Century rolls (2001)/ Lollapalooza / Slonimsky's earbox

"Century rolls was inspired by the sound of player-piano rolls, and the machine age which characterised the last century. Adamss orchestral twittering machine of the first movement pulsates, clicks and tricks the ear as Ax threads through his gleaming chains of solo piano. Were in a world of brash jazz riffs, Nancarrow-inspired high-jinks and dense counterpoint that has long replaced the monomania of minimalism. This is Adams at his most confident, his music at its most resilient. Add to this the wonderful sheen and solidity of the recorded sound, and you have an irresistible package. Lollapalooza was a gift to Rattle, who must have had a riot with it: heir to Bernsteins zesty Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, it should become a regular concert overture. The more involved and in-jokey Slonimskys Earbox pays tribute to the eccentric American lexicographer, and he would have surely approved of its teeming invention and outlandish obsession with scales." (classical-music.com; klik op link voor complete tekst)