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Notices |
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On
January 15, 2009, the Passion of Martin Luther King will
be performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, together with the
Spelman College Glee Club and Morehouse College Glee Club,
all conducted by Robert Spano. The baritone soloist will be
Donnie Ray Albert. The concert will take place at the MLK International
Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. The
concert will be broadcast internationally on January 19, 2009 via
American Public Media. Further information about the broadcast can
be found at http://performancetoday.publicradio.org. -------------------- On December 6, 2008, the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet gave the East Coast premiere of the wind ensemble version of the Concerto Sinfonico, at Montclair State University, in Montclair, NJ. The quartet recorded the orchestral version of the Concerto for Naxos, prompting critic David Hurwitz to comment, "This has to be the best piece ever written for saxophone quartet and orchestra," adding, "The performance also sounds very comfortable--inside the idiom and aptly high-spirited." (Classics Today).
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Music
Web
- Reviews of Albany TROY 234 and NAXOS 8.5559148 by Rob Barnett. Classics Today.com - A review by David Hurwitz of Artek-0002-2. Classical CD Review - Review of Naxos 8.559296 |
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Comments from other reviews
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"What Flagello brings to his art is, first of all, an absolute conviction in the primacy of emotion: the music throbs with vitality. It can be exciting or turbulent, sweetly melancholy or tragic -- but it is always openly and fiercely passionate. Flagello was also a fine craftsman, devoted to the principles of motive economy and classic balance, and his intense emotional expression is achieved with discipline and rigor. Moreover he could and did write old-fashioned tunes-- surging, expansive melodic arches, sparkling or pounding dances, sinuous or restlessly winding melodies that lodge in the memory. The resulting music is vehement and powerful, free of the posing or irony that often deface so-called 'new romanticism'." Mark Lehman, American Record Guide
"Mr. Flagello has the gift of writing gratefully for the voice, and his music has melodic sumptuousness. His orchestral texture is crystal-clear, and he knows how to underline dramatic events." John Gruen, New York Herald Tribune "[Flagello] has shown an unmistakable and totally unconfused talent for the operatic theatre." Winthrop Sargeant, The New Yorker "Nicolas Flagello is a major talent and one looks forward to hearing him and his symphony continue to give pleasure to audiences the way they did this night." Michael Mark, Music Journal "[The concerto is] "passionate, dramatic, and unremittingly serious, . . . with easily detected shape and a clear sense of purpose, with surgingly lyric lines, dense textures, and churning rhythms, . . ." Herman Trotter, Buffalo News "[The opera's] robust emotionalism is unflinching in its conviction, and its intensity is sustained by a sure sense of pacing, a natural flow of expressive melody integrated throughout the musical texture, and an ability to use voices, chorus, and orchestra to their maximum effect." Musical America "[Credendum is] a very beautiful piece... so romantic and lush" Cho-Liang Lin, First Hearing "...high verismo drama in a style not unlike that of Puccini and a mystery akin to that of Bartók. Flagello depicted this entirely tonal work with a wide range of emotions -- conflict, love, agitation and pain..absolutely superb by any possible measure." Dwight Pounds, Owensboro (KY) Messenger-Inquirer "[Flagello's musical language] rests on the use of chromaticism and vocal lines inspired by Romantic ideals inflected by 20th-century techniques. Flagello achieves impressive emotional impact, builds vivid musical climaxes and leaves a strong musical imprint." Francis Brancaleone, (NY) Journal News "If this is not great music, we will gladly turn in our typewriter and quit." Enos Shupp, Jr., The New Records "...marked by brooding despair and violent agitation, which find release in massive climaxes of shattering impact. Despite its emotional effusiveness, the music is closely argued and remarkably skillful and imaginative in its handling of subtle instrumental colours. Flagello's later compositions (post-1958) are highly chromatic and dissonant, while retaining the earlier propensity for heartfelt melody and harmonic richness, and showing a clear anchoring in tonality at structural peaks. The New Grove. |
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