Sentieri Selvaggi,
made up of some of the brightest young Italian musicians to emerge
around the turn of the millennium, has devoted itself to a wide range of
contemporary music, ranging stylistically from Glass to Stockhausen.
The two eight-minute pieces recorded here are taken from the
full-length 1999 album Musica Coelestis, which included 12 pieces. The
outstanding sound is clean and the instruments are vividly
differentiated. The performance of the Glass is a reminder of the variety of interpretations that can be brought to minimalist repertoire. Glass
and his ensemble perform Façades with rhythmic strictness, but with
linear expressiveness; in fact, it comes across as one of the composer's
more overtly emotional pieces. Sentieri Selvaggi
performs it with absolute strictness with both rhythmic and dynamic
contours. This makes for a square-ish performance, but it works on its
own terms. It also tends to be somewhat bass-heavy, which has the
advantage of making Glass' subtle changes in the lower string parts clearly audible. Bryars'
Sub Rosa, for an unusually quirky ensemble of timbrally disparate
instruments, is something of a remix for live performers of
"Throughout," a song from Bill Frisell's 1984 album, In Line. Sentieri Selvaggi's recording is superior to Bryars'
own murky version largely because of the splendidly clear sound quality
that allows the strangeness of the ensemble to be savored and wondered
at. It's a short CD, but one that should interest fans of Bryars and Glass. (Stephen Eddins)Sentieri Selvaggi,
made up of some of the brightest young Italian musicians to emerge
around the turn of the millennium, has devoted itself to a wide range of
contemporary music, ranging stylistically from Glass to Stockhausen.
The two eight-minute pieces recorded here are taken from the
full-length 1999 album Musica Coelestis, which included 12 pieces. The
outstanding sound is clean and the instruments are vividly
differentiated. The performance of the Glass is a reminder of the variety of interpretations that can be brought to minimalist repertoire. Glass
and his ensemble perform Façades with rhythmic strictness, but with
linear expressiveness; in fact, it comes across as one of the composer's
more overtly emotional pieces. Sentieri Selvaggi
performs it with absolute strictness with both rhythmic and dynamic
contours. This makes for a square-ish performance, but it works on its
own terms. It also tends to be somewhat bass-heavy, which has the
advantage of making Glass' subtle changes in the lower string parts clearly audible. Bryars'
Sub Rosa, for an unusually quirky ensemble of timbrally disparate
instruments, is something of a remix for live performers of
"Throughout," a song from Bill Frisell's 1984 album, In Line. Sentieri Selvaggi's recording is superior to Bryars'
own murky version largely because of the splendidly clear sound quality
that allows the strangeness of the ensemble to be savored and wondered
at. It's a short CD, but one that should interest fans of Bryars and Glass. (Stephen Eddins)
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