John Adams: Shaker Loops; The Wound-Dresser; Short Ride in a Fast Machine
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CD Details
Performer: Nathan GunnComposer: John [Composer] Adams
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-10-19
Music Label: Naxos American
Soundtracks:
- Short Ride In A Fast Machine
- The Wound-Dresser
- Berceuse Elegiaque
- I. Shaking And Trembling
- II. Hymning Slews
- III. Loops And Verses
- IV. A Final Shaking
Music reviews of John Adams: Shaker Loops; The Wound-Dresser; Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Music Review: Exciting performances ruined in the mixing studio
Rating: 3 Stars
There's no doubt about it - the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra play brilliantly for the majority of the time in each of these pieces, and Alsop invests the music with great energy, due mostly to faster than usual tempos. Unfortunately, these tempo choices and some recording balance problems overshadow what otherwise would be a great addition to the John Adams discography.
While not usually something I advocate, a look at the timings indicates just what to expect in Short Ride in a Fast Machine. Alsop's clocks in at 4:05, SFSO/de Waart, the Netherland Wind Ensemble, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory Wind Symphony/Corporon and CBSO/Simon Rattle all take 4:20 or longer. This seemingly antiseptic comparison is actually pretty important in a piece with unchanging tempo, and Alsop's very fast direction produces some pretty hectic sounding areas in the piece. It is exciting when one hears the first three clicks of the woodblock at such a speed (amounting to about 20 clicks per minute faster on a metronome), and the opening trumpet rhythms are wonderfully articulated, but there are later areas where detail is lost and it just sounds mushy (not something that would be the aim of this work, I think). There are also several balance problems that pretty much ruin the recording for me. The wood block(s) are simply too loud - the only way you would hear them sound like this in concert is if they were amplified, and that's clearly not indicated in the score. Perhaps Alsop and/or the engineers decided that this would add "clarity" to the recording, but it really doesn't (in fact, it gets a bit irritating after a while). Likewise, the change of wood blocks midway through, from quite high and piercing to low and somewhat-less-piercing, draws unnecessary attention to itself. The problem with overmiking the wood block(s) is that it feels like we're being spoon-fed the interest of this piece, which lies in the conflict derived from Adams' brilliant working of different rhythmic patterns against a steady beat. Since the piece starts with the woodblock alone spelling this beat off, it should be internalized and the actual sound should be barely audible, only sneaking through when allowed by soft dymanics in the rest of the orchestra. Contrarily, several great details are lost: the horn glisses at the first "crisis point", the tam-tam strokes at the climax (beautifully rendered in de Waart's recording) and any hint of the synthesizer that's called for in the score (again, audible in de Waart's recording). It is nice to hear such zealous piccolo playing, however out of tune it is. The only recording of this I don't know is the Masur/NYPO in their box. I would love peoples' opinions on this rendition.
The Wound Dresser is similarly marred by balance problems - for his wonderful tone, diction and phrasing, Nathan Gunn is simply too closely recorded in relation to the orchestra. The result is that, even when you can tell he's singing softly, he still buries the orchestra. When he sings loudly, he's the only sound you can pay attention to. This is one of my favorite Adams pieces and I greatly enjoy Nathan Gunn's discography. In this account the piece completely loses any intimacy, which is abundant on the recording by Sanford Sylvan (Nonesuch), not a singer I'm typically fond of. I've listened to this recording on several sound systems just to make sure the close balances weren't a result of my equipment, and sadly they aren't.
The two pieces without soloist (Short Ride sounds essentially like it has a solo woodblock throughout) come off quite a bit better. The warm transparency of the Bournemouth players works wonderfully in Adams' sensitive, dark-hued orchestration of Busoni's Berceuse élégiaque.
This is my fifth recording of Shaker Loops (here performed in the string orchestra version), and it is quite good indeed. The energy is again produced mostly by tempos slightly faster than typical, and the string sections play wonderfully when given melodic bits. It is again slightly marred by the recorded sound, which, aside from the very opening of the work, never gets as soft as it does in other recordings. At many times, I prefer the original, rawer sounding version for seven solo players. Overall, the gutsy, exaggeratedly contrasted reading given by Christopher Warren-Green on an excellent collection of "minimalist" works on Virgin remains my favorite.
$6.98 is certainly not too much to ask for a good recording of Shaker Loops, and the other performances on this Naxos release are certainly serviceable. It would have been nice, however, to have a recording of Adams' works that don't already exist in multiple versions - where is a second recording of one of his early masterpieces, Harmonielehre, for instance? I've always viewed Naxos as an excellent source of recordings of pieces not readily available on other labels, and they've been excellent in doing so with other releases in their American Classics series (such as the Bolcom set that is next in my "to listen to" pile). Is this disc a missed opportunity? I would unfortunately have to lean towards "yes" as an answer - undeniably wonderful pieces and probably wonderful performances ruined by poor choices in the mixing studio.
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Description of John Adams: Shaker Loops; The Wound-Dresser; Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Raised in Massachusetts and trained as a composer at Harvard, at the age of 24 Adams headed west to San Francisco in order to distance himself from his neo-European upbringing. Shaker Loops, written in the heyday of American minimalism, helped to earn him a place as one of the most famous living composers. It borrows the technique of looping fragments of melody from Steve Reich?s early tape experiments, and continues to be one of Adams? most frequently performed works. Also included on this disc is Short Ride in a Fast Machine, four minutes of pure aural adrenaline, and The Wound-Dresser, a pensive adaptation of Walt Whitman?s poem about his experiences as a nurse during the civil war. Marin Alsop has been Principle Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra since 2002. She represents the highest level of artistry seen in American conductors, and has recorded several times for Naxos. In 2003, she was named the Gramophone Artist of the year and presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society's conducting award. Marin Alsop has several more recording projects in progress for Naxos, including works by Glass, Weill and Bartók, as well as the complete Brahms Symphony cycle.Classical CDs
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