Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony, with its five movements based on characters and events from the Superman comics (including the destruction of the planet Krypton), is holding up well as an iconic example of the Andy Warhol school of modern American composition, in which pop-inspired material rubs shoulders with classical forms. It’s terrifically entertaining, and this new recording is every bit as fine as the premiere from David Zinman on Argo. The Nashville Symphony plays with the necessary brilliance, and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero turns in an interpretation just as vivid as its predecessor, timing out within a few seconds in just about every movement.
This newcomer gains over the Argo release (assuming you can find it) in two major respects. It is more naturally recorded, and it has a very substantial coupling in Daugherty’s piano concerto Deus ex machina. The titles of the movements–“Fast Forward”, “Train of Tears”, and “Night Steam”–give a good idea of what the music expresses, and it’s very excitingly played by pianist Terrence Wilson. As an overview of the art of one of the major voices in American music, this disc is pretty hard to beat, and if you missed the original release of the Metropolis Symphony you can stop looking and just pick up this even more compelling program. [11/5/2009]
