REVIEWS.
The premiere of Albert Glinsky's Elegy opened the concert. It is a rhapsodic, syncopated classical jazz ballad that is splendidly crafted.
—The Washington Post
Allegheny Quartet performed by the Biava Quartet
I'm a paragraph. lick here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
"Glinsky's Elegy, which had its New York premiere, is a beautifully wrought fantasy, in which diverse influences (from Debussy to Cecil Taylor, with a touch of Rachmaninoff) show through but never dominate. Its central section is full of fascinating and unpredictable harmonic turns, and its alternation between quiet rumination and waves of passion made it an ideal vehicle for what emerged during the evening as Neil Rutman's interpretive style."
—The New York Times
"Albert Glinsky's Rhapsody for Solo Violin, Flute, Strings and Timpani supports ecstasy admirably."
—Village Voice
"The most varied folkloristic materials are worked up... pentatonic, a dash of Blues, Country, pop and quartal harmonies are there...skillfully and organically mixed."
—Tages-Anzeiger [Zurich]
"[Toccata-Scherzo] is a virtuosic forceful composition...a winning work that should have no problem entering the repertory."
—The Blade [Toledo, OH]
"Albert Glinsky's Mass for Children's Voices was given its world premiere by the choir [Boys Choir of Harlem] and it proved to be a winner. Glinsky has managed to fuse the Latin text of the Mass with the accompanying upbeat chamber music into tonal harmony, a feat which seems beyond most modern-day composers."
—News World [New York City]
"...the obvious favorite of the audience. Glinsky's Rhapsody for Solo Violin, Flute, Strings and Timpani varied from the slow and dramatic to the hoedown sound of Kentucky bluegrass."
--Daily News [Rhinelander, WI]
"That the harpsichord is not only suitable for the rendering of old music, Linda Kobler proved with Albert Glinsky's Sunbow, a powerfully expressive work of the American composer, presenting interesting themes and sparkling motives."
—Luzerner Neuste Nachrichten [Lucerne]
.jpg)
Joffrey II Ballet, Flights
Flights, the Joffrey II Ballet production choreographed by Leslie-Jane Pessemier, with music by Albert Glinsky:
[Flights] "Joffrey II's signature piece...fits the company's `all-star' image like a glove."
--Anchorage Daily News
"Fresh, airy score..."
--Ballet News
[Flights] "...the highpoint of the evening."
--South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
"Exhilirating and angular score."
--Ann Arbor News
"Glinsky's Toccata-Scherzo was a brief but intense piece."
--Ongaku-No-Tomo [Tokyo]
"Sunbow by Albert Glinsky exploited counterpoint without forgoing heart-rending song."
--The Washington Post
"...in his 1988 Toccata-Scherzo, the composer presents the soloist with a virtuoso piece, providing fascinating challenges and music that is percussive and tense..."
--The Sacramento Bee Final
"The music ends and I feel like I have woken from a Technicolor surround sound dream. This piece rocks. This piece is killer." [Canandaigua Quartet]
--Erie Daily Times [PA]
"In the Southeastern Historical Keyboard Society Awards Competition (for new harpsichord works) Linda Kobler whizzed through the blazingly difficult Sunbow by composer Albert Glinsky. Both piece and performance were so brilliant that, in addition to the prize which was merited, I was left with an indelible impression."
--Musical Heritage Society Review
"Throne of the Third Heaven was commissioned in honor of Maestro Walter Hendl and the 75th anniversary of the Erie Philharmonic. ... Because the music was accesible rather than determinedly dissonant, the audience was receptive if one judges by the applause and even a few `bravos.'"
--Erie Daily Times [PA]
On Glinsky's Piano Concerto:
"...a knuckle-busting, pianistic powerhouse, bursting with poignant melodies-- Rachmaninoff for the nineties."
--Erie Daily Times [PA]
"The concerto surpassed even my insatiable desire for extraordinary music. Intense, sweeping, passionate-- it was rapturous at times. I couldn't even begin to absorb part of it in one sitting. ...a concerto that should be heard everywhere."
--Erie Daily Times [PA]
"...it drew several curtain calls and a standing ovation... A neo-Romantic work...an amalgam of Romanticism and 20th century musical idioms deriving from jazz and rock music...a concerto that is not just an academic exercise, but accessible and appealing to a general audience..."
--Erie Daily Times [PA]
"This new work which proves that not all contemporary music is difficult to listen to and understand. It shows that music has a way of eliciting emotions, thrills, and chills in the listener and this proved to be the case with this selection."
--Westmoreland Symphony Notes [PA]
"Albert Glinsky's Rhapsody for Solo Violin, Flute, Strings and Timpani has a strong melodic profile, intricate voice leading, and a nicely cumulative sense of rhythm."
--Washington Post
"At this concert we heard the European premiere of Sunbow, by Albert Glinsky, who in this composition, imaginatively exploited the rhythmic, and particularly the coloristic possibilities of the harpsichord."
--Zuger Tagblatt [Switzerland]
"Sunbow is full of brilliant, energetic writing, that spans the range of colors available on the instrument..."
--Ithaca Herald
"The piece by Glinsky was a toccata-like virtuoso affair called Sunbow. The harmonic idiom of Sunbow is conservative contemporary- mildly dissonant but basically very accesible to the first time listener. The piece shows off both the performer's dexterity and the resources of the instrument [harpsichord], with its dual keyboard and several varieties of tonal color available."
