Hovhaness - Spirit of Trees, Harp Sonata & Concerto, The Garden of Adonis

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If ever there were a recording that should be played in small doses, it's this one! Alan Hovhaness' serene, metaphysical, meditative music can send you into a near trance-state or, depending on the work, into a rage. Working with the principles of oriental art and mysticism, Hovhaness creates musical cells of exquisite beauty and then, coming from that same paradigm, repeats them seemingly endlessly. To some western ears, particularly mine, this can become tiresome unless I'm sitting in the lotus position. So taking these pieces one at a time, I have to say that the Spirit of the Trees, a sonata for harp and guitar, begins in an atmosphere of haunting beauty. It does go on a bit long, but that's okay, as long you stop the CD there. Otherwise, it's all going to start sounding the same pretty quickly. The remaining works are shorter and hold your attention more easily, especially the fascinating Upon Enchanted Ground for Flute, Cello, Giant Tam-Tam, and Harp. Talk about fun! Hovhaness is a wonderful composer for percussion, especially exotic percussion. But, this is a harp disc, and I'm pleased to report that Yolanda Kondonassis is completely in command of the style of these works, effectively conveying various moods through use of color and often subtle articulation techniques. Telarc's magical recording places you in the same space as the performers. This is a fine recording, really. Just remember, unless you're into all-day chanting at an Ashram, put plenty of space between the selections. Victor Carr

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Program:
Spirit of Trees
Concerto for Harp & String Orchestra
Upon Enchanted Ground
The Garden of Adonis
Sonata for Harp

Performers:
Yolanda Kondonassis (harp)
David Leisner (guitar)
Frank Hendricks, Eugenia Zukerman (flutes)
Herwig Coryn (cello)

Orchestra: I Fiamminghi
Conductor: Rudolf Werthen