| LUDOVIC MORLOT AND THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY RELEASE TWO DEFINING RECORDINGS OF WORKS BY AMERICAN COMPOSERS
All-Ives Recording Continues Orchestra’s Survey of the Composer’s Symphonic Works Digital Download Release Captures Stunning Live Performance of Site-Specific Sound Installation Above, Below, and In Between by MacArthur “Genius” Award Recipient Trimpin Recordings on Pre-sale Now on Amazon and iTunes |
| The Seattle Symphony during the live performance of Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 4 on January 29, 2015. Photo credit: Brandon Patoc Photography |
| December 22, 2015
New York, NY – Ludovic Morlot and the Seattle Symphony release two distinctive recordings in the new year featuring works by two maverick composers of American music: Charles Ives and kinetic sculptor and sound artist Trimpin. On January 8, the Orchestra releases an all-Ives recording that features the live performance of Symphony No. 4 and studio recordings of Central Park in the Dark, The Unanswered Question and Symphony No. 3. This is a continuation of the Orchestra’s survey of nearly all of Charles Ives’ symphonic works in concert and on its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media, which released Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 2 on an all-American disc last year. Also on January 8, the label will launch a digital only release of the live performance and world premiere of site-specific installation and composition Above, Below, and In Between by Seattle based sound sculptor Trimpin. The piece was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and premiered on its late-night [untitled] series on May 1, 2015, with Ludovic Morlot conducting sound sculptures and live musicians with the aid of a Microsoft Kinect. The digital release coincides with the exhibition Hear We Are at Winston Wächter Fine Arts Seattle (on view January 21 through March 9, 2016), which is inspired by the Seattle Symphony commission and consists of various visitor activated listening and performance stations along with exhibition of sound sculptures. |
| Both releases are now available for pre-sale on Amazon or iTunes. |
| RECORDING DETAILS: |
| IVES
Ludovic Morlot, conductor Symphony No. 4 Prelude: Maestoso …………………………………………………….3:27 Cristina Valdés, piano; Joseph Adam, organ; Stilian Kirov, David Alexander Rahbee, Julia Tai, assistant conductors; Seattle Symphony Chorale The Unanswered Question………………………………………………….6:50 Central Park in the Dark……………………………………………………..11:22 Symphony No. 3, “The Camp Meeting” Old Folks Gatherin’: Andante maestoso…………………………..7:41 Total Timing: 71:49 // Catalog Number: SSM1009 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay Recorded in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington. Symphony No. 4 was recorded live in concert on January 29 and 31, 2015. Central Park in the Dark and The Unanswered Question were recorded on September 26, 2014 and April 3, 2015. Symphony No. 3 was recorded on May 14, 2014, September 9, 10 and 26, 2014 and April 3, 2015. Digital downloads and CDs are available through iTunes and Amazon. Seattle Symphony Media recordings are also available in 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound formats. The performances of Symphony No. 4 were presented as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season. [On the first Ives recording] “Morlot’s account is as deft as required, just as his treatment of Ives’s Second Symphony, in which Brahms gets a New England makeover, is warmly affectionate.” – The Guardian |
| TRIMPIN ABOVE, BELOW, AND IN BETWEEN Seattle Symphony Ludovic Morlot, conductor Total Timing: 22:30 // Catalog Number: SSM1008 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay Above, Below, and In Between was recorded live in concert on May 1, 2015. Digital downloads are available through iTunes and Amazon. Seattle Symphony Media recordings are also available in 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound formats. Trimpin with the Seattle Symphony is made possible through Music Alive, a residency program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. This national program is designed to provide orchestras with resources and tools to support their presentation of new music to the public and build support for new music within their institutions. Funding for Music Alive is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund. Trimpin is the Music Alive Composer-in-Residence with the Seattle Symphony. Music Alive is a national residency program of the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA. Trimpin was supported by Dorrit and Grant Saviers through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle during the 2014–2015 season. Additional support for Trimpin is provided by Moe and Susan Krabbe. The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of Seattle Symphony Media CDs in memory of her husband Craig. [on the premiere performance of Above, Below, and In Between] “Yet here’s the Seattle Symphony happily reaching out to and spotlighting his [John Cage] aesthetic descendant—a mere half-century later! Friday’s performance will be yet another example of how the SSO under Morlot is moving, season by season, closer to where it belongs—at the forefront of creativity and novelty in the city’s classical sphere.” – Seattle Weekly, April 28, 2015 |
| About Seattle Symphony Media
Launched in 2014, Seattle Symphony Media is the Seattle Symphony’s independent in-house record label. The Symphony has an extensive catalogue of over 140 recordings, which have brought forth 21 Grammy Award nominations throughout its history. Under the direction of Music Director Ludovic Morlot, and President & CEO Simon Woods, the Symphony’s in-house record label features both “core repertoire” and some of the eclectic and contemporary programming for which the Seattle Symphony has become recognized. The label includes both studio recordings and performances captured live in concert, allowing the organization an unprecedented breadth of repertoire choices. All recordings are made in the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and engineered by the Grammy-nominated recording engineer Dmitriy Lipay. Using the Symphony’s own state-of-the-art in-house recording studio, recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing onstage with naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range. Distributed by Naxos of America, the recordings are available in both physical and digital formats from a variety of retailers. Digital content is available in stereo, “Mastered for iTunes,” 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound. |
| About Ludovic Morlot
French conductor Ludovic Morlot is in his fifth season as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. There have been many highlights during his first four seasons in this position, including an exhilarating performance at Carnegie Hall in May 2014, as reported in The New York Times: “The performance Mr. Morlot coaxed from his players was rich with shimmering colors and tremulous energy.” During the 2015–2016 season he leads the Seattle Symphony in a wide variety of works including the launch of a two-year cycle of Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos; Berio’s Sinfonia featuring vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth; Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4; Mahler’s Symphony No. 1; and Fauré’s Requiem. Complemented by the Seattle Symphony’s highly innovative series, Untuxed and [untitled], this season will also see the release of several more recordings on the Orchestra’s label, Seattle Symphony Media. Morlot was also Chief Conductor of La Monnaie, one of Europe’s most prestigious opera houses, for three years (2012–2014). During this time he conducted several new productions including La Clemenza di Tito, Jenůfa and Pelléas et Mélisande. Concert performances, both in Brussels and Aix-en-Provence, included repertoire by Beethoven, Britten, Bruneau, Stravinsky and Webern. Trained as a violinist, Morlot studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then at the Royal College of Music as recipient of the Norman del Mar Conducting Fellowship. Morlot was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 in recognition of his significant contribution to music. He is Chair of Orchestral Conducting Studies at the University of Washington School of Music and lives in Seattle with his wife, Ghizlane, and their two children. About the Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is one of America’s leading symphony orchestras and is internationally acclaimed for its innovative programming and extensive recording history. Under the leadership of Music Director Ludovic Morlot since September 2011, the Symphony is heard from September through July by more than 500,000 people through live performances and radio broadcasts. It performs in one of the finest modern concert halls in the world — the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall — in downtown Seattle. Its extensive education and community engagement programs reach over 65,000 children and adults each year. The Seattle Symphony has a deep commitment to new music, commissioning many works by living composers each season, including John Luther Adams’ recent Become Ocean, which won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Music and a 2015 Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The orchestra has made nearly 150 recordings and has received 21 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades. In 2014 the Symphony launched its in-house recording label, Seattle Symphony Media. |
