Symphony Hall

John Adams - Doctor Atomic Symphony - Guide to Strange Sites (SLSO - Robertson)
[Nonesuch 468220-2]
EAC 099pb4 Rip | FLAC+CUE, LOGs | 1 CD | 47:03 min
218 MB | 300 dpi PDF Complete Scans
Genre: 20th Century - Contemporary | Label: Nonesuch

A great vote of thanks is due Nonesuch for making these performances available. This represents the SLSO’s first appearance on this label since the short-lived Saint Louis Symphony Commissions series in the mid 1980s. The engineering of this disc is first-rate, catching the warm ambience of Powell Symphony Hall along with plenty of detail. The orchestra surmounts the considerable technical challenges of the works with élan, matching the excellent Netherlands Philharmonic in the DVD recording of the opera for expressiveness and surpassing them in precision. The only complaint is the short playing time. That criticism aside, this release is warmly recommended.

When this recording first appeared in 1968 it was something of a ground-breaker. It was made during the years (1965-1969) that Seiji Ozawa was Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The booklet note claims that this was the first recording of the work made in the Western hemisphere.

Leonard Slatkin conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for this recording of Bizet's Carmen Suites Nos. 1 & 2 and a Suite from Grieg's Peer Gynt. Originally recorded by the audiophile label Telarc in 1979 this is an exceptional sounding release highlighting the well-known pieces of music written by George Bizet and Edvard Grieg.