Beautiful Passing: Music for Violin & Orchestra by Steven Mackey - Anthony Marwood, David Robertson, Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Memory is at the forefront of this disc, which pairs Steven Mackey’s moving, evocative violin concerto, Beautiful Passing, with Mnemosyne’s Pool, his expansive symphonic saga, to explore the different ways in which we engage with that most human of experiences.

This recording captures the enduring relationship between David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in a stunning rendering of works by a composer Robertson has long championed. Anthony Marwood brings a performance that is lyrical, touching and thrilling in equal measure.

Both works were captured live in the Concert Hall at Sydney’s iconic Opera House, and a review in the Sydney Morning Herald at the time described Marwood’s performance as one of “empathetic intensity, capturing a sound of distinctive isolation and beauty”.

Mnemosyne’s Pool was hailed by Musical America as “the first great American symphony of the 21st century”. The music “alternates between glimmering reflections, shadowy undulations, and jagged, hard-edged tonalities” (San Francisco Classical Voice, June 2015).

The booklet annotations include a vivid introduction to the works by Steven Mackey, alongside excerpts from a conversation between the composer and conductor David Robertson

1 * Beautiful Passing, for Violin and Orchestra
2 * Mnemosyne's Pool, for Symphonic Orchestra
3 Variations
4 DÉJÀ Vu (Medley)
5 Fleeting
6 In Memoriam A.H.S
7 Echoes