--The Plain Dealer [Cleveland]
"Allegheny Quartet is an immediately appealing work in four movements. The very effective setting of Native American, French and English folk tunes with more angular music in the first movement established Glinsky's style. "
--Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Recording Reviews
Toccata-Scherzo BMG/Catalyst 09026-61824-2, Maria Bachmann, violin, Jon Klibonoff, piano
"Glinsky's five-minute Toccata-Scherzo is a dashing, slashing encore-type piece recalling slightly Kreisler's Scherzo Caprice (but with piano)."
--The Strad
"#1 of the Top Ten Classical Albums of 1993"
--New York Daily News
["Maria Bachmann] and gifted pianist Jon Klibonoff offer world-premiere recordings of works by Paul Moravec and Albert Glinsky, and add to them extraordinary compositions by Corigliano, Part, and Messiaen. The results are very seductive. . . . . both Glinsky’s fiery Toccata-Scherzo and Messiaen’s Praise . . . receive powerful readings in their (respectively) outward and inward moods.”
—Stereophile
Albert Glinsky's Toccata-Scherzo is a sparkling bravura piece."
--Classical Pulse!
"Albert Glinsky is represented here by the succinct, flashing Toccata-Scherzo, which takes the venerable form of the display encore. Toccata-Scherzo brings this honorable genre into the present day. Glinsky's work is generated by American popular music, and is cast in a traditional framework of gesture and form."
--Tim Page
"...one recording that stood up especially well on rehearings was Fratres, the overall title given to a CD of violin and piano pieces by Arvo Part, John Corigliano, Paul Moravec and Albert Glinsky... If this is the direction in which contemporary music is moving, the Catalyst label may enjoy a long life."
--Parade Magazine
"...memorable--a sort of Sarasate for the 1990s, its lyrical centre-piece flanked by brilliant outer sections."
--Gramophone
"The Glinsky sounds like something Wieniawski would write if he were living today; fiddle players should welcome it as a useful encore piece."
--Chicago Tribune
"Albert Glinsky's Toccata-Scherzo is an encore-like showpiece driven by a pop pulse." --Fanfare Magazine
"Works by Messiaen and Albert Glinsky round out an intriguing program."
--Billboard
"Albert Glinsky's Toccata-Scherzo is a rapid-fire tour de force, with the violin and piano both tossing off blistering, virtuosic runs. Alternately they will then join together for a change in pace, almost as if they are rebuilding their steam before another press of the accelerator, and another utterly impressive string of runs. The piece is about the length of a pop song, which is perfect for this type of circus-acrobatics... It is quite impressive and very well performed."
--Music Web International
Sunbow CENTAUR CRC2517, Elaine Funaro, harpsichord
"Albert Glinsky's Sunbow presents a lively blend of rock music with impressionistic imagery to portray the sun's color reflections in a waterfall and makes imaginative use of harpsichord sonorities."
--Classical Voice North Carolina
"Albert Glinsky's Sunbow reflects the world of unmeasured preludes beloved by his wife, Linda Kobler (the harpsichordist for whom the work was written) and his own zest for rock music (he cites Stevie Wonder as the inspiration . . .) Believe it or not, the combination works and the results are a lot more sophisticated than you'd think. Best of all, the transparent textures of Glinsky's music fit the harpsichord like a glove."
--American Record Guide
Canandaigua Quartet KOCH INTERNATIONAL CLASSICS, KIC-CD-7672,
Oregon String Quartet
"The Oregon Quartet's mission here was to unearth recent jazz- and rock-oriented chamber music for the contemporary audience.... The group responds to Albert Glinsky's jaggedly irregular motto perpetuo with sparkle and bite.... the Oregon Quartet makes a persausive case that this repertoire should be heard."
--Strad Magazine
"...beautiful and virtuoso."
--American Record Guide
"If we may indeed interpret this recording as a melding of two worlds, this selection is a perfect one with which to raise the curtain. Glinsky describes his own music as being, 'inspired by popular music styles in a sort of Bartokian stylistic incorporation of popular elements,' a trait evident in the syncopated, driving rhythmic energy of the first movement. It is difficult to say if this movement owes more to the feeling of constant pulse, not unlike a back-beat rhythm in a rock band, or to the gestural syncopations and harmonic idiom of Bartok. The second movement, titled, 'Nocturne (West on 90),' is warmly lyrical and simple, and at times the voicing and the melodic framework are reminiscent of Barber. The final movement, 'Spinout,' is notable for its driving energy, unison rhythmic gestures, and especially interesting ponticello, tremolo, and glissando effects that simulate an electric guitar or synthesizer. This movement's virtuosity is handled with ease by the quartet, which manages to capture the energy of the work while still maintaining clarity of ensemble."
--Journal of the Society for American Music
"Albert Glinsky wrote the Canandaigua Quartet in 1996, including folk elements in the already heady jazz and rock mix while taking Bartok as a stylistic background basis. Minimalism features in the energetic first and third movements (the finale is a furious dance), framing a beautiful, morose Nocturne that rises in intensity as it progresses. The players proved to be as effective in reflective music as in the brightly colored, driven movements."
--Fanfare Magazine
"Oregon String Quartet: Jazz and Rock influences in the Contemporary American String Quartet. ...Glinsky's Canandaigua Quartet and Lee's Marango have turned out to be my favorites... Cinnamon buns for the ear."
--ExMoSocial (online review)