Search - Andre Previn, Yo-Yo Ma, Jeff B. Francis :: Previn: From Ordinary Things: Cello Sonata, Four Songs, Two Remembrances, Vocalise

A very fine rendering of some equally fine music.

Sara Lindberg | Cleveland, Ohio | 09/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mr. Previn has created some extraordinary pieces here. The Cello Sonata is in turns haunting and uplifting. The Four Songs are quite simply divine. Previn's sensitive settings of Morrison's wonderful texts are sublime. McNair, Ma and Previn make a stunning collaborative team! The Vocalise is just gorgeous and performed beautifully. What a treasure."

From nothing ordinary

Gerard Dionne | 10/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is such a special recording. Even though it's almost ten years old now, it continues to amaze. Andre has matured into a master composer. He seems to habitate a 20 or 30-year slow explosion of musical ideas; so much so that he can discard whole compositions and restart from scratch with seeming impunity. See the liner notes in which he describes his experience with the Vocalise. A vocalise by definition "tells its story" without verbage, and the present example is textbook. A simple sonata form ABA structure, the harmonies nevertheless devolve into dark, slightly threatening crunches of sound behind Sylvia McNair, to then emerge back into the light. Andre, in a subsequent recording with Barbara Bonney, treats the music to a full orchestration. Don't ask me which I prefer - it would be an invidious choice.



The song settings for some of Toni Morrison's poems in Four Songs are the masterpieces of the album. Many think Ms. Morrison is the greatest living writer in the English language today. The partnership with Andre's music has to be one of the happiest synergies ever heard. Stones, and especially Mercy, are perfect marriages of words and music. Similarly, Sylvia captures the attitude of Stones, the reassurance of Shelter, and the catharsis of Mercy (Mercy like a shore) with seemingly effortless grace and power.



Finally Yo Yo Ma!!!!!!!!!! I think he's at his very best in these intimate, collaborative settings. The Sonata for Cello and Piano has an organic feel, an aura and intensity of improvisation. You know you will never hear it quite this way again."

Maybe it is me, but this CD is very "modern", abstract, musi

Norman Strojny | western desert of Utah | 04/18/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe it is me. "Andre Previn: From ordinary things" is a CD with very "modern", very abstract, music.

I did not like it at all.

However, I do note that the other reviewers seem to like it very much.

I guess this type of music is an acquired taste. I think my 3-star rating is bending over backward to be fair.

May I suggest trying to find it in a library or some equivalent and listening to the whole thing, before buying it for a relatively high price? In my opinion, the samples available for download from the Amazon ad do not give a real sense of the music.

I guess I will contribute my copy to the local library."