Carter's Three Illusions acclaimed in Boston

Search Shop

Carter's Three Illusions acclaimed in Boston

(November 2005)

Elliott Carter received a long standing ovation at the premiere of his masterly new orchestral suite, Three Illusions, in Boston on 6 October. The work was hailed as a perfect introduction to Carter’s orchestral music and, with a duration of 9 minutes, forms an ideal concert-opener. Three Illusions was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director James Levine and further performances are planned in New York and London.

"All three brief pieces are responses to literary fantasies - Micomicón to Don Quixote; The Fountain of Youth to Roman myth; and More's Utopia to Sir Thomas More's vision of an ideal society. The music is fantastical too… always surprising, inevitable, and vividly orchestrated. Micomicón is romantic and heroic; Utopia is dark and severe; Fountain is playful and takes a place in the great tradition of iridescent water music..."
Boston Globe

"…a three-part work that, in barely 10 minutes, is a thoroughly complete musical statement. The formal Micomicón, the playful Fons Juventatis and the formidable More's Utopia together form a kind of symphony that sounds both densely packed and – at least as conducted by Levine – delicately transparent at the same time…It’s a masterpiece…"
Boston Herald

The same night as Three Illusions received its premiere in Boston, Carter unveiled Soundings, his new work for Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra toured the work to Carnegie Hall in New York on 4 November, and Barenboim leads the Berlin Staatskapelle in the European premiere on 25 January.

"Soundings packs a lot of invention into its dozen minutes. Carter celebrates the two Barenboims, giving him music to play at the piano and a lot more music to conduct, but never at the same time… In between, Carter gives us a parade of rapidly shifting orchestral ideas: horn and woodwinds chopping up a darting phrase; the subterranean rumbles of contrabass clarinet; a twittering trio of piccolos; a pensive tuba solo that's actually longer than the entire piano part. Through it all, there's Carter the high-modernist artisan, delighting in the virtuosic sinew of a great orchestra he knows well."
Chicago Tribune

2006 is to be launched with a Carter retrospective weekend by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in London. Premieres later next year include a new piano work for Peter Serkin (3 May) and a Wallace Stevens setting, In the Distances of Sleep, commissioned by James Levine and the MET Ensemble (15 October).

Celebratory events are developing for the Carter centenary in 2008: please let us know of your plans by emailing composers.uk@boosey.com.

> News Search

musicshop@boosey.com

0800 731 4778 Freephone (UK customers) +44 (0)870 421 5453 International reduced rate

Shop Help & FAQs

Audio Visual Gallery

Boosey & Hawkes

Search Shop

Browse By Instrument

Browse Composers

Sheet Music

CDs & DVDs

Books, Gifts & more

Affiliate Programme

Other Shops

Carter's Three Illusions acclaimed in Boston

Currency Converter

VIP Club

Need Help? Contact us!

Audio Visual Gallery

Series