A very creative and(!!) organic transformation of a story I didn't know. But this music makes my mind producing own stories easily; and probably different ones with every listening. This CD's music is great! Coulorful, dynamic/, dramatic, entertaining, surprising and played very skillful. The sound quality is also very good. NO ROOKIES at work.  This music could be referred to "Di Terra" from Italian Prog-Legend BANCO and to some parts/approaches of Zappa's "200 Motels" or "Greggary Peccary" or to those radio-drama-like parts of Mr. Bungle's 1st; but also a little bit to Kronos Quartet. If you like the samples: GET IT here!!
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Maurice Sendak's influential children's book Where the Wild Things Are is given its second classical music treatment on this disc (an opera by Oliver Knussen is also available). Composer Randall Woolf's score for the American Repertory Ballet is filled with oddball touches and hints of jazz and funk. Voices heard through synthesizers add to the sonic strangeness, typically ending a track with the distorted sounds of a scolding parent. But for all the genre-fusing going on here, there are also gorgeous passages; the minimalism found in the electric-violin passage during "Max gets homesick and departs" is convincing, as is the nervous energy on track two ("Max misbehaves"). Images from the children's book and the ballet production grace the liner notes. This may be a far cry from Swan Lake, but fans of Sendak or modern ballet should check out this fun music. --Jason Verlinde
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This is the music composed by Randall Woolf for a production by the American Repertory Ballet based on Maurice Sendak's classic children's book {-Where the Wild Things Are}. So technically speaking, this is theater music for a children's play. But it's so much more. Randall Woolf, one of the most promising young composers of the late '90s, wrote music that stands on its own and owes very little to the language of standard children music. The heavy guitar (electric), complex forms, sometimes very atonal modes and inventive arrangements turn Where the Wild Things Are into a delightful contemporary composition. The child universe is present through a highly imaginative world of sounds, the occasional use of danceable beats, simple melodies and heavily-treated voices appearing here and there. Although very serious writing can be seen throughout this suite, there is a refreshing lighthearted quality to it that will keep the children's attention while entertaining adults. Thanks to a perfect meeting between classical, rock and avant-garde music, this album is full of surprises. ~ Francois Couture
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