Christopher Rouse - Symphony No. 5; etc (Giancarlo Guerrero)

Information

Composer: Christopher Rouse

1. Symphony No. 5
2. Supplica
3. Concerto for Orchestra

Nashville Symphony Orchestra

Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Naxos

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Review

The death at the age of 70 earlier this year of Christopher Rouse also brought a premature close to a symphonic cycle with few current equals in terms of emotional intensity and panache. While the Fifth Symphony (2015) predicates the latter quality, this implies no lack of substance in a piece where allusion to the Beethoven archetype is by no means merely anecdotal. Unfolding continuously, the tensile sonata-allegro is followed by a slow movement of understated poise, its unexpected return cutting across the lithe Scherzo to become an extended introduction to a finale whose compactness serves to accentuate its cumulative energy and surging affirmation.

A finely proportioned and readily communicative work, such as makes an ideal point of entry into Rouse’s symphonies, and one which is appropriately complemented by the Concerto for Orchestra (2008). Taking its cue (and why not?) from Bartók’s trailblazing example, this is also a continuous span but here the underlying trajectory is of two parts. The five sections of the first alternate incisiveness and rumination, all the while highlighting different components of the orchestra, whereas the second part juxtaposes these in an extended sequence accruing momentum on its way to a peroration that feels the more exhilarating for its collective unity.

Contrast is provided by Supplica (2013), an expressive yet never discursive rhapsody that, as Giancarlo Guerrero renders it, seems less of a counterpart to the eloquent Rapture, as is ably conveyed by Carlos Kalmar, than an ‘informal continuation’ (the composer’s words) of the Fourth Symphony – hitherto Rouse’s most unsettling and equivocal work. An orchestra with a notable past (and hopefully future), the Nashville Symphony rises admirably to these pieces’ not inconsiderable challenges. Sound has no lack of clarity or definition, and the booklet note rightly places emphasis on Rouse’s own pithy observations. All in all, an impressive release.

— Richard Whitehouse

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Christopher Rouse (15 February 1949 – 21 September 2019) was an American composer. Educated at Oberlin Conservatory and Cornell University, he studied with George Crumb and Karel Husa and later taught at the Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School. His works were performed by major orchestras worldwide, and he gained particular acclaim for his concertos written for leading soloists. Rouse received numerous honors, including a Grammy Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His final composition, Symphony No. 6, premiered posthumously in 2019, marking the culmination of an influential career.

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Giancarlo Guerrero (born 14 March 1969) is a Costa Rican orchestra conductor. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, he emigrated to Costa Rica, where he began his musical training before earning degrees from Baylor University and Northwestern University. Guerrero has held prominent posts with the Minnesota Orchestra, Eugene Symphony and Táchira Symphony Orchestra. He became music director of the Nashville Symphony in 2009, concluding his tenure in 2025 after earning multiple Grammy Awards for his acclaimed recordings. He also served as music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic from 2017 to 2024.

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