Review By Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle,January 2013
To listen to this brilliant young American sextet is to be constantly reminded of just how exciting, funny and ingratiating new work can be—especially when it’s delivered with these players’ characteristic blend of breakneck virtuosity and charm. The pleasures of “Meanwhile,” the group’s most recent release, are almost overwhelming, from the insinuating dance rhythms of Missy Mazzoli’s “Still Life With Avalanche,” which opens the proceedings, to the tart bravado of Thomas Adès’ “Catch.” The title selection by Stephen Hartke, which he dubs “incidental music to imaginary puppet plays,” offers a puckish and tender series of vivid instrumental pictures, while “…À mesure,” an explosive and intricately melodic work by French composer Philippe Hurel, leaves listener and performers practically gasping for breath in delight. And just to show that they can do the classics as well, the group throws in a superb account of Philip Glass’ “Music in Contrary Motion.” © San Francisco Chronicle Read complete review
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Review By Timothy Mangan, The Orange County Register,January 2013
The contemporary classical sextet strictly known in lowercase form, eighth blackbird, is otherwise an easygoing bunch, out to make new music friendly. One of the things that makes eighth blackbird so attractive is simply the instruments it employs—flutes, clarinets, violin and viola, cello, piano and percussion, a nice balance of clang and euphony, bright and veiled, rhythmic and melodic. They make beautiful sounds together.
Two of the most complicated pieces—Philippe Hurel’s bristling “…á mesure” and Thomas Adés’ “Catch”—fascinate most…Adés’ early (1991) quartet, for clarinet and piano trio, is particularly enthralling…It is so beautifully and intricately scored that the dots connect into lines, creating an ethereal picture. It doesn’t hurt that eighth blackbird plays everything on the album with ease and élan. © 2013 The Orange County Register Read complete review
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Review By Robert Carl, Fanfare,January 2013
Eighth blackbird has always impressed me with their unstoppable combination of fresh taste and virtuosic playing. They’ve gone from strength to strength in their series of albums, and this might well be my favorite.
Stephen Hartke…contributes the “title track” for the disc, Meanwhile…Perhaps the most consistently striking thing about the piece…is its sound world. It has dazzlingly imaginative percussion writing (the first movement has an insistently groovy hammering of three flexatones, for example). It’s a feast of little sonic plates, served with dizzying speed.
Missy Mazzoli…opens the program with her Still Life With Avalanche…The music is fluent and propulsive…
Catch by Thomas Adès…is mercuriality incarnate. In just over nine minutes, the piece runs through a dazzling sequence of states and moods, at times somber, at others frenzied. Things can sound very raw, contrasts can be unnerving, and yet one never doubts the commitment of the composer to the resultant sounds and harmonies…this is [one of] the most crazily virtuosic music on the program.
Philip Glass[’]…presence on the program as a sort of elder statesman is strangely welcome, and I also salute the blackbirds for their selection of one of the composer’s early…radical, and pathbreaking pieces, from the time when his “absolute” music was perhaps at its height of originality…Roshanne Etezady…is represented by two movements of her Damaged Goods. I’ve enjoyed almost every piece of the composer I’ve encountered…
Eighth blackbird’s taste is stylistically omnivorous. They tend to avoid any school of composition in favor of real personality and high imagination. The result is a rare mix of substance and entertainment. I did mention that they’re able to negotiate all the subtleties of these different languages with equal virtuosity, didn’t I? Also, I salute them for sticking with the plucky Cedille label, which has been one of Chicago’s greatest cultural ambassadors for a couple of decades now. A wonderful disc. © 2013 Fanfare Read complete review
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Review By Art Lange, Fanfare,January 2013
The chamber sextet eighth blackbird…has built their reputation by eschewing the classical repertoire and throwing their lot in with contemporary composers. This colorful program makes the most of their flexible instrumentation…and rhythmic acuity.
Stephen Hartke’s six-movement Meanwhile: Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays…offers the most exotic rhythms and hothouse colors, drawing from Japanese, Javanese, and Vietnamese dance sources. Thomas Adès’s Catch…purported to be a confrontation between the clarinet and piano trio, has the knottiest phrasing. French composer Philippe Hurel’s…à mesure…is a glittering constellation of notes that range from spiky, high velocity maneuvers to static patterns…this is a well-crafted, well-played, entertaining divertissment. © 2013 Fanfare Read complete review
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Review By Laurence Vittes, Gramophone,January 2013
…Stephen Hartke’s miraculous Meanwhile, the CD’s title-track, is an absolute prize consisting of five jaunty, Asian-infused movements, clanging and tootling with pleasure…Missy Mazzoli’s Still Life With Avalanche and two movements from Roshanne Etezady’s Damaged Goods…encounter more sober topics and produce more mysterious moods and occasional violence.
As the well-written notes reveal, there is an engaging story behind the way each piece came into being, along with such useful bits of trivia… © 2013 Gramophone Read complete review on Gramophone
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Review By George M. Wallace, a fool in the forest,January 2013
Favorite Albums of 2012: #11
The centerpiece of this collection is the title piece, Stephen Hartke’s six-part suite of music for “imaginary puppet plays,” assuredly not plays for children. Also here: a teriffic Missy Mazzoli piece (“Still Life with Avalanche”) and Philip Glass’ seminal “Music in Similar Motion.” © 2013 a fool in the forest
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Review By Vivien Schweitzer, The New York Times,December 2012
The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012
The adventurous ensemble Eighth Blackbird has entranced listeners in recent years with its theatrical interpretations of new music. Its performances on disc are equally electric, with dynamic interpretations of works including Philippe Hurel’s kaleidoscopic “…à mesure,” Stephen Hartke’s quirky “Meanwhile: Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays” and Philip Glass’s “Music in Similar Motion.” © 2012 The New York Times
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Review By Rick Anderson, Baker & Taylor CD Hotlist,December 2012
Eighth Blackbird is quickly becoming one of the preeminent new-music chamber ensembles in the United States, and the sextet’s latest album features three works written expressly for them by Stephen Hartke, Missy Mazzoli, and Roshanne Etezady (along with pieces by Philippe Hurel, Philip Glass, and Thomas Adès). By turns spiky (the Hurel piece), whimsical (the Hartke), and trance-inducing (the Glass, of course), the program offers a fine overview of this group’s strengths and of the current compositional scene. © 2012 Baker & Taylor CD Hotlist
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