Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra
‘American
Rapture’
Azica Records
The Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra’s new album “American Rapture” highlights the most
intriguing components of the RPO’s musical identity in the Ward Stare era. Five
seasons into Stare’s tenure as music director, the RPO has been at its most
compelling when it expresses admiration for crucial 20th-century figures like
Samuel Barber, and when it indulges its curiosity in the music of living
composers.
“American Rapture”
represents both these inclinations, in a live recording that achieves the
vibrancy of a concert performance combined with a polished, hi-resolution sound.
Thanks to producer Alan Bise and engineer Bruce Egre, the music is especially
vivid, lending an excitement that is difficult to achieve on orchestral
recordings.
On the world
premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon’s mercurial Harp Concerto, the crystalline
precision of Yolanda Kondonassis’s harp, the rhythmic buoyancy of Stare’s conducting, and the cohesion of the orchestra achieve a kind
of mystical alchemy. This is especially the case during the boisterous, at
times cacophonous final movement, “Rap Knock.” Patrick Harlin’s
“Rapture,” also in a world premiere recording, proves that it’s every bit the
defiant orchestral showpiece it was when Stare and the RPO first performed it
in 2016.
But the orchestra’s rendition of Barber’s Symphony No. 1 is the show-stealer:
a revelatory performance, uncovering a wild and unfettered side to the
composer’s lyrical neo-Romanticism. With Stare at the helm, the ensemble’s
sound – spearheaded by the strings – is bold and articulate.
This article appears in May 15-21, 2019.
