Copland: The Populist:
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Composer: Aaron CoplandConductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2000-05-16
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
- Billy The Kid
- Appalachian Spring
- Rodeo: Buckaroo Holiday
- Rodeo: Corral Nocturne
- Rodeo: Saturday Night Waltz
- Rodeo: Hoe Down
Free Music Notes for Copland: The Populist:
Free Music Review: A larger-than-life treatment of Copland's cultural icons
Hit: 4 Stars
Before lavishing too much praise upon these recordings, I should say that I'm one of the few who actually prefers the original pared-down (or 'pit') orchestration for Appalachian Spring. Copland was an exceedingly efficient and deliberate composer (always looking for 'the note that costs,' as his teacher Nadia Boulanger directed) and there's great beauty in Copland's ability to make such fabulous, expansive music with limited voices and resources. It's also worth having a quick read through the plot lines to these three ballets (as it's easy to forget, now, that that was their original purpose) to really get a feel for what Copland and his collaborators were going for. That said, these pieces that sounded lowbrow and reprehensibly populist to many of Copland's contemporaries have enjoyed ever-expanding fame and high regard, to the extent that they have 'grown,' in a sense, from small ballets into cultural icons--the 'music of America'--and it is this image, I think, that Tilson Thomas is working with. Expansive in every sense of the word, these are big, loud, exciting performances. Appalachian Spring emotes like the best of movie scores and 'Hoe Down' here is blazingly fast compared to others--it's clear that Tilson Thomas and the SFO were enjoying themselves. Copland might well have been pleased--it appears that he never put much stock in the idea of a 'definitive' performance, and loved a good time as much as the next guy. If you're looking for 'strict' authenticity, there's always Copland conducting Copland. But for an emotionally charged and invested (and very well played and recorded) Copland album--the type you might play in the car in the windows down--Tilson Thomas has just the ticket.
Copland: The Populist: Poster
The year 2000 marks the centenary for Aaron Copland, and what better conductor to bring his best-loved Americana compositions into the next millennium than Michael Tilson Thomas? On his follow-up to 1996's Copland: The Modernist disc, the forward-thinking conductor leads the San Francisco Symphony through Billy the Kid, Appalachian Spring, and Rodeo--three well-worn compositions steeped in Americana and virtually owned by Leonard Bernstein on a now legendary single disc. But Tilson Thomas doesn't try to compete with Bernstein, instead giving these works an inventive, impressionistic reading all his own. He adds a noirish color to the introduction of Billy the Kid, a perfect contrast to the work's folksier elements. On the opening of Appalachian Spring, Tilson Thomas's unhurried timings create a sense of suspense (not bad for a work we've all heard dozens of times!). And, thanks to great recording techniques by RCA Victor, Rodeo is a rollicking good time that you'll want to crank up on the stereo. Sure, we've all heard these pieces before, but Tilson Thomas makes them sound fresh again. Great stuff. --Jason VerlindeClassical Music CDs
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