Glass: A Madrigal Opera

This comes from the 80's, which also produced masterworks such as Satyagraha, Akhnaten, Koyaanisqatsi, and more. Hypnotically beautiful throughout, and the second half featuring the viola and voices simply soars. But even those of us who love this composer's work often miss this diamond of his output. And this performance is lovingly conceived and brilliantly executed. If you have any regard for this amazing composer's other work, give yourself the gift of experiencing this work now.

This truly IS an important Glass work. I'm elated!!! As the other reviewer says you can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (Pruit Igoe to be exact, but actually, more detailed, complex and emotional.) If you're a Glass devotee you're a bit jaded about new releases - so much repetition (ha ha). But this is truly glorious and different - it's not 'yet another soulless recording of Music in 14,257 parts' by any means. I would actually also have to put Naqoyqaatsi and EOTB Knee Play 5 in this family. It's PG without compromises and taking no prisoners. It's not decorative, it's not meant to prove you're smart. It's meant to move you. And it does. I give credit to the musicians - it's INCREDIBLY performed by musicians who truly understand the music. Very emotional. Not mechanical in the least. The non-initiated may hear squeaks on a chalkboard, those who understand. Will cry.

Having performed "The State of the Tibetan Nation: A Madrigal Opera" many times with Christina Fong in the late 1990s, it is wonderful to finally hear this little-known but very important Glass work on disc. I wish that we had been allowed to record our version back in the late 1990s when we performed it on a regular basis for a 2-year period throughout the midwest and Canada (Canadian premiere at Open Ears Festival). This is some of the finest solo string writing of Glass's early career. One can hear the seeds of Koyaanisqatsi (in the solo viola movement) along with Glass's unique choral writing style, soon to be heard in Satyagraha.

Having listened to and enjoyed the music of Philip Glass for many years, the Madrigal Opera is one of my favorites. It is, in my view, a very consistent yet minimalist piece in that there isn't much that changes over its duration. But that doesn't mean it doesn't go anywhere. When I listen to it it sends me to many different places and each listen is a pure joy. I regard this as one of his finest works.

Phillip Glass scares me. His music is so in tune with the pulsations of my creative spirit! He is John Donne and John Blake. He is Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. He is Berlioz and Hindemith. He is so Aldous Huxley (in The Doors to Perception). The choral work here is sure to blow your mind. Imagine Renaissance on acid. A Madrigal Symphony indeed!

A masterpiece of Glass's minimalist style.

This CD is beautifully performed and it is so wonderful to have this very rare music available on CD now.

A Madrigal Opera is an interesting Glass concept that was conceived in 1980. This is a recording of a recent performance and is a welcome addition to the Glass works on CD. Benjamin Keaton An Amazon Verified Purchase Review

It is a wonderfully quiet and peaceful but rhythmic, floating and very beautiful work reminiscent to me of the thought provoking passages one meets in Akhnaten. I highly recommend it though, for me ANY Glass I have heard is worthy of your attention. He is the greatest living composer and has proved over and over his vociferous critics to be the tin eared fools they were all along. I am glad to have had the experience of being in the same hall with him to hear he and his group play together. Simply put, he is a consummate artist with the imagination of a master.