Cuts and Dissolves Music by Turnage, Rihm and Benjamin - reviewed by CARSON COOMAN '... a well-planned listening experience ...'

During the Ars Musica 2004 music festival in Brussels, Belgium, conductor Kazushi Ono featured music by his friends, British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 1960) and German composer Wolfgang Rihm (born 1952). He also included a brief work by British composer George Benjamin (born 1960). This disc consists of excellent live recordings taken from the festival.

The disc begins with Mark-Anthony Turnage. Études and Elegies is a three part cycle, each movement for a different instrumentation. A Quick Blast (2000) for winds, brass, and percussion is dramatic, with a consistent forward momentum [listen -- track 1, 0:00-1:02].

Uninterrupted Sorrow (2001) for large orchestra is confrontational and somewhat bitter. The orchestral scoring is beautifully evocative.

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