Barber: Concerto per piano; 3 Essays (2011)

The booklet for this Italian release spends way too much ink apologizing for the fact that Samuel Barber was not Cowell or Cage, but fortunately his music can speak for itself and has consistently attracted European performers. The grouping of the three Essays for Orchestra is an attractive feature here; the pieces are linked by the fact of being accessible, tuneful orchestral works under 15 minutes long, but within the same basic framework they differ in delightful ways. This is what annotator Alfonso Alberti (whose notes ... Read More

The booklet for this Italian release spends way too much ink apologizing for the fact that Samuel Barber was not Cowell or Cage, but fortunately his music can speak for itself and has consistently attracted European performers. The grouping of the three Essays for Orchestra is an attractive feature here; the pieces are linked by the fact of being accessible, tuneful orchestral works under 15 minutes long, but within the same basic framework they differ in delightful ways. This is what annotator Alfonso Alberti (whose notes are given in Italian, inadequate English, and French) misses: Barber was, in the broadest sense, a conservative, but his music was never derivative, and he drew on and combined a wide variety of 20th century musical traditions. The First Essay for orchestra, from 1941, is a lyrical work very much in the vein of the famed Adagio for strings, and those who like that piece and are in search of more of the same can use this as a starting place. The Second Essay is more impressionistic.... Read Less