Ozawa / Shinyukai Choir / Suga - Symphony 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Norman / Marton / Maazel - Symphony 2 [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/22/2010

Twenty-five years ago a Louisville band called Rodan released the only record they'd make in their two year tenure. Rusty would become one of those records that launched a thousand very f*king good bands in the 90's, an historical moment in real need of poets and punks and beautiful freaks who could render some sense and beauty out of the cultural grey water. So here we are, and we still need a match and something that burns furious and long in the dark, and so, BAM! Surprise newly discovered Rodan tapes have been pulled out of a secret time vault in the floor of the Hat Factory in Baltimore, the studio where Rodan, recorded early versions of the songs that would comprise Rusty. These fluid, energetic prototypes ring out like raw power emerging from a cocoon in the ground, like the twenty-five year brood of a very rare, winged insect shaking off the soil and-finally, blessedly, flying right into your ear. -Joe Manning

Two symphonies by Pawel Lukaszewski (b. 1968) are released for the first time on a DUX record tag album. These compositions are a continuation of the interests of Pawel Lukaszewski (b. 1968), composer, conductor and teacher, in religious music, of his passion deepened by the study of apocryphal literature and profound reflection on the nature of transcendence. In the Symphony No. 3 'Symphony of Angels' from 2010 presented on the album, we will hear echoes referring to the tradition of early religious music, with it's rich choral texture and a solo soprano part in Latin, enriched with the spectrum of the orchestra, exploring subtle, pastel tone color. The Book of Enoch, the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, inspired the first movement of the composition, while the second is directly related to the reflection on angels, mysterious God's messengers, present in many world religions. The Symphony No. 4 'Song of Eternity' from 2020 refers to the concept of time understood from the point of view of transcendence. The three movements of the composition depict different dimensions of time - chronos, with it's linear course, accompanying ordinary human activities, and the sacred dimension - Kairos - revealed, divine time, with it's source in eternity. Kairos occupies the middle, central place in the three-movement structure of the piece, at the same time being it's musical climax. Both pieces are performed by the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra under the baton of Miroslaw Jacek Blaszczyk, while the soprano part was performed by Anna Mikolajczyk-Niewiedzial.