Gramophone has praised the Louisville Orchestra’s recording of Christopher Cerrone’s The Year of Silence and Andrew Norman’s Split, with critic Andrew Farach-Colton writing that both performances are superb and find the Louisville Orchestra playing at a very high level.
The review highlights Cerrone’s setting of Kevin Brockmeier’s short story, in which a city’s noise is inexplicably silenced at intervals, noting bass-baritone Dashon Burton‘s sonorous reading voice and the composer’s clever, understated depiction of a silence that feels both peaceful and electric. Farach-Colton draws a comparison to David Del Tredici’s Final Alice, while noting Cerrone’s more restrained musical and emotional palette.
Norman’s Split, exploring the tension between digital-age frenzy and inner calm, is also singled out, with pianist Jeffrey Kahane praised for capturing the mercurial character of the concerto to near perfection.
The Year of Silence is out now on PENTATONE.
