Faced with the fall deluge of new releases, it’s time to bring back the daily album review from now until mid-December:
The marquee piece is Darkness in the Ancient Valley, subtitled Symphony in Five Movements, from 2011. At 36 minutes, it is a substantial and moving work depicting the tribulations of Iranian people under religious dictatorship.
Danielpour aims for poetry in music rather than slamming his listeners over the head with a political argument. He writes tonally in a style that evokes film music one moment, Shostakovich the next, and John Adams the next.
In short, it’s a stewpot of accessible, current art-music styles from a master of the narrative. Danielpour knows when to raise the dynamics and tempo and when to get into a more contemplative mode.
The Finale, titled “Consecration” is a setting of a text by Rumi gorgeously sung by soprano Hila Pitmann.
The shortest piece on the album, Lacrimae Beati is a purely instrumental meditation for strings on the Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem, inspired by Danielpour being tripped by a tree root in front of where Mozart is thought to be buried, followed by a harrowing plane ride in a storm.
The album concludes with A Woman’s Life, a 2007 song cycle setting seven poems by Maya Angelou that trace life’s beginning to its end. Soprano Angela Brown has a rich but not pretty voice, but she fills every movement with moving conviction.
Danielpour is wonderfully economical in his orchestration of the accompaniment, and Guerrero gets a beautifully clear and balanced sound from his orchestra.
New music is rarely this satisfying to listen to.
You’ll find all the details of the album here.
John Terauds