On Tuesday, April 27, 2004 at 3:32:58 PM UTC-7, Alan Cooper wrote:
> I've now listened to the two latest issues in the ongoing Naxos /
> Milken Archives recordings in the American Jewish Music series, which
> feature works by Ernst Toch and Samuel Adler, respectively.
> The new Toch CD is definitely a worthwhile acquisition. The disc
> includes a cantata on the Passover theme and the Symphony #5. The
> cantata is written in a more conservative post-romantic style than
> seems usual for Koch, but the writing for voice (both choral and solo
> vocal) is lovely. The performance, by soloists with the CzPO and the
> CzPO Chorus conducted by Gerard Schwarz, sounds excellent. There is
> some interspersed spoken narration, read by Theodore Bikel, that
> sounds rather quaint, but it does not impede enjoyment of the music.
> The Symphony #5 is a marvelous work--beautiful, colorful, and
> distinctive. I've liked the piece since I first heard it years ago in
> a game but scrappy Louisvile performance. I think it's now the only
> Toch symphony to have multiple versions in print, and it merits them
> (and more). I did not collect the Francis set of Toch Symphonies, so
> I would welcome a comparison between that performance and the new one
> (Seattle Symphony cond, by Gerard Schwarz), which sounds fine to me.
> The Samuel Adler compilation is another kettle of fish. I know that
> his reputation is high as a composer of liturgical music for the
> synagogue, but nothing on the new disc struck me as first-rate. He
> seems to vacillate between a conservative style for folk-song settings
> and liturgical compositions, and a more self-consciously "modern"
> style in works for the concert hall. There's nothing wrong with that
> in principle, if only the music were memorable, Unfortunately, the
> conservative works barely held my interest, and the modern stuff
> seemed to be a collection of tired gestures. I kept wondering, where
> have I heard that before? Anyway, if this is supposed to show Adler
> at his best, I'm not impressed. I gave the disc away after a couple
> of hearings.
> AC

Upcoming radio program featuring Adler:

https://www.wfmt.com/2023/05/07/music-by-samuel-adler