Search - Michael Nyman, Takuo Yuasa, Ulster Orchestra :: Piano Concerto / Where the Bee Dances

Lovely

Micromegas | 09/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"More melodic and romantic than other minimalist music I've heard, but it still frequently has a nice rhythmic pulse to it (unlike Romantic era music) that makes it sound of our times. I even disagree with the reviwer who dislikes the Sax piece - I think it's wonderful (though jazz fans should note it's not a "soulful" saxophone).And the piece is named THE Piano Concerto (get it?), not Piano Concerto."

Minimal Price, Minimalist Masterpieces

Micromegas | Ada, OK | 03/31/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is a long tradition of composers adapting stage works into concert works, from Mozart to Prokofiev (notably his 3rd and 4th symphonies). Nyman follows in this auspicious tradition in adapting his score from The Piano into The "Piano" Concerto, which is one of the most ravishing and beautifully scored concertos in modern memory--unashamedly romantic, yet with a sense of minimalism at its core. The work opens up with the shimmering of the sea itself, from which the piano gently emerges with a haunting motif. This is expanded into expansive Romantic gestures, which culminate in a folsky Scottish theme. The development is breathtaking in the manner of a Rachmaninov piano concerto, and I simply cannot listen to it enough. A dashing scherzo-ish movement follows, before the music gradually returns to the drama of the beginning, concluding with the scottish "snap." The work is performed with incredible commitment by both pianist and orchestra--I could not imagine a better version.



Equally brilliant in a less Romantic vein is Where the Bee Dances, this time adapted from his music from the film Prospero's Books (and quoting the line from Ariel in The Tempest). It's a marvelous work for saxophone and orchestra, lyrical and lighthearted, like Ariel freed from Prospero's magic and soaring gaily over the island. It's somewhat similar in tone to Glass's Concerto for Four Saxophones and Orchestra, but capturing a sense of fantasy and meditative calm where Glass's work is more gruff and darkly hypnotic.



Great pieces and great perfomances. Can't recommend them enough."