Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Oregon Symphony to release new recording - Spirit of the American Range - featuring works by Copland, Piston, and Antheil

From the orchestra's press release:


The Oregon Symphony today announced that its upcoming CD—the third under the baton of Music Director Carlos Kalmar—is set to be pre-released locally on the Pentatone label on January 8.

This latest CD, entitled Spirit of the American Range, follows Music for a Time of War, a recording of the program performed at the Symphony’s 2011 Carnegie Hall debut which hit the classical billboard charts and received numerous critical accolades including two Grammy Award nominations, and This England, released in 2012. Like its predecessors, Spirit of the American Range was recorded in hybrid multichannel Super Audio CD format.

The CD features works by Aaron Copland (Symphony No. 3), Walter Piston (Suite from The Incredible Flutist) and George Antheil (A Jazz Symphony). These works were recorded live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in April 2013 and January 2014 by Soundmirror recording engineers John Newton and Blanton Alspaugh, both of whom engineered the two previous CDs.

Music Director Carlos Kalmar said: “It is a great pleasure to share these important American works for which I have the greatest fondness and appreciation. They aren’t widely performed and certainly deserve to be enjoyed by a wider public.”

Job Maarse, Pentatone’s Artistic Director, commented on the CD, saying “From day one the co-operation between Pentatone and the Oregon Symphony and its Music Director Carlos Kalmar has been something magical. The quality of the orchestra and the program ideas of Carlos Kalmar attracted the attention of a large group of music lovers in and outside the U.S. During a pleasant meeting at the Chicago airport almost two years ago the idea for this new album was discussed. I believe all at the table liked it and now everybody can hear how these three pieces, although by composers with different styles, fit perfectly in one program. And of course the Copland symphony is one of the best pieces ever written by an American composer.”

Spirit of the American Range will receive its first radio broadcast on Portland’s own 24/7 classical music station, All Classical 89.9 FM (streaming internationally at allclassical.org), at 7 pm on January 8.

The recording was made possible in part by the James DePreist Fund for Broadcast and Recording.

Following its local release, Spirit of the American Range will be available for purchase only at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 SW Washington) or at the Pentatone website (pentatonemusic.com) until its official international release in February 2015, when it will become available at most music outlets.

SPIRIT OF THE AMERICAN RANGE
  • Copland: Symphony No. 3 
  • Piston: Suite from The Incredible Flutist 
  • Antheil: A Jazz Symphony

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