The Atlanta Symphony and Saint Louis Symphony orchestras are set to release separate recordings of symphonic works by John Adams this July. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recording entitled Transmigration will be released on the Telarc label on July 28; it includes performances of Adams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2001 work On the Transmigration of Souls, as well as three other works devoted to the theme of honor and remembrance: Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Agnus Dei (adapted from the same string quartet as the Adagio for Strings); John Corigliano’s Elegy; and Jennifer Higdon’s Dooryard Bloom. Baritone Nmon Ford sings in the Higdon work, a world premiere recording; On the Transmigration of Souls, for orchestra, chorus, children’s choir, and pre-recorded soundtrack, includes performances by the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Gwinnett Young Singers, and sound designer Mark Grey. David Robertson conducts the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on the July 21 Nonesuch release of two Adams works: Doctor Atomic Symphony and the 2001 piece Guide to Strange Places. The symphony is a three-movement work adapted from Adams’s opera Doctor Atomic, which had its world premiere in 2005 at San Francisco Opera. The first performance of the symphony took place in 2007 in London at the BBC Proms; the U.S. premiere, with Robertson leading the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, took place in 2008.
Posted June 12, 2009
