perhaps MTT goes a bit too far, letting the piece lose some of its integrity. This is just a matter of taste.

Billy the Kid starts and ends with a tone-painting of the "open plain." I've noticed that some conductors play this with a dramatic quality that is very nice, but somehow missed the "open plain" idea. Here MTT makes it sound like an open plain. Very clear tone-painting.

Hoe-Down from Rodeo is really a terrific piece and it's too bad it got used in that commercial. I can hardly hear it now without thinking of bleepin beef. So I really, really appreciate his alive and energetic interpretation. You can just tell how much fun the musicians were having. That's the antidote to the damn commercial we need---make people realize this is wonderful, complex, and most of all fun.

"

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	Aaron Copland, Michael Tilson Thomas, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Copland: Appalachian Spring; Billy the Kid; Rodeo Genre: Classical
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