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 New York (NY), USA - Deutsche Grammophon recently released Oceana, the third recording of music by Osvaldo Golijov. Since his Deutsche Grammophon debut CD Ayre, Osvaldo Golijov has established himself in the league of the most wanted composers of today.
His first DG recording Ayre received ravishing reviews while his opera and second DG release Ainadamar won two GRAMMY awards in 2007 and made 2006 "Best of the Year" lists in New York Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe and Amazon.com among others. Like Ayre and Ainadamar, Golijov's third album features his muse, the soprano Dawn Upshaw with Three Songs, pieces evoking Strauss and set to poetry by Sally Potter, Rosalia de Castro and Emily Dickinson.
Oceana is the key work of this album, a composition for orchestra, three guitars, harp and voice, infused with Latin and jazz elements. It is performed by the LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet),' the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano (also the orchestra and conductor on Ainadamar), and the Brazilian jazz singer Luciana Souza ("Female Jazz Singer of the Year" in the USA in 2005).
Written in 1996 for Helmuth Rilling's Oregon Bach Festival, Oceana was Golijov's first commission of a choral work in the spirit of J.S. Bach and became a source of inspiration for La Pas/on segun San Marcos (St. Mark Passion), set for release on DG in 2008.
Tenebrae is a collaboration with the famous Kronos Quartet - one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our time. The meditative work in two movements "is about pain," says Golijov, "but pain seen from inside and from a distance." Despite being Golijov's reflection on today's tormented world, Tenebrae is a work of radiant beauty. It is a lament but at the same time offers consolation and is a prayer for peace.
This album presents Golijov's work from a new perspective and shows his versatility and many interests while not neglecting his characteristic feature of melding different musical styles.
In the summer of 2007, Osvaldo Golijov serves as the first composer-in-residence with the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. In this position, Golijov will work with the Artistic and Music Directors to curate a series of concerts that will examine new paths of understanding and points of comparison between Mozart's world and today.
On August 18th and 19th, conductor Robert Spano leads two performances of Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos in the Rose Theater.
Buy Oceana.
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