Glass/Schoenberg

I am enchanted by this release. I am listening to it now for the third time, & it keeps getting better. These are the finest string players in the world. I purchased the entire release. I am a great fan of Mr Glass' music, I am also a fan of arranger/conductor/player Michael Riesman, the most under-appreciated classical artist working today. Mr Riesman arranged this entire release, so, I have all of it. Nothing against Schoenberg, but he does not stir me the way Glass does. He certainly fails in comparison to Glass suburb Symphony No. 3. This is just a wonderful, majestic piece of music. What I don't understand is 'boolez' review. While this person constantly trashes Glass, Glass music is played all over the world to fantastic acclaim, standing ovations & record sales. One can't help but wonder how this overwhelming reaction is 'fluff'. boolez-go listen to something else. suxduzboolaze

Boolez took the bait. He/She never ceases to find the time during working hours to continue to write his dumb reviews based off listening to the 30 second samples. Judging on how "helpful" his reviews are generally considered it's just a matter of time till he's banned. But as a matter of fact his review is helpful here as it illustrates part of why this recording was made. The huge cultural and ideological divide which took place in the 20th C.because of people like him/her is finally being put to bed. Despite Boolez's expectations, I can almost guarantee that Philip Glass' music has sold more than Schoenberg's ten times over and you'll probably see here that more people will be downloading the single movements of the Glass piece. Of course what sells hardly matters. But also foolish statements that pairing Glass with "real" music, don't matter either and that's precisely the point. None of the semantics and bickering matter at this point in history but Boolez, Boulez, Wuorinen, Babbit, Carter and co. just haven't yet got the memo. This is a full album of nothing but good music. It's an excellent performance and is recommended.

Hot off the heels of it's itunes live soho release, the Philip Glass Chamber Players (a pretentious name if ever) release a studio recording of a real composer with that of Glass's Sextet. In a way this album serves as an excellent example on how to show the difference between real art music and the fluff that Glass passes off on us as music. It's a matter of night and day and no doubt you'll be playing the Schoenberg more often then the Glass. It's a teachable moment to show kids the decline that has taken place in concert music. Schoenberg represents the best we have in music....and now we've come to accepting stale arpeggio's as music. Glass's record lable does a decent job recording it and the Chamber Players make it though the Schoenberg more or less. At least the coughing from you-know-who doesn't show up in this canned version of he Sextet. -Bz