PHILIP GLASS: Itaipu; Three Songs – Los Angles Master Chorale/ Grant Gershon, conductor/ Crouch End Festival Chorus/ David Temple, conductor/ National Sinfonia – Orange Mountain Music 0063, 46:22 ****[Distrib. by Harmonia mundi]:
Itaipu, Glass’s tribute to the building of a massive hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River that is located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, is a huge cantata that speaks of the creation of the world and how the first people came to the place, using a Guarani text. The name "Itaipu" was taken from an isle that existed near the site, which opened in 1984. In the Guarani Itaipu means "the sound of a stone". The year 1993 saw the first recording following the world premiere in Atlanta Georgia, by that city’s symphony orchestra and noted chorus, anonymously commissioned and then performed under the direction of Robert Shaw.
The Shaw recording is still impressive, having been re-released by Sony Classical and now available for a pittance, around eight bucks. With it you also get his piece The Canyon, at 16 minutes a not insignificant addition. The ASO chorus is gigantic, surely the point of Itaipu in celebration of what the American Society of Civil Engineers called one of the seven modern Wonders of the World. It still stands as a superb recording (and I still remember the cult-like fanaticism of the Glass followers back then, flocking to the concert with unmitigated revelry) that has also stood the test of time.
But hearing this one, the only other recording of the work (though it is from a previously released album in 2002 coupled with Esa-pekka Salonen’s Two Songs to Poems of Ann Jaderlund) show a more vibrant side to the work, more vividly recorded (I don’t think Sony knew how to conquer the aural nightmares of Atlanta’s Symphony Hall), and believe or not, better sung. Well, that’s not entirely fair to the ASO because many years went by and more and more people became familiar and more comfortable with the Glass idiom. But this one is much more intense and energetic while the ASO version is classically stylized. Both are excellent, don’t get me wrong—but this one is a truer image of the work in my opinion.
The couplings could make a difference along with the price. I mentioned the cheapie amount the Sony will cost you along with the significant addition. This one is a total of only 46 minutes—surely more could have been added—with the Three Songs that are ten minutes total. But these songs are something special—they show a lyrical side to Glass that you don’t often hear outside of picking up snippets of melody from his ever-repeated ostinati. A few other pieces, like the Violin Concerto, also show this side, but not as demonstratively as here. I loved them, and Glass and I have a real love-hate relationship. The orchestra by the way is made of studio musicians from the LA area.
Recommended as something to listen to if you don’t generally like Glass, and all others will want this for the best Itaipu recording available.
— Steven Ritter
