Made In The U.S.A. Kent WA

Made In The U.S.A.

Andres Cardenes

Ocean Records, 1998

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/15/1998

To the disinterested listener -- or maybe even just the uninformed -- classical music is dead. They believe that while it may still be played, it is no longer written. In fact, classical music is still being created, though its authors might not be as recognized as such composers as Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.

Cuban-born Andres Cardenes wanted to pay tribute to more modern classical music composers, especially those who were from the United States, his adopted country. The end result is Made In The U.S.A., a collaboration between the violinist and pianist Luz Manriquez. The pairing is a natural one, and there are some excellent performances here - though a few do fall flat.

Cardenes's selections run the gambit, from the better-known artists (Aaron Copland, Andre Previn) to the more obscure (Cecil Burleigh, William Bolcom) to the current (David Stock). The pieces themselves are shorter than one might expect -- the average selection only runs about three minutes, allowing the listener to get a taste of each composer (and, in some cases, wanting more).

The interplay between Cardenes and Manriquez is a natural one -- this is not their first album together -- with the piano and violin blending in quite well. In one sense, this is just as much Manriquez's album as it is Cardenes's -- one wonders if the same magic would have been there had there been a different pianist. I don't think it would have been the same.