Recording Review
Edward MacDowell
Suite No.1, Op.42; Suite No.2, Op.48 "Indian"; Hamlet and Ophelia, Op.22
Ulster Orchestra
Takuo Yuasa conductor
Naxos 8.559075
Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2001
by Richard Ginell
Ever since the unofficial edict that American music ought to sound American, Edward MacDowell has been out of fashion, scorned as too Germanic, too derivative. Yet, Naxos' enterprising American Classics Series cares not what fashion dictates - and at Naxos' super-bargain price, these discs make great entryway into MacDowell's earnestly appealing orchestral music...One can live very nicely with these well played, plushly recorded performances.
American Record Guide, May/June 2001
by Haller
Given Yuasa's treatment of the two suites and the low Naxos price, if you already know MacDowell's Piano Concertos and want to hear more, this is the one to get.
The Sensible Sound, June/July 2001
The Naxos sound may be commended for its depth of field, its excellent dynamics, and its natural, concert-hall ambiance.
Classical.Net, June 2001
by Robert Cummings
How do a Japanese conductor and an Irish orchestra cope with this American music? The answer is: quite well. The playing is secure and the interpretations are level-headed...At any rate, this recording eclipses the ones that were current in the 1950s, so don't hesitate if you are curious about MacDowell.
Toronto Star, June 23rd, 2001
by William Littler
There was a time when short piano pieces such as To A Wild Rose virtually guaranteed Edward MacDowell (1860 - 1908) welcome in parlours of North America; indeed, because of his manifold talents he was almost the Leonard Bernstein of his day. But like that other American Romantic, John Alden Carpenter, MacDowell has suffered neglect in the wake of changing musical fashion. Congratulations to Naxos for including both men in its admirable American Classics series and for offering the Ulster Orchestra of Belfast and its principal guest conductor Takuo Yuasa the opportunity to record three of MacDowell's most attractive orchestral scores. Hamlet and Ophelia was MacDowell's earliest tone poem. It joins the Orchestral Suites Nos. 1 & 2 in demonstrating that MacDowell was capable of writing considerably more than piano miniatures.
New York Times, July 15, 2001
by Joseph Horowitz
Old Sounds From the New World
The composer most represented on American Classics is the American most acclaimed a century ago, Edward MacDowell. The late James Barbagallo contributes four volumes of solo piano music; the tenor Steven Tharp and Mr. Barbagallo perform the complete songs; Stephen Prutsman offers both piano concertos, with Arthur Fagen and the National Orchestra of Ireland; and Takuo Yuasa conducts the Ulster Orchestra in the two orchestral suites. ...Mr. Yuasa's empathetic rendition of the Dirge from the once popular 'Indian' Suite (1892) - music MacDowell considered his most affecting - makes a stronger case than any other performance I've encountered.
ClassicToday.com, May 23, 2001
by David Hurwitz
I'll say one thing: Naxos gives great notes. Reacting against Dvorak's suggestion that American composers look to Negro Spirituals and other ethnic music for inspiration, Edward MacDowell retorted: 'Purely national music has no place in art. What Negro melodies have to do with Americanism still remains a mystery to me. Why cover a beautiful thought with the badge of slavery rather than with the stern but at least manly and free rudeness of the North American Indian...? What we must arrive at is the youthful optimistic vitality and the undaunted tenacity of spirit that characterizes the American Man.'
So speaks the true voice of the oppressor. Really, a nicer guy never got run over by a horse-drawn cab. Still, this little extract teaches us two useful lessons. First, what a composer says about music in general doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what he actually writes. After all, youthful optimistic vitality' and 'undaunted tenacity of spirit' are about the last qualities that come to mind when listening to the pieces on this disc-more like faux Mendelssohn with a Liszt spritzer. Second, the fact that a composer may not be particularly agreeable, or even especially intelligent, doesn't detract from the purely musical value of his output (if any, of course).
MacDowell's two suites for orchestra have waited a long time to appear on CD, and the fact that they may not be all that audacious or exciting does not detract from their considerable charm, attractive fund of melody, and apt scoring. Takuo Yuasa and the Ulster Orchestra lavish genuine care on these pieces, playing with real dedication and more than enough sympathy to justify the composer's pride in the Indian Suite's 'Dirge' as one of his finest achievements. The Second Suite is, in fact, a very substantial work that does not deserve its obscurity. And yet we have to wonder just what a composer whose music was approvingly described in his own lifetime as 'agreeably free of the fevers of sex' could make of Hamlet & Ophelia; and whatever the music's qualities, let us just say that it fully lives up (if that's the word) to MacDowell's chaste reputation. As noted, Naxos' documentation is exceptional, and the sound fine.