[This month begins the count-down to Classicstoday.com’s 25th year since our launch in 1999. In celebration, today we are revisiting three reviews from our first week of publication. All of these recordings are still available.]
Steve Reich’s shimmering minimalist masterpiece is played here with earnest, machine-like effort, and little soul. All the component parts chug away with maximum efficiency, yet fail to coalesce as a breathing, single organism the way Reich’s original ensemble does in the pioneering 1978 ECM recording. At least the Ensemble Modern avoids the ever-so-slight slowing down of the basic pulse and occasional intonation problems besetting Reich’s Nonesuch remake. Stick with Reich on ECM, the first and still the best. [9/24/1999]
