CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS (b.1967): Symphony No. 1, PETER LIEBERSON (1946-2011): Neruda Songs.

Description: Theofanidis' symphony is a big, bold neo-romantic work in four movements, ingeniously familiar-sounding enough to be instantly appealing, without obviously quoting more than the stylistic outlines of any specific composers or works. Gestures reminiscent of Sibelius, or Holst, or Vaughan Williams, or Copland, or American romantic-minimalism occur, but only as elements in an overall æsthetic that is very much the composer's own. The large outer movements, the first fast and dynamic, the last broader, darker and grander, bracket an expansively lyrical nocturne and a vigorous full-voiced scherzo. Lieberson's settings of Neruda's love poems were written for Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who premiered them a year before her untimely death, and this recording was made shortly before the composer's, and is issued in his memory. The music is characteristically warmly melodic, wrapping the vocal line in accompaniments of harmonic richness and imaginative and colorful orchestration, while avoiding obvious and predictable tonality, thus allowing emotionally telling resolutions at pivotal moments in the texts. Spanish-English texts. Kelley O'Connor (mezzo), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Robert Spano.