<\/p>
Works by Ives, Smyth, Still, Shaw and Elgar<\/p>
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra\/Joshua Weilerstein<\/p>
Claves CD 3091\u00a0\u00a0 102:21 mins (2 discs)<\/em><\/p> Decades ago, I used to have fun with an old friend concocting imaginary Prom concerts featuring horrid combinations of irreconcilable works. Yoking Charles Ives<\/a><\/strong> with Ethel Smyth<\/a><\/strong>, however, was one trick we missed, though it rushed into Joshua Weilerstein\u2019s head for this strange and unsatisfying orchestral assemblage recorded in 2020-21 just after his stint as the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra\u2019s artistic director ended.<\/p> In his note, Weilerstein establishes three areas of similarity between his five British and American composers: \u2018folk music<\/a><\/strong>, classical idioms, and a generally warm and Romantic sensibility\u2019. Some of that is true: but listening to the results involves so many disorientating stylistic jolts that common ground soon disappears.<\/p> In Weilerstein\u2019s hands, Ives\u2019s sharply impressionistic Three Places in New England<\/em> proves of no matter: the performance begins by being pedantic, unatmospheric, and oddly balanced, and improves only slightly. Conductor and orchestra appear more at home with the orthodox 19th-century European padding of Ethel Smyth\u2019s breezily confident works: a first recording of the Suite for Strings, arranged from her String Quintet and a Brahmsian Serenade that needs livelier material and judicious weeding. <\/p> Of the shorter pieces filling out the album, the orchestral expansion of Caroline Shaw<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s 2011 string quartet piece Entr\u2019acte, with its hesitating and haunting repetitions and pizzicato<\/a><\/strong> flings, is easily the most enjoyable. Still\u2019s Mother and Child<\/em> of 1943 is nobly designed if overladen with syrup. Elgar<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s \u2018Chanson de nuit\u2019 and \u2018Chanson de matin\u2019, tacked on like encores at the end, add little to the proceedings except the comfort of familiarity.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Geoff Brown Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 19:53 PM Works by Ives, Smyth, Still, Shaw and Elgar Lausanne Chamber Orchestra\/Joshua Weilerstein Claves CD 3091\u00a0\u00a0 102:21 mins (2 discs) Decades ago, I used to have fun with an old friend concocting imaginary Prom concerts featuring horrid combinations of irreconcilable works. Yoking Charles Ives with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39584,"template":"","categories":[1,79,19],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music.jpg",900,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music.jpg",800,800,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music.jpg",900,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/02\/american-and-english-orchestral-music.jpg",900,900,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Geoff Brown Published: Thursday, 29 February 2024 at 19:53 PM Works by Ives, Smyth, Still, Shaw and Elgar Lausanne Chamber Orchestra\/Joshua Weilerstein Claves CD 3091\u00a0\u00a0 102:21 mins (2 discs) Decades ago, I used to have fun with an old friend concocting imaginary Prom concerts featuring horrid combinations of irreconcilable works. Yoking Charles Ives with…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39583"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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