The newest release from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Louis Langrée illustrates music transcending borders and composers drawing inspiration from the world around. The third CSO album with Langrée features the iconic American composer George Gershwin’s take on bustling Paris, the French composer Edgard Varèse’s take on New York’s soundscape, and Igor Stravinsky composing the same work across two continents. Recorded at Cincinnati Music Hall, the release marks the highly anticipated world premiere recording of the new critical edition of Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and also showcases the virtuosity and sound of the CSO through the original and rarely performed version of Edgard Varèse’s epic Amériques with 147 musicians, and Stravinsky’s Symphony in C.

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REVIEW:

His interpretation [of the Gershwin] is exceptionally clear (the crystalline recorded sound helps a great deal), and dances and shimmies without getting carried away. Some may find it a tad cool, but I rather like its air of Parisian elegance reading of the original 1922 version of Varèse’s Amériques may not be as joyously wild as Ludovic Morlot’s from Seattle (on that orchestra’s in-house label), but it still has gobs of character.

– Gramophone

Canticle is the inaugural release for the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble (VAE) on the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fanfare Cincinnati label. VAE, under the direction of Craig Hella Johnson, is a premier professional vocal ensemble dedicated to presenting passionate and innovative performances of choral music that raise and nurture the public’s appreciation of the life-enriching qualities of the choral arts. This exciting album introduces two recent works by celebrated composer Kile Smith. Kile Smith’s Canticle is a musical setting of one of the world’s great mystical texts by St. John of the Cross. Smith’s transcendent music, noted for the “ease and fluidity of its musical lines, its graceful counterpoint, its shimmering spirituality,” has garnered praise from audiences and critics around the globe. The music comes alive on this release.

Cincinnati Opera’s newest release is a live recording of the world premiere production of Blind Injustice, with music by Scott Davenport Richards and libretto by David Cote. Developed in collaboration with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) and the Cincinnati-based ensemble Young Professionals Choral Collective, Blind Injustice explores the true stories of six individuals who were wrongfully imprisoned and ultimately freed by the OIP. The opera’s narrative was drawn from the book Blind Injustice written by OIP director and formal federal prosecutor Mark Godsey, as well as personal interviews with the six exonerees. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra’s John Morris Russell conducts, with stage direction and dramaturgy by Robin Guarino. Hailed as “a powerful piece of music theater” by The Wall Street Journal and “a moving new work” by Opera News, Cincinnati Opera’s world premiere production of Blind Injustice explores the true stories of six individuals who were tried, convicted, imprisoned, and ultimately freed by the Ohio Innocence Project. With a “rich soundscape” (NPR’s All Things Considered) featuring elements of opera, pop, jazz, and blues, Blind Injustice interweaves the exonerees’ individual stories to create a moving portrait of perseverance, grace, and forgiveness.