November 29–December 6, 2001

cd reviews|classical/new music

George Antheil

Ballet Mécanique

(Naxos American Classics)

Trenton-born composer George Antheil’s (1900-1959) most famous (or infamous) composition, Ballet Mécanique, walks a fine tonal line between film music and modernist flap. The original score called for 16 synchronized player pianos, but even the toned-down 1953 revision, performed here by the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Spalding, went over the heads of his contemporary listeners. He did, however, weigh the piece down with enough mechanical sounds — engine noises, electric buzzers — to win the admiration of the futurists and justify him as the self-proclaimed "bad boy of music." Spalding does an great job of giving the enigmatic Antheil his due by airing some of his lesser-known works, like the Serenade for String Orchestra, No. 1 and the Stravinsky-esque Symphony for Five Instruments (Second Version). Think of Antheil’s music as something akin to Bach on LSD, or Karlheinz Stockhausen off it. Trenton has always had a bad rep, deserved or not, and there’s never been a better time to explore the most unique musical voice that the beleaguered city has ever produced.

—Andrew Ervin