Copland: Billy the Kid & Grohg / Slatkin, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
March 8, 2019
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      COPLAND, AARON
    • ORCHESTRA / ENSEMBLE
      Detroit Symphony
    • PERFORMER
      Slatkin
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      March 08, 2019
    • UPC
      636943986226
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8559862
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. Introduction and Cortège - Entrance of Grohg

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    2. Dance of the Adolescent

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    3. Dance of the Opium-Eater (Visions of Jazz)

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    4. Dance of the Street-Walker

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    5. Grohg Imagines the Dead Are Mocking Him

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    6. Illumination and Disappearance of Grohg

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    7. Introduction: The Open Prairie

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    8. Street in a Frontier Town

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    9. Mexican Dance and Finale

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    10. Prairie Night (Card Game at Night) - Billy Cheats Garrett at Cards - They Quarrel

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    11. Gun Battle - Billy is Captured by Garrett, Turned Sheriff

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    12. Celebration

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    13. Billy in Prison - Murder of the Prison Guard and Escape

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    14. Billy in the Desert: Waltz

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    15. Billy's Death

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    16. Billy's Funeral: Mourning Mexicans

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin

    17. The Open Prairie Again

      Composer: Aaron Copland

      Ensemble: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

      Conductor: Leonard Slatkin



Leonard Slatkin’s Copland is always first rate, and this release is no exception. He already recorded the complete Billy the Kid in St. Louis for EMI, but that disc could be anywhere right now, except readily available, and so if you want the entire work this performance is just the ticket. I actually prefer the full-length ballet to the suite. You get about ten minutes more music, all of it worth hearing, and the result is a work that has a more compelling range of narrative and less of that picture postcard Americana feel that just might be starting to sound a tad old. It only remains to be said that throughout the disc the Detroit Symphony plays terrifically.

Grohg is early Copland, but much of it got reused in the Dance Symphony. Inspired by the silent film Nosferatu, the music is aptly dark and spooky, with a decadent sheen similar to what we find in, say, Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin. That said, you can plainly hear the composer to come in such numbers as the Dance of the Street-Walker, with its angular sonorities and burlesque atmosphere. As with Billy, Slatkin proves a completely convincing guide to a remarkably assured piece of writing. The coupling of these two works also makes for a more interesting release than usual, and justifies purchase even if you already own a Billy the Kid or three. First rate sonics too.

– ClassicsToday (David Hurwitz)