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Darkness in the Ancient Valley / Lacrimae Beati / A Woman’s Life Naxos 8.559707
Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour has been championed by musicians ranging from Leonard Bernstein to the Emerson String Quartet. Lacrimae Beati owes its origin to Mozart’s Requiem and was conceived after a perilous flight in 2002. Darkness in the Ancient Valley, a symphony in five movements inspired by recent events in Iran, utilises a wide range of Persian folk-melodies and Sufi rhythms. A Woman’s Life is a cycle of poems by Maya Angelou which charts a moving trajectory from childhood to old age.
Review:
The marquee piece is Darkness in the Ancient Valley, subtitled Symphony in Five Movements, it is a substantial and moving work depicting the tribulations of Iranian people under religious dictatorship.
Danielpour aims for poetry in music rather than slamming his listeners over the head with a political argument.
In short, it’s a stewpot of accessible, current art-music styles from a master of the narrative. Danielpour knows when to raise the dynamics and tempo and when to get into a more contemplative mode.
The Finale, titled “Consecration” is a setting of a text by Rumi gorgeously sung by soprano Hila Pitmann.
The album concludes with A Woman’s Life. Soprano Angela Brown has a rich voice, she fills every movement with moving conviction.
Danielpour is wonderfully economical in his orchestration of the accompaniment, and Guerrero gets a beautifully clear and balanced sound from his orchestra.
New music is rarely this satisfying to listen to.
John Terauds, Musical Toronto
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