Product Description
Martin Achrainer (Kepler), Cassandra McConnell (soprano 1), Karen Robertson (soprano 2), Katerina Hebelkova (mezzo), Pedro Velázquez Díaz (tenor), Seho Chang (baritone), Florian Spiess (bass)
Soloists and Chorus of the Landestheater Linz & Bruckner Orchester Linz, Dennis Russell Davis
This 2-CD set is a recording of the complete 2009 opera by Phillip Glass on the life of scientist Johannes Kepler in a deluxe digipack featuring colour photos of the production in Linz, Austria.
“This quite vivid recording is taken from the staged performances, though the work itself generally seems far closer to a contemplative secular oratorio than to a fully fledged piece of theatre...[Winkel's libretto is] presented in neatly dovetailed solo and choral writing, with Glass's often dark orchestral textures churning beneath.” The Guardian, 20th January 2011 **
“How Glass manages to spin out such a basic idea over a two-hour structure without the music ever loosening its grip on the listener is nothing short of remarkable...The hundred-plus Bruckner Orchestra...massed chorus and soloists of the Landestheater with Dennis Russell Davies directing, contribute much to the opera's dual sense of mystery and monumentality.” Gramophone Magazine