John Adams: Grand Pianola Music; Shaker Loops; Short Ride in a Fast Machine

1	Grand Pianola Music, for
2	Grand Pianola Music, for
3	Shaker Loops, for 7 strin
4	Shaker Loops, for 7 strin
5	Shaker Loops, for 7 strin
6	Shaker Loops, for 7 strin
7	The Chairman Dances, foxt
8	Short Ride in a Fast Mach
John Adams: Grand Pianola Music; Shaker Loops; Short Ride in a Fast Machine
1.	Grand Pianola Music, for 3 sopranos, 2 pianos, winds, brass & percussion 32:09
	Composed by John Adams
	Performed by Solisti New York
	Conducted by Ransom Wilson
2.	Shaker Loops, for 7 strings or string orchestra 24:59
	Composed by John Adams
	Performed by London Chamber Orchestra
	Conducted by Christopher Warren-Green
3.	The Chairman Dances, foxtrot for orchestra 12:49
	Composed by John Adams
	Performed by City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
	Conducted by Simon Rattle
4.	Short Ride in a Fast Machine, fanfare for orchestra 4:28
	Composed by John Adams
	Performed by City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
	Conducted by Simon Rattle

All Music Guide

For this collection of some of John Adams' best-known shorter orchestral works from the 1980s, EMI has gathered performances from its earlier releases by three different ensembles. Ransom Wilson's 1984 account of "Grand Pianola Music" with Solisti New York is a pastel reading of one of the composer's brashest, most primary-color pieces. The approach allows the niceties of Adams' orchestration to be heard, but at the cost of rhythmic and dynamic vitality and overall excitement; the composer's version on Nonesuch with the London Sinfonietta does a better job of capturing the work's energy. Christopher Warren-Green leads the London Chamber Orchestra in a bristling performance of "Shaker Loops," which approaches the wildness that's possible (and that Adams likes) when it's preformed in its original version for seven strings. Particularly in the first movement, "Shaking and Trembling," the performance sometimes seems thrillingly on the verge of veering into chaos, but Warren-Green safely brings it home. Simon Rattle conducts the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in two of Adams' most popular short pieces, "The Chairman Dances" and "Short Ride in a Fast Machine." Rattle is strong in the faster parts, but he doesn't capture the smoothness of the slide into the "Chairman Dances"' languorous slow section with the style of someone who's entirely at ease in the jazz world. The collection may not be the most energetic or idiomatic introduction to Adams' work, but these are useful alternative readings to the canonical versions by the composer and Edo de Waart on Nonesuch. EMI's sound is exemplary, clean, and spacious, with terrific stereo separation. Stephen Eddins