STEPHEN ALBERT (1941-1992): Symphony No. 1 "RiverRun", Symphony No. 2 (compl. Sebastian Currier).

Description: Albert's highly acclaimed and popular first symphony was, ironically, released by Delos the very month he died in an automobile accident. Now, you can not only have a new recording of that 1985 work which won the Pulitzer Prize, but you can have the symphony, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, which he was just finishing at the time of his death. Sebastian Currier (a disc of whose chamber music is on page 14 of this catalogue) finshed the orchestration at the invitation of Albert's publisher, G. Schirmer. Both symphonies show Albert's love of Debussy, early Stravinsky and Bartók in his rich orchestral colors, plainly tonal underpinnings, harmonic language and intricate textures. (Containing the most lengthy and detailed notes you'll find on this label also.) Russian Philharmonic Orchestra; Paul Polivnick.