Elizabeth Chooses a Career

The enfants terribles of Juilliard who sowed the seeds of the minimalist movement (a.k.a. Steve Reich and Philip Glass) are both represented here by works for two pianos, performed by Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa. Reich’s early work, Piano Phase, displays the composer’s thrilling formalistic rigor, which then gets contrasted by Glass’s keen dramatic sensibilities. Re-scored from its original three-piano format by the performers, Glass’s Six Scenes from “Les Enfants Terribles” retains all of the original’s cinematic flair. The music ranges broadly in mood, from the offbeat majesty of the Overture to the melancholic “Elizabeth Chooses a Career.”

—RN