John Corigliano - The Red Violin - Music from the Motion Picture '1998

Tracks list

Normally we think of a musical instrument as a passive object in the service of
a performing artist. But what if that instrument is itself a work of art,
containing the secrets of the various owners through whose hands it has passed
over the centuries? Thats the premise behind this intriguing film by François
Girard (director of 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould). It traces the story of a
legendary violin (thought to be possessed by an immortal soul) from its birth in
17th-century Italy through Mozarts Vienna, Victorian England, and revolutionary
China to its present-day fate on the auction block. The score, in suggesting the
violins unique aura, therefore carries much of the burden of the story, and it
brings together some of the most outstanding talents in contemporary classical
music. Composer John Coriglianos richly eclectic and poetic score--encompassing
classical elegance, gypsy passion, and angst-ridden harmonies--etches vivid
portraits of the films various epochs but also gives an overarching sense of
unity to the episodic character of the script. Its essentially a set of
remarkably imaginative variations for violin and orchestra on a theme of
haunting pathos and is a substantial work of music in its own right. As the
soloist, Joshua Bell saturates the eponymous instrument with personality. His
combination of virtuoso bravura and soulful phrasing almost seems to lead the
violin to the brink of human speech. Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen shapes the
exchange between orchestra and violin into tautly dramatic dialogue. The disc
also includes a powerful related work on the theme used in the score, the
Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra, which confirms Coriglianos status as one of
todays leading and most personally communicative American composers. --Thomas
May

Tracklist:
01 - Annas Theme (Instrumental)
02 - I. Cremona, Main Title (Instrumental)
03 - I. Cremona, Death of Anna (Instrumental)
04 - I. Cremona, Birth of the Red Violin (Instrumental)
05 - I. Cremona, The Red Violin (Instrumental)
06 - II. Vienna, The Monastery (Instrumental)
07 - II. Vienna, Kaspars Audition - Journey to Vienna (Instrumental)
08 - II. Vienna, Etudes - Death of Kaspar (Instrumental)
09 - III. Oxford, The Gypsies - Journey Across Europe (Instrumental)
10 - III. Oxford, Popes Gypsy Cadenza (Instrumental)
11 - III. Oxford, Coitus Musicalis - Victorias Departure (Instrumental)
12 - III. Oxford, Popes Concert (Instrumental)
13 - III. Oxford, Popes Betrayal (Instrumental)
14 - IV. Shanghai, Journey to China (Instrumental)
15 - Peoples Revolution; Death Of Chou Yuan (Vocal)
16 - V. Montréal, Morritz Discovers the Red Violin (Instrumental)
17 - V. Montréal, Morritzs Theme (Instrumental)
18 - V. Montréal, The Theft (Instrumental)
19 - End Titles (Vocal)
20 - The Red Violin - Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra (Instrumental)

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