Origin ED release Date: May, 6th, 2005 Composer: Lukas Foss Conductor: Carl St. Clair, Yakov Kasman Performer: Jon Nakamatsu, Lukas Foss, et al. Ensemble: Pacific Symphony Orchestra, Lukas Foss Label: Harmonia Mundi 907243 Release Date: April 10, 2001 On this CD: 1. Piano Concerto No. 1 2. Piano Concerto No. 2 3. Elegy for Anne Frank, for orchestra, piano solo & narrator 4. Elegy for Anne Frank, for orchestra, piano solo & narrator Without narration Editorial Reviews: Both Foss Piano Concertos were written early in his career, the First under the influence of Hindemith, the Second influenced by Stravinsky. Both pieces are energetic, virtuosic romps, entertaining on a superficial level, but both seem rather synthetic, the product of more thought than feeling. Nakamatsu, a superb musician, plays the First Concerto with perhaps too much artistry, while Kasman is as brash as the Second Concerto he plays. There is more genuine feeling in the six-minute Elegy than in the hour of Piano Concertos. The narration, taken from Anne Frank's Diary and read by the composer's daughter, is touching, but it doesn't connect firmly with the music, so the version without narration seems more of an artistic success. Throughout the disc, the playing of the orchestra (from Orange County, California) is spectacular and the sound quality quite vivid. It's an impressive production (and a very long CD at 77:59), but the overall artistic result is a bit disappointing, except, perhaps, for listeners who get a kick out of hearing fingers move very fast over a keyboard. --Leslie Gerber
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