Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Rorem: Double Concerto, After Reading Shakespeare
Naxos

Rorem: Double Concerto, After Reading Shakespeare

$19.99

Details

Composer
ROREM
Artist
Stern, Leppard, Indianapolis So, Robinson, Laredo
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Dec 12, 2006
Catalog #
8559316
UPC
636943931622

About

Ned Rorem describes this performance of his Double Concerto for Violin and Cello as "perfect", so it would be presumptuous to challenge his opinion of it technically. Certainly the playing of Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson is excellent, as is that of the IRIS Orchestra under Michael Stern. Like some of Rorem's other concertante works, this takes the form of a series of short movements, eight in all, save that one of them (Conversation at Midnight) isn't so short, lasting for nearly a quarter of an hour, or about half the concerto's total time. The two soloists offer admirably focused playing here, with a real feeling of dialog both between themselves and with the orchestra. The scoring is Spartan--strings, eight woodwinds, and four brass--but there's no lack of color or incident. In short, this is a lovely addition to the string concerto repertoire, and a terrific piece for chamber orchestras to consider programming.

What keeps this disc from getting the highest rating is an admittedly personal issue, one that you may not share. After Reading Shakespeare, a suite for solo cello, was also written for Sharon Robinson, and it is very sympathetically performed (listen, for example, to how vividly she characterizes "Titania and Oberon"). Nevertheless, the pairing of an orchestral piece with this most chamber-like of chamber compositions strikes me as unconvincing, coming as it does after the concerto. In his notes Rorem emphasizes the fact that the movement titles of this piece should not be taken literally, the music having preceded some of them. If so, then why use them at all? And why suggest as opening and closing movements such weighty subjects as "Lear" and "Othello and Iago"? They really beg the question of whether or not Rorem's inspiration is up to Shakespeare's, and we don't want to go there, do we? There are times when composers might do better to resist the temptation to offer verbal clues, even if they are perfectly valid ones. Still and all, the music and performances themselves are self-recommending to the composer's many admirers, and on that basis I can recommend this fine new release without further qualification.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 I. Morning 01:28
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Morning
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  2. 2 II. Adam and Eve 05:30
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Adam and Eve
    Duration
    05:30
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  3. 3 III. Mazurka 03:16
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Mazurka
    Duration
    03:16
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  4. 4 IV. Staying on Alone 01:54
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Staying on Alone
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  5. 5 V. Their Accord 02:22
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Their Accord
    Duration
    02:22
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  6. 6 VI. Looking 02:06
    Track
    6
    Title
    VI. Looking
    Duration
    02:06
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  7. 7 VII. Conversation at Midnight 14:27
    Track
    7
    Title
    VII. Conversation at Midnight
    Duration
    14:27
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  8. 8 VIII. Flight 01:17
    Track
    8
    Title
    VIII. Flight
    Duration
    01:17
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson
    Ensemble
    IRIS Orchestra
    Conductor
    Michael Stern
  9. 9 I. Lear 04:41
    Track
    9
    Title
    I. Lear
    Duration
    04:41
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  10. 10 II. Katharine 01:16
    Track
    10
    Title
    II. Katharine
    Duration
    01:16
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  11. 11 III. Lear 03:28
    Track
    11
    Title
    III. Lear
    Duration
    03:28
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  12. 12 IV. Titania and Oberon 02:03
    Track
    12
    Title
    IV. Titania and Oberon
    Duration
    02:03
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  13. 13 V. Caliban 01:41
    Track
    13
    Title
    V. Caliban
    Duration
    01:41
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  14. 14 VI. Portia 01:23
    Track
    14
    Title
    VI. Portia
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  15. 15 VII. Why hear'st thou music sadly? 00:49
    Track
    15
    Title
    VII. Why hear'st thou music sadly?
    Duration
    00:49
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  16. 16 VIII. Remembrance of things past 02:33
    Track
    16
    Title
    VIII. Remembrance of things past
    Duration
    02:33
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson
  17. 17 IX. Iago and Othello 04:00
    Track
    17
    Title
    IX. Iago and Othello
    Duration
    04:00
    Composer
    Ned Rorem
    Performer
    Sharon Robinson