Oracle Archive

MICHAEL TORKE: Concerto for Orchestra; Oracle; Bliss; Iphigenia – Ecstatic

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 1, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

MICHAEL TORKE: Concerto for Orchestra – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orch./Vasily Petrenko; Oracle – Quad City Sym. Orch./Mark Russell Smith; Bliss – U. of Kansas Wind Ens./Paul W. Popiel; Iphigenia – Camerata NY/Richard Owen – Ecstatic ER092261, 63:42 [Distr. by Naxos] (11/13/15) ***: Four fairly large-scale and energetic works from this American original. I have always enjoyed Michael Torke’s music going back to his series of ‘color’ pieces (such as the best known, Ecstatic Orange) from the mid-1980s or so. For the uninitiated, I highly recommend a recording of the whole dance-intended series of these works with David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony. His music is regularly very direct, uncomplicated and upbeat, with a style that draws upon minimalism and jazz but is wholly his own. A lot of composers seem to want to write a Concerto for Orchestra for the implicit chance to showcase each section of the orchestra and in a form with which many are familiar. So, among the many versions of this form out there, Torke’s is a very worthwhile addition. The whole piece revolves around a four-note motive first proclaimed in the opening trumpet fanfare and bounced all over the orchestra in various guises throughout the […]