Mason Bates
Philharmonia Fantastique – The Making of the Orchestra
Chicago Symphony/Edwin Outwater
Sony Classical G010004751141I
This short-ish concerto for orchestra introduces the woodwind, string, brass and percussion families with dashes of jazz and techno. It’s a noble enterprise, with deeper ideals about human diversity and unity. Bates is, as ever, an engaging musical storyteller. (MB) ★★★
Brahms • Schumann
Ein deutsches Requiem etc
Jan Michiels (piano) et al
Evil Penguin EPRC0046
Brahms’s Requiem is one of the more docile of its type, so interweaving its movements with Schumann’s Scenes from works rather well as a concept, creating a benign musical narrative between the two ends of life’s journey. (JP) ★★★★
