From the Philip Glass recording archive: Orchestral music volume II (2007)

"The piece that Days and Nights in Rocinha resembles most closely, in structure if not in mood, is Ravel's Boléro, frequently described as a precursor to minimalism. Glass takes a memorable, expansive melody with a Latin rhythmic vitality and flavor and spins it out over 23 minutes. Glass veteran Dennis Russell Davies leads the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in a radiant performance. Persephone, based on the Greek myth, was written for a production by Robert Wilson. Scored for orchestra and an almost omnipresent chorus, the piece has the variety and involved development to give it an impact opposite that of Days and Nights and Rochinha. Its sound is more typically Glassian, closely related to harmonic and figural language of La belle et la bête. Relâche Ensemble, directed by Joseph Franklin, plays and sings with beautifully focused tone and attention to the score's nuances. These pieces are among Glass' most attractive orchestral works and deserve to be more widely performed." (Stephen Eddins, Allmusic)

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