Gathering paradise

New York Philharmonic World Premiere of Gathering Paradise
Augusta read Thomas's Gathering Paradise for soprano and orchestra had its world premiere at Lincoln Center with Lorin Maazel conducting the New York Philharmonic, on September 29, 30, and October 1, 2, and 5, 2004.
New York Magazine, October 18, 2004. Review:
The New York Philharmonic's first important concert of the season, with Lorin Maazel conducting, featured the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas's Gathering Paradise - six Emily Dickinson settings for soprano (Heidi Grant Murphy) and orchestra that capture the restless fever of this poet's style in a way that few composers ever have. The 30-minute piece deals mainly in light images, suggesting a day-to-night journey in freshly minted orchestral colors and lyrical vocal lines that make the trip compulsively listenable. To my ears, the score strongly recalls the spicy neo-impressionistic music of Thomas's husband, Bernard Rands, whose compendiums for voice and orchestra are cast in a similar style. Clearly this is a family that thinks alike.
For those who found Thomas's challenging new piece too prickly, there was Lang Lang to clear the air with a virtuoso dash through Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto. A brash prodigy no more, at the age of 22 Lang Lang has traded his signature teenage razor-buzz for a more conservative adult haircut, and his approach to the keyboard has calmed down considerably as well. He may have little new to say about Tchaikovsky's popular warhorse, but at least he now lets the music speak for itself.