Symphony No.22 'City Of Light' / Cello Concerto

"The veteran János Starker, impeccable and expressive as ever, takes the lead in a sympathetic performance, well recorded in the Seattle Symphony's own Benaroya Hall."
- Anthony Burton, BBC Music Magazine, 07/04

"Starker is the inspired advocate, and Dennis Russell Davies also conducts the City of Light Symphony, a monument to Hovhaness's tonal visions."
- Andrew Clark, The Financial Times, 22/05/04

"A contrasting couple of works, stunningly recorded and well annotated by Steven Lowe. The spare and rare Cello Concerto played by the world renowned-and rather breathy-Starker and the composer-directed Symphony No. 22, an artefact of his lush-plush mystical 1970s."
(MusicWeb Aug 2009)

"With a composer as prolific as Hovhaness, there's always something new to discover. But the cello concerto is more surprising that most. It is his Opus 17 and was written way back in 1936. I particularly like his early works, when his Armenian roots were just coming to the fore. There is a freshness and sense of excitement and discovery that lends enchantment to his style. The Concerto is a major work lasting half an hour. It has an improvisatory, exploratory quality, colorful and imaginative orchestration, and is most enjoyable.

It is good to hear Starker continuing to learn new scores. He is in fine fettle in this primarily lyrical work, and it is hard to imagine a more effective presentation from all angles. The recording was made in 1999.

For Symphony 22, City of Light, we go back to 1992 and a reading conducted by the composer... It is a lovely work with a good deal of contrapuntal activity holding together the meditative sections. Naxos is one of the few companies whose prices are low enough to support a recommendation of a disc containing only half new material, but I am enthusiastic enough about the cello concerto to say this is worth getting even if you already have the symphony."
- Moore, American Record Guide, July/August 2003

"Starker plays the work brilliantly, and Schwarz and the Seattle players make about the best case possible for this score. Overall, this is a fine work, and the Seattle Symphony, under the composer's insightful direction, turn in a splendid, spirited performance. Again, the sound is excellent and this disc can be heartily recommended to Hovhaness and American music enthusiasts."
- Robert Cummings, classical.net

"Dennis Russell Davies, former music director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and a longtime Hovhaness advocate, conducts a fine performance of the concerto with the Seattle Symphony and Janos Starker as soloist, part of Naxos' distinguished American Classics series, and the concerto's first recording. From the start - a sweet, lonely sounding tune the cello shares with the solo flute - all the way to the ruminative final movement, Davies and Starker deliver the music's nobility and its pungent lyricism."
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune, May 10, 2003