Philip GLASS (b.1936)
The Concerto Project - Vol. 4
Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra (2010) [32:32]
Tirol Concerto for piano and orchestra (2000) [28:47]
Tim Fain (violin); Wendy Sutter (cello)
Dennis Russell Davies (piano)
Residente Orkest/The Hague Philharmonic/Jurjen Hempel (Double Concerto)
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra/Dennis Russell Davies (Tirol Concerto)
rec. Dr. Anton Philipszaal, The Hague, No date given (Double Concerto); Mozartsaal,
Liederhalle, Stuttgart, 1-2 November 2002 (Tirol Concerto).
ORANGE MOUNTAIN MUSIC OMM0077 [61:19] 
The concerto has become a mainstay in Philip
Glass's oeuvre. There have been some stand-out entries in the series that
began with the 1987 First Violin Concerto, but there have also been some distinctly
cut-and-paste jobs that seem content to replicate many much imitated Glassisms.
I'd say the two that appear in volume four of Orange Mountain Music's Philip
Glass Concerto Project (vol.
I, vol.
II) fit somewhere between these two extremes; both the Double Concerto
for violin and cello and the Tirol Concerto for piano have attractions
and problems.
Written and premièred in 2010, the Double Concerto owes its
existence to a commission from Nederlands Dans Theater for a dance piece.
Its structure is very similar to Glass's recent Violin Concerto No. 2 American
Four Seasons, in that it places episodes for the solo instruments between
movements with orchestra. The first of these accompanied movements closely
recalls the toe-tapping pulse of the Second Violin Concerto, though it's the
duet interludes that prove the most interesting. But it isn't all as successful.
There aren't many of the alluring harmonic sequences that Glass has come up
with in recent works; rather, there's some quite plain instrumental writing
and homogenised orchestration. It's a shame not to report a more engaging
work, as the combination of violin and cello is a perfect fit for Glass's
dark hues and in Tim Fain and Wendy Sutter he has a terrific pair of soloists.
Glass's music has always sounded good on the piano. The solo piano introduction
to the Tirol Concerto (2000) brings a warm remembrance of Opening
from the seminal Glassworks album. It then rushes off on a jolly path
that I'm not quite so sure about, but regular Glass collaborator Dennis Russell
Davies treads a fine line in the piano part between jaunty and weighty and
this adds some depth. The problem, though, is the second of the three movements.
At 16:31, it's almost three times as long as the first or last movements and
Glass's variations on his theme simply aren't interesting enough to sustain
the duration. At half the length, it might have balanced with the rest of
the work. As it stands, it just plods on and on like minimalist muzak. I'm
afraid I'd lost interest before the jovial stomp through the finale.
Andrew Morris
Follow Andrew’s string music blog at http://devilstrillblog.blogspot.com/
Strong performances, but, yet again, mediocre music from Glass.