Philip Glass: Glassworlds 3 / The Metamorphosis – Horvath

   in Piano International (May, 2016)
Nicolas Horvath continues his excellent series of Glass piano music. The longest offering, Metamorphosis (four transcriptions of music used in a soundtrack and a play) demonstrates Horvath’s strengths in his ability to capture Glass’ stretching of time, and his sensitivity to prolonged moods. The couplings are fascinating, with three opera excerpts transcribed by Paul Barnes as the Trilogy Sonata. If the Akhnaten Dance has to live up to ENO’s recent staging of the opera, it still holds dark intensity. The inclusion of the student Sonatina, a premiere recording, opens a window on the pre-minimalist, French-influenced Glass. Fascinating. …