By Scott Cantrell | The Dallas Morning News
Filling a longstanding gap in the Dallas-Fort Worth musical scene, the Dallas Chamber Symphony has become an accomplished ensemble, presenting some of the area’s most enjoyable concerts. Its recording debut includes two dance suites, one well established and beloved, the other new but no less appealing.
Scored for a mere 11 musicians, the music could not be more immediately ingratiating… Apart from tense moments when a wedding is interrupted by an attack, the music is lilting and lyrical, and delicately tinted. I’m sorry I missed the ballet.
Copland’s Appalachian Spring is mostly familiar in the composer’s full-orchestra arrangement. Here, though, it’s presented in the original scoring — for 13 musicians — for the Martha Graham ballet. (This performance sensibly takes the cuts in the full-orchestra version.)
DCS music director Richard McKay leads incisive, sensitive performances of both scores.
The recording, made in the acoustically superb Moody Performance Hall, is commendably clear and natural. Highly recommended.