Christopher Mohr: From the Realm of the Shadow

On this CD:

1. From the Realm of the Shadow, music drama in three acts
Composed by Christopher Mohr
Performed by National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Conducted by Theodore Kuchar

Christopher Mohr: From the Realm of the Shadow, Music, Christopher Mohr, Theodore Kuchar, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Opera, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

Average customer rating:

A Polyglot Creation

Amateurish, Juvenile Music At best

Throw everything together

Amateurish, pretentious

Potentially good, but falls flat

Christopher Mohr: From the Realm of the Shadow

Manufacturer: Naxos American
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005A8A7
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Tracks:

Act One: Ov - Nat Orch Of Ukraine
Act One, Scene One: Separation
Act One, Scene One: Separation
Act One, Scene Two: The Rape
Act One, Scene Three: In Shock
Act One, Scene Four: Her Rejection
Act One, Scene Four: Her Rejection
Act One, Scene Five: The Dam Breaks
Act One, Scene Six: The Two Choruses
Act One, Scene Six: The Two Choruses
Act One, Scene Seven: In The Womb, Dance Of Incarnation; Birth
Act One, Scene Seven: In The Womb, Dance Of Incarnation; Birth
Act One, Scene Seven: In The Womb, Dance Of Incarnation; Birth
Act Two, Scene One: Dances With Angels
Act Two, Scene Two: At Play
Act Two, Scene Three: Hurt
Act Two, Scene Four: Camilla And Angela

Tracks:

Act Two, Scene Five: Love
Act Two, Scene Five: Love
Act Two, Scene Six: Alone
Act Two, Scene Six: Alone
Act Two, Scene Seven: Awakening
Act Two, Scene Seven: Awakening
Act Two, Scene Seven: Awakening
Act Three, Scene One: Out Of The Depths
Act Three, Scene One: Out Of The Depths
Act Three, Scene Two: The Healers
Act Three, Scene Two: The Healers
Act Three, Scene Three: Liberation
Act Three, Scene Three: Liberation
Act Three, Scene Four: Dances With Monkeys
Act Three, Scene Four: Dances With Monkeys
Act Three, Scene Four: Dances With Monkeys
Act Three, Scene Five: War
Act Three, Scene Siz: Matthew's Death
Act Three, Scene Seven: Repose
Act Three: Scene Seven: Repose
Act Three: Scene Seven: Repose

Customer Reviews:

A Polyglot Creation.......2005-11-03

Christopher Mohr's "From The Realm Of Shadow" is one of those multi-faceted works that draw from diverse cultural and musical idioms. In many ways it reminds me of Alice Shields' "Apocalypse: An Electronic Opera", a similarly all-encompassing opus. These are difficult works to judge from a conventional aesthetic as the 'rules' are largely thrown out of the window. How much you will empathize with "From The Realm Of Shadow" depends on how willing you are to accept music that borrows, pastiches and manipulates well-known (or not so well-known) external sources. It's a work that has an immediate visceral impact, followed by a sense of 'is-that-all?', followed again by a sense that maybe it is deeper than first appears. Its polyglot nature works against it - there is so much textural variation that overall coherence is strained. Strained but not broken. The subject matter - using ritual rape, birth and death as metaphors for the division and reconciliation of the human spirit - is strong stuff and anyone expecting a thoroughly weighty Wagnerian treatment is going to be very disappointed. But it's not fluff - it's just a very turn-of-the-20th/21st century way of looking at things. Whether that will ultimately hold up only time will tell.

Amateurish, Juvenile Music At best.......2002-11-19

Music composition, like playing an instrument, is an art that posesses a technique and a discipline to acheive mastery and control over the material at hand. Though there are some composers who were self taught and got on the right path, Mohr isn't one of them. This music is simplistic in conception, badly orchestrated,loosely held together, and reminds me of a lot of music I and other composers were writing as sophomores in college. Also, the CD is not mixed well and is poorly edited (if at all). The only merit this work has (and possibly the only reason this ever got recorded) is a fascinating story behind the piece that would undoubtedly sell a few copies to those who care to spend the money (BTW- don't spend the money, buy a milkshake or something instead). Why did you do this, NAXOS? Oh, why!!!

Throw everything together.......2002-07-20

Mohr wrote this work based on an experience he went through in college where he partook in a gang rape, but managed to get the girl out of their through his trickery before any damage was done.

The "kind-of-opera" has a white and a black chorus, who are obviously enemies, and an outcast of the white chorus who was raped by the black ones. Most of the opera is about the relationships between the three groups and after awhile the woman's son.

The music itself is a mix of about everything. There's music inspired from the cultures of China, Arabia, Africa, and South America. All of the vocals are simply ooos and aaah and monkey chants. I guess Mohr didn't want language to be a barrier at the main emotion.

It's kind of an either like it or hate it work as you can see from the mixed reviews this CD has been getting. But for 2 CDs it's worth the chance.

Amateurish, pretentious.......2001-09-03

When I saw this in the store I bought it on impulse. So many of the Naxos American Music series recordings, even of unheard of composers like Carter Pann, have been so good. When I opened it and saw that the composer is 'self-taught', I thought, 'Uh oh!'

And, I'm sorry to say, my initial skepticism was borne out. The scenario is pretentious in the extreme, undergirded by half-baked Jungian philosophy. The music itself is amateurish, poorly composed, poorly orchestrated, not terribly well performed.

I have a guess: it is conducted by Theodore Kuchar, an excellent conductor. He had premiered it with his Boulder, Colorado, orchestra, and and has now recorded it with the Ukraine National Symphony, of which he is also the conductor. He has made many recordings for Naxos and Marco Polo. I suspect he was allowed to record this twaddle as payback for his Herculean services to the those labels. Is Mohr is cousin or something? It must be something like that.

Sheesh.

Potentially good, but falls flat.......2001-06-04

When I saw this in the store, I thought it would be another quality recording from the American Classics label of Naxos. I couldn't wait to listen to it because the concept seemed so unusual and the orchestration was very interesting. I read along through the linear notes before I listened to a single note (something I normally don't do), and I was very intrigued and ready to be moved into the 'shadow' the Mohr was supposedly creating.

Then I started listening...

At first the music was very descriptive and I was being taken on the journey described by Mohr, but then during the second track, when the chorus comes in, I noticed digital artifacts everywhere! You will be familiar with these if you have a low quality mp3. When the music gets very high and loud, the sound get distorted and sounds very much like a bad digital recording. All the instruments seem to be in one place, and there seems to be a lack of any engineer at the mixing station. I have no idea how a recording like this could come out of Naxos, but it did. As I continued listening, the music went through its different scenes, and I realized this felt like a work that a student in a conservatory might write. The music is just very boring. Possibly if I saw the stage direction to go along with it, it would be more exciting.

The idea seems good, and could possibly work, but Mohr bites off a little more than he can chew musically, and fails to convey the emotion that he so longfully desires to express. What is more amazing is that, given the quality of this music, it took him 22 years to write it.

I doubt this will be recorded again, so if you are fan of Mohr, you are stuck with this version, but Naxos should be ashamed of themselves for doing such a bad recording job. This is the only Naxos cd that I have heard so far which actually deserves its price, super-budget.

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