Last week, I saw the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (or rather a very small subset of it) perform the chamber music version of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. The full symphonic suite is probably the better known version, but the ballet scoring has been my favourite since I first heard a recording of it in the 1980s. It's a delicate, soaring piece of music and the TSO's rendition was sublime. Here is a nicely recorded version performed by New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble on April 8th, 2014.
On Saturday, I saw the Metropolitan Opera's simulcast of Philip Glass' opera, Akhnaten. It was a spectacular production both for the music and the opulent and often surrealistic staging. I've come to the conclusion that this is Glass' masterpiece and the one work of his that is guaranteed to become a part of the standard operatic repertoire. The video below of Hymn may be the most beautiful piece of music Glass has written. I believe the video is from a production by the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University in 2013.
Finally, something old and yet new. In the early 1990s, the Grateful Dead made an abortive attempt to record a studio album of new material that they'd been performing live. Largely due to Garcia's health and drug problems, the sessions never went anywhere. Now the Grateful Dead organization has released the album, Ready or Not, culled from live performances. Songs include Liberty, Eternity, Corrina, and Days Between, which is probably the highlight of the album. I wouldn't say it was the Dead's strongest effort, but it's a nice coda to their recorded career.
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