Maya Beiser x Philip Glass

Chronique

Cellist Maya Beiser, a member of the avant-garde group Bang on a Can, makes no statement about the symbol "x" in the title of her album Maya Beiser x Philip Glass. Is it Maya Beiser "times" Philip Glass? It could well be, for in this collection of Glass pieces transcribed for a single cello and then multitracked, she does indeed multiply the music rather than just transferring it to a new medium. In general, the pieces go from being "minimalist" to something denser, for they give the cellist a lot to do, even with the aid of multitracking. Further, Beiser's approach adds variety, for the multitracking behaves differently in each work. In the early Music in Similar Motion, a pure minimalist work (and one written in open score), it restores something close to Glass' basic textures, but in the orchestral selections from Naqoyqatsi, it has a life of its own, selecting and abstracting from a larger score. Beiser has collaborated directly with Glass in the past, and although there's no direct indication of this, one may suppose that he enjoys the project. Islandia Music's engineering, from a space at the Hudson Opera House in upstate New York, is a major contributor to the album's success; the multiple resonances of the music come into sharp relief. A fresh and absorbing approach to the music of Philip Glass.
© James Manheim /TiVo