Portara Ensemble
ALIAS Chamber Ensemble
“…openly and ebulliently attractive, flowing with an effortless lyric pulse.” —Fanfare
The above quote from a review of Paul Moravec’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Tempest Fantasy could well be applied to any number of this composer’s beguiling compositions. In this stunning collection, we get not only his fabled Tempest Fantasy, but also two world-premiere recordings of his music for voices and chamber ensemble. Amorisms is a ballet piece that can also be savored as absolute music; the Sacred Love Songs set familiar biblical texts and the well-known “Prayer of St. Francis.”
Doing this marvelous music complete justice are members of the Grammy-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble and singers of the Portara Ensemble. Both are firm fixtures in the vibrant cultural scene of Nashville, where they have also taken advantage of some of the nation’s finest sound engineering talent.
Essentially a tonal composer, Moravec crafts his music with brainy sophistication and often subtle emotional expressiveness, such that it strikes the listener as highly accessible music of immediate appeal – yet its cunning complexity demands (like most great music) repeated hearings in order to appreciate it fully.
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