8.559777
Listen to an excerpt from
DVOŘÁK AND AMERICA
DVOŘÁK AND AMERICA:
Celebrating Dvořák and His Influence on American Music
Featuring works from DVOŘÁK, HOROWITZ,
BECKERMAN, FISHER, and FARWELL,
including the WORLD PREMIÈRE RECORDING
of Horowitz and Beckerman’s Hiawatha Melodrama
Benjamin Pasternack, piano
PostClassical Ensemble • Angel Gil-Ordóñez
This unusual disc celebrates the mutually beneficial cultural influences that thrived between Antonin Dvořák, who taught for several years in New York, and American musical and cultural life. The focus is the Hiawatha Melodrama, constructed in 1994 by contemporary composers which utilises some of the Czech composer’s music – primarily the New World Symphony which Dvořák once said was partly inspired by Longfellow’s The Song of Hiawatha. This is its first-ever recording. Also included is music by Arthur Farwell, who was influenced by Dvořák, and was a proponent of Native American music, alongside pieces by Arthur Foote and other pioneering American composers. This disc thus celebrates the cross-current of influences between the Czech composer and American music and culture.
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Angel Gil-Ordóñez
The former Associate Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Spain, PostClassical Ensemble Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez has conducted symphonic music, opera and ballet throughout Europe, the United States and Latin America. He has appeared with the American Composers Orchestra, Opera Colorado, the Pacific Symphony, the Hartford Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the National Gallery Orchestra in Washington, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Solistes de Berne. In 2006, the king of Spain awarded Angel Gil-Ordóñez the country’s highest civilian decoration, the Royal Order of Queen Isabella, for his work performing and teaching Spanish music in its cultural context. Gil-Ordóñez is Principal Guest Conductor of New York’s Perspectives Ensemble, and Music Director of the Georgetown University Orchestra in DC.
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8.559297
"With exemplary playing, singing and an acoustic to match this is plainly indispensable."
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8.559358
"bright, fresh, supple voices that head straight for the essence of the music"
- American Record Guide
8.559299
"this really is very good singing and playing of works we rarely hear these days—a welcome and highly recommended collection!"
- ClassicsToday.com
