Information
Composer: George Chadwick
- Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 21
- Symphonic Sketches
National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Theodore Kuchar, conductor
Date: 2005
Label: Naxos
-----------------------------------------------------------
When Leonard Bernstein famously proclaimed George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) as ‘the kindergarten period of American music’it was more likely Bernstein the composer and not Bernstein the conductor talking. It’s far easier to see how Chadwick might be damned with faint praise for using African-American melodies by a musical creator using conga drums in his concert works than by a podium figure with his eye on the broader canvas of musical history.
In any case, with enough historical remove Chadwick now appears to be neither ‘the most American of American composers’ (as he was often noted in his lifetime) nor a pre-Ivesian throwback (as he was known only a decade or so ago). Instead, the New England native is just a damn fine composer. Period.
The famous ‘American sources’ that the booklet-notes dutifully cite are no more central to Chadwick’s music than Russian folk material is to Tchaikovsky. Reflecting his own musical education, Chadwick’s language is more Germanic than anything else. What keeps it from falling into mere European pastiche, however, is a New World sensibility that goes well beyond quoting a few local tunes.
Using the language of Schumann and some orchestrational touches of Dvorák, Chadwick unveils a symphonic world in which Romantic sophistication need not necessarily wallow in anguish. With its colourful melodies and crisp rhythms, the music is nearly overwhelming in its optimism.
Theodore Kuchar and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine capture the music’s buoyance brilliantly, directly challenging Neeme Järvi’s reading of the Symphony and Symphonic Sketches and, to these ears, bettering the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on all counts.
-- K Smith, Gramophone
-----------------------------------------------------------
George Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. A student of Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn, Chadwick was a representative composer of what is called the Second New England School of American composers of the late 19th century—the generation before Charles Ives. His works included several operas, three symphonies, five string quartets, tone poems, incidental music, songs and choral anthems. Along with a group of composers known as the Boston Six, Chadwick was one of those responsible for the first significant body of concert music by composers from the United States.
***
Theodore Kuchar (born May 31, 1963 in New York City) is a Ukrainian American conductor of classical music and a violist. He graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and was principal violist in Cleveland, Helsinki and Cape Town. Kuchar was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine from 1994 to 2000, recording over 60 compact discs for Naxos Records and its Marco Polo label. Kuchar has been Chief Conductor of the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005, and Artistic Director of the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra since 2011.
-----------------------------------------------------------
FLAC, tracks
Links in comment
Enjoy!
Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Free Access with Ads' / 'Get link'. Complete the steps / captchas if require.
ReplyDeleteGuide for Linkvertise: 'Free Access with Ads' --> 'Get [Album name]' --> 'I'm interested' --> 'Explore Website / Learn more' --> close the newly open tab/window, then wait for a few seconds --> 'Get [Album name]'
https://link-center.net/610926/aqXUU6639267317
or
https://uii.io/svA1LdGXbx
or
https://exe.io/aMi6HK