Search - Tredici, Hendricks, Chicago Sym Orch :: Tredici: Final Alice

FINALLY ALICE ON CD

William S. Levison | Valdosta, GA United States | 10/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Composed in the l980's, this is a refreshingly accessible major composition. The performance is magnificent, with Barbara Hendricks reading and singing the text adapted from the work of Lewis Carroll. The great Georg Solti leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (for which the work was comissioned) rousingly, and the sound is first-rate."

A cantata for one voice with a multi-colored, multi-textured

Tom Brody | Berkeley, CA | 06/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ONE. This movement begins with a vocal recitative, where one by one, instruments begin playing one note in unison, much like the ritual of tuning up to the oboe's A note. First, there is a single wind instrument, then the strings join in. By the time 2 min have passed, the pace has stepped up, and we are treated to a simple ascending motif, where the motif is decorated with chirping flutes. At 3 min, the vocal recitative is replaced by singing. At 3 min and 12 seconds, the "main theme" presents itself, only to emerge again and again in various forms throughout the symphony.



TWO. This movement begins with a vocal recitative, "Consider your verdict, the king said to the jury." A theremin, wind sounds, and percussion, decorate an episode lasting from 1 min to 2 min into this movement. The recitative gets a bit frantic, sounding like a frightened little girl.



THREE. "There was silence in the court as the rabbit read these verses," recites the singer. This is followed by an operatic episode, accompanied by an accordian. At 90 seconds into the movement, is a loud instrumental part, with blasting trumpets, with theremin joining in at 2 min, and singing beginning at 2 ½ min. At 3 min and 20 seconds, we are treated to a quiet episode with singing, accordian, and guitar. But at 3 min, 40 seconds, there is a 20-second long brassy blasting episode. At 5 ½ min, begins a 30-second loud orchestral sequence that cuts loose. It cuts loose like the final movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Then, at 6 min, the singer recites, "Silence in the court, cried out the white rabbit." What follows sounds like Carl Stalling's cartoon music.



FOUR. This starts with a 30-second aria sounding like scales (exercise scales, warming up scales). Sounding more mellow than anything up to this point, we hear mellow French horns from 1 min to 2 min into this movement. The singing resumes, and we are treated to a brand-new tune. At 2 min, 50 seconds, the mellow French horns resume their mellow motifs, and at 5 min is a very loud part lasting some 30 seconds.



FIVE. The vocalist sings a new tune, accompanied only by a harp. (One gets a little tired, perhaps, of the many times that the "main theme" tune is repeated.) The new tune has some amazingly high notes. How can any human being sing so high??? It is an appealing song, sounding very remotely like Meredith Wilson's "'Til There Was You." At 3 min, 15 sec, the "main theme" resumes, but with a difference. Here, the "main theme" is in a minor key. From 6 min to 7 min is a quite episode of strings, reminding one of sunset. From 7 min to 9 min comes a vigorous, muscular orchestral episode reminding one of Totentanz by Franz Liszt.



SIX. A fugue of strings begins this movement. At 30 sec, the brass join into the fugue. We are treated to a new tune. At 1 min, 45 sec, we hear a half-minute of low-throated tuba toots, with the backing of a full Mahleresque orchestral torrent. At 3 min, 15 sec, the "main theme" resumes, but only for a half minute. At 4 min, 30 sec, the orchestra quiets down--after an uncharacteristically long instrumental episode--and a vocal recitative begins.



SEVEN. This begins with the voice singing the "main theme" but the instrumentation is unusual in that it has a vibrating, shivvering motif. At 2 min, the vocalist recites through a megaphone.



The purpose of the megaphone is two-fold, first, to treat the listener with a singing voice having a different timbre, and second, to emphasize the fact that the orchestra is REALLY LOUD. In other words, the listener can be taught that the orchestra is REALLY LOUD, either by making the orchestra play louder, or indirectly, by having the vocalist sing through a megaphone (in this case, it is not particularly relevant if the megaphone-voice is actually louder than normal).



Then at 2 min, 20 sec, begins a powerful ominous-sounding vocal part accompanied by dark, brooding orchestral blasts. At 3 min, all is silent except for the vocal recitative, "She had grown to her full size by this time . . . you're nothing but a pack of cards!" The orchestra picks up again, there is a wailing siren (reminding one of the sirens used by Varese in Ionisation), a wooden xylophone, and chimes. At 5 min, Alice wakes up and talks to her sister. At 5 min, 40 sec, comes a very unusual whistling sound, perhaps sounding like some archaic steam-operated industrial device.



EIGHT. The strings open this movement with an entirely new tune, sounding like a lullaby with hints of Twinkle Little Star. To mark the progress of the lullaby, we find at intervals of ten seconds, the striking of chimes and some other metallic sound, like the sweep of a spoon over a corrugated metal washboard. At 4 min, 20 sec, there is a quiet 20 sec episode with an odd tune sounding like something aleatory from Charles Ives or Alban Berg. At 5 min, 20 sec, the full orchestra returns, with the sweeping flute-swoops that had been introduced to us in the first movement. At 6 min, 50 sec, the singer counts to 13 in Italian, ending with the number 13 (the composer's last name).



I saw Mr. Del Tredici only once, in a piano performance at Hertz Hall in the late 1970s, at Hertz Hall on the University of California at Berkeley campus. I went to graduate school with the composer's sister in the nutrition department at U.C. Berkeley. When I read that the composer had won the Pulitzer Prize, I was so surprised that I started screaming. At the time, I was reading the newspaper by the coffee machine in my laboratory. I also recommend "Steps for Orchestra" by Del Tredici. Although "Steps for Orchestra" has a simple title, it is my favorite piece from this composer.



My favorite part is the Fugue. I like to listen to it, for example, while driving along the legendary Route One in Sonoma County, while listening to a compilation that also includes Schumann's Toccata, Liszt's Etudes and La Campanella, and Albeniz compositions played on guitar by the Katona Twins.



There is only one contemporary composer that I admire as much as Mr. Del Tredici, and this is Aaron Kernis (Colored Field by San Francisco Symphony, and Double Concerto for Violin & Guitar by Minnesota Orchestra).

"

EXTRAORDINARY IN EVERY WAY - AN AMERICAN VOCAL MASTERPIECE!

Edward Oleksak | New Jersey USA | 01/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An important 20th century work - MAJOR - Why it is not more well known must be because of the incrediblle demands on the artists. Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra meet Del Tredici's demands with ease, but the absolute "stunner" is Barbara Hendricks! I believe that this terrifically demanding and difficult work is "hers" alone, for I cannot think of another artist that could survive a live performance (which I've heard in two concert broadcasts and saw on a PBS Special years ago).This work is nothing less than a MASTERPIECE! The recording is superb and will make real demands on just about any sound system. Thankfully it's finally available on CD. Before it vanishes, GET THIS WONDERFUL RECORDING NOW."