Sharon Isbin, Guitar Case Scaglione, Guest Conductor Tucson Symphony Orchestra, 15 November 2019 Case Scaglione, guest conductor Sharon Isbin, guitar Sharon Isbin, Corigliano's Troubadour John Corigliano's 'Troubadour', is a dream-like vision of the hard-working 12th Century musicians and poets, whose stories and songs helped define the meaning and range of Medieval chivalry and courtly love. As a composition, 'Troubadour' is a complete work of art and artifice; a very modern and reflective soundscape is engaged to imagine and to emulate, rather than whimsically imitate, a powerful musical tradition; one which left us almost no notation of the music they wrote and performed. The most striking aspect of 'Troubadour' is the series of delicately assembled ethereal sonorities, including micro-tones and slow, harmonized tone-bending by woodwind instruments, all culled from a chamber-like ensemble of about thirty players. Some of these, ...
Gendel's Reviews of Music and Life