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To date, Nonesuch have issued handsome box set anthologies of the work of Steve Reich and John Adams, composers whose repertoire they have ceaselessly championed.
The music of Philip Glass represents rather more of a challenge, however, as the composer has recorded operas and instrumental works for Sony, while setting up his own Orange Mountain label. It comes as something of a disappointment, therefore, to report the 'Glass Box' falls some way short of transparency, with nothing like the level of care addressed to his previous box set, the now unavailable Philip on Film.
There is good news, mind, as this collection does offer an excellent introduction to Glass' most effective symphonic writing. By presenting the finely wrought, tightly structured Third Symphony alongside a relative behemoth in the Eighth, the two extremes of the composer's writing for full orchestra are united. The Third is tautly argued and emotionally charged, while far from being a sprawling, incoherent piece, the Eighth is deeply emotive. Under Dennis Russell Davies it receives an excellent performance, one of the composer's most dedicated advocates emphasising the Sibelian strings and percussive volleys of the first movement.
Also present are the Kronos Quartet's excellent, pioneering recordings of four of the String Quartets. The second, subtitled Company, is strangely affecting, a set of four brief character pictures with little more than metronome markings to offer their movement titles.
Unfortunately Glass' large scale works do not fare as well. Taking excerpts from operas such as Einstein On The Beach or Akhnaten completely robs the music of perspective, well performed though these clips are. Less damaging is the impact made on the film music, though with small snippets of Dracula rather than the full thing, it proves frustrating not to be offered more.
A disc of music taken from Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi provides a good illustration of Glass at his most evocative, though unfortunately the tenth and final disc in the collection proves a 'best of' the recent achievements, the excellent music for The Hours reduced to four minutes.
Music in 12 Parts fares worst of all, the 12 parts reduced to 4, and even then, not the end, but the middle section. Where part of this work's appeal is its cumulative intensity, built up over the best part of three hours, to pitch in just over half way through seems disrespectful.
A real mixed bag then and just to crown the 'out of sorts' feeling this collection brings, it is released a year after the composer's 70th birthday. When companies such as Deutsche Grammophon are pulling out the stops for Olivier Messiaen on his anniversary, it seems a shame Nonesuch couldn't do more justice to one of their flagship composers.
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