"It’s a terrible title for some terrific music.... I can’t wait to play this CD to people a third of my age and set them guessing where it’s from. The categories are irrelevant. This is good music, fabulously played. I can see where they are coming from with the title, but it gives no sense of the content. This could well be the coolest classical disc of the year." – Norman Lebrecht
"'Shuffle.Play.Listen.' feels like a landmark record, blurring the lines and what Haimovitz calls the "artificial and outmoded" boundaries that divide classical and popular music. Even if you don't know where to find it at the record store -- in the classical aisle or pop? -- it feels like a record for our times,Read more reflecting our increasingly diverse and open-minded taste in music." – Portland Press Herald
Shuffle.Play.Listen unites ground-breaking, Grammy-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz with pianist Christopher O Riley, host of NPR and PBS s popular weekly radio and television series, From the Top, in a collaboration that blurs the boundaries between classical and pop music. Two performers, each a superstar in his own right, come together to plumb the virtuosic and lyrical possibilities of their instruments in an expansive 2-CD set from Oxingale Records.
Disc 1 features Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical Suite Italienne, Leos Janacek's Fairy Tale, Bohuslav Martinu's Variations on a Slovak Folksong and Astor Piazzolla's Grand Tango, all interwoven with an arresting new arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo film score, celebrating the composer's 100th birthday this year.
Disc 2 kicks off with Empty Room from the 2011 Grammy-winning Album of the Year by Arcade Fire, and follows up with tracks by Blond Redhead, the Cocteau Twins, Radiohead, and more Arcade Fire, as well as supergroup A Perfect Circle's hit song 3 Libras and a jaw-dropping rendition of John McLaughlin's Dance of Maya. All the arrangements for cello and piano were made with O'Riley's signature passion and finesse, and realized with Haimovitz's uncompromising artistic depth. The pair display their considerable improvisational skills in several tunes, including their 9-minute uncut interpretation of McLaughlin's Lotus on an Irish Spring.
Inside the package, New York Times best-selling author Dan Levitin (This is Your Brain on Music) interviews Haimovitz and O'Riley on the making of Shuffle.Play.Listen.
One of the most anticipated collaborations of the 2011-2012 season, Haimovitz and O'Riley will tour extensively in major concert series and university residencies throughout the US. In addition, each continues to tour exhaustively as a solo artist in recital and as concerto soloist.
Shuffle.Play.Listen embraces a new kind of listening public who mix Wagner with Lady Gaga on their iPods, exploring new sounds and moving comfortably between genres. While classical lovers will be drawn to CD1, more adventurous listeners will thrill to CD2, and both will want to shuffle, play, and listen! Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Vertigo: Preludeby Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Matt Haimovitz (Cello),
Christopher O'Riley (Piano)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1958; USA
2.
Fairy taleby Leos Janácek
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1910-23; Brno, Czech Republic
3.
Vertigo: The nightmareby Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1958; USA
4.
Variations on a Slovak folksong for Cello and Pianoby Bohuslav Martinu
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1959; Switzerland
5.
Vertigo: Carlotta's Portraitby Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
6.
Suite italienne for Cello and Pianoby Igor Stravinsky
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1932; France
7.
Vertigo: Scotty Trails Madelineby Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
8.
Le Grand Tangoby Astor Piazzolla
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: Argentina
9.
Vertigo: Scene d'Amourby Bernard Herrmann
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Period: 20th Century Written: 1958; USA
10.
Empty Roomby Arcade Fire
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2011
11.
Pyramid Songby Jonny Greenwood
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1999
12.
Athol Broseby Cocteau Twins
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1988
13.
The Dance of Mayaby John McLaughlin
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1971
14.
Misery Is a Butterflyby Blonde Redhead
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2004
15.
Weird Fishes / Arpeggiby Jonny Greenwood
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2007
16.
Fotzepoliticby Cocteau Twins
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1990
17.
Melodyby Blonde Redhead
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2004
18.
3 Librasby Billy Howerdel
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2001
19.
Heaven or Las Vegasby Cocteau Twins
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1990
20.
In the Backseatby Arcade Fire
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 2004
21.
A Lotus on Irish Streamsby John McLaughlin
Performer:
Christopher O'Riley (Piano),
Matt Haimovitz (Cello)
Written: 1971
