Search - Taliesin Orchestra, Winston :: Forbidden Forest: Impressions of George Winston

Musical Pointillism

Neil Cotiaux | North Canton, Ohio United States | 12/02/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Like the late 19th century French artists who painstakingly created their postimpressionist works dot by dot, George Winston succeeds admirably here in conjuring a portrait of sheer luminosity.
First-rate keyboard work, sonorous strings, and sometimes minimalist instrumentation richly convey shafts of light striking the forest floor, snowflakes dancing, rustling breeze, portentous clouds, and other natural phenomena. While occasionally formulaic, there are some enchanting melodies, and the overall sensation is thoroughly uplifting.
If you can't take that hike, or need an appropriate companion as you drive through the mountains, this is an excellent - and rejuvenating - CD to have."

It was worth trying.

Coriolanus Scotchmiglo | Inside of Multiple Universes, Existence, NA | 11/27/1999

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Unfortunately, this project wasn't the best idea. I suppose if you have every Winston record, and you want to hear a different-sounding version of the songs, then this might be worth it for you. If you somewhat guiltily listen to Winston, not sure whether it's mindless or special, you might wish to avoid this. The overproduction and synthesized feel of the disc make the work feel less authentic. Starting at the beginning, "Tamarack Pines" is a real failure here, for me. IT's one of my favorite Winston songs, for all of the amazing emotion he gets, from sheer tone. There's none of that here, save for some half-hearted attempts at getting you emotionally interested with string swells. Didn't happen. The piano piece has attack, staccato, you can feel the seasons pass over the tree. There was no staccato here for some reason, and no imagery either. The rest of the album is less of a failure, if only because I wasn't so personally attached to any of the songs, and wasn't constantly comparing them to the originals. Obviously, it's going to have more variety of sound than the Winston solo piano versions. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not."

Its cool how it flows from one note to the next

Caryn Lange | Pendleton, Oregon United States | 01/02/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"i really liked this cd of his my favorite was exerps of moon. this particular song he also did on solo piano on another cd and it wasn't as good as it is with the orchestra. i think you can really capture the feeling of the music better with the orchestra than with out it."