Nashville Scene features the first review for ALIAS Chamber Ensemble and Portara Ensemble’s new Amorisms: Music of Paul Moravec recording:
“arguably [ALIAS Chamber Ensemble’s] best album yet…This new recording includes a riveting performance of Tempest Fantasy, Moravec’s Pulitzer Prize-winning tribute to his favorite Shakespeare play. Portara Ensemble, Nashville’s terrific a cappella vocal group, joins Alias for the world-premiere recording of the title piece, Amorisms, another Shakespeare-inspired composition. A performance of Moravec’s Sacred Love Songs rounds out the album. … Moravec arranged Tempest Fantasy for violin, cello, clarinet and piano, a combination used in some of chamber music’s most successful pieces, including Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. Moravec uses the combination to great effect, creating a work of glistening beauty and daunting technical difficulty. A quartet of Alias musicians — violinist Zeneba Bowers, cellist Matt Walker, clarinetist Lee Levine and pianist Melissa Rose — plays this challenging music with gusto. … Alias and Portara perform every note, every syllable with transparency and deep feeling. It’s a golden sound that may well garner a little Grammy gold in the year ahead.” —John Pitcher, Nashville Scene
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