Album

With the demise of its longtime home, the Telarc label, the Cincinnati Symphony has decided to go it alone with its own Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Media label. On Telarc the orchestra was known for splashy audiophile recordings of symphonic favorites, and the graphics here, with American flag and the American Portraits title, might lead you to expect a group of patriotic favorites, perhaps including Copland's Lincoln Portrait. But look more closely: this is an innovative release by the orchestra and outgoing music director Paavo Järvi, featuring contemporary music. The only composer who is anything close to a household name is Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon, represented by a vigorous Fanfare Ritmico. All the music has been previously performed; this represents Järvi's effort to identify music that might stand up to repeat performances. Much of it is programmatic, and perhaps the most pleasing of the bunch in Michigan composer Carter Pann's SLALOM, explicitly designated as "a taste of the thrill of downhill skiing." It opens with the timpani strokes of the Scherzo of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, and, according to the composer, lasts "precisely the amount of time I need to get from Storm Peak (the peak of Mount Werner, Steamboat Springs) to the mountain base." The two works by Cincinnati Symphony-associated composer Charles Coleman are both representational; Deep Woods is inspired and closely connected to a painting by Charles Yoder. Jonathan Bailey Holland's Halcyon Sun is a mood piece commissioned for the opening of Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Only Higdon's piece and Kevin Puts' lightly minimalist Network are more abstract. Will releases like this stimulate the creation of an established repertoire of contemporary American works? There are promising signs here, and Järvi and the CSO are to be commended for realizing that you'll never know until you try.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1
Charles Coleman Composer Streetscape, for orchestra Work Recorded 2001 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
1	Streetscape, for orchestra	20:27			$3.49
Jennifer Higdon Composer Fanfare Ritmico, for orchestra Work Recorded 2005 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
2	Fanfare Ritmico, for orchestra	7:04			$1.49
Carter Pann Composer SLALOM, for orchestra Work Recorded 2003 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
3	SLALOM, for orchestra	9:10			$1.49
Jonathan Holland Composer Halcyon Sun, for orchestra Work Recorded 2004 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
4	Halcyon Sun, for orchestra	17:24			$2.99
Charles Coleman Composer Deep Woods, for orchestra Work Recorded 2007 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
5	Deep Woods, for orchestra	15:33			$2.49
Kevin Puts Composer Network, for orchestra Work Recorded 2005 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Paavo Järvi Conductor
6	Network, for orchestra	6:34			$0.99