ROREM: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Cello Concerto (Jose Serebrier/ Phil Rowlands/ Royal Scottish National Orchestra/ Simon Mulligan/ Wen-Sinn Yang) (Naxos American Classics: 8.559315)

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Chosen in 1988 as Composer of the Year by 'Musical America' and now recognized as one of the finest song composers in America, Ned Rorem has also written a significant body of music for orchestra, including three Symphonies (Naxos 8.559149), a Violin Concerto and a Flute Concerto (Naxos 8.559278). When Leonard Bernstein gave the premi?¿re of Rorem's Third Symphony with the New York Philharmonic in 1959, it signaled a significant triumph for his orchestral music, written in a tonal idiom alien to the experimental practices of the day. Composed in Morocco in 1951, the Second Piano Concerto has a distinctly American character. The last movement, 'Real Fast!', is a tour de force for soloist and orchestra, with jazz-like rhythms and an exhilarating conclusion. In his recent concertos such as the 'Cello Concerto' of 2002, Rorem has abandoned the usual three-movement pattern. The composer has written: \Although I don't believe that non-vocal music can be proven to 'mean' anything.... it's still fun to give programmatic subtitles to various sections.""