Hourglass album review – Simone Dinnerstein gives Glass room to breathe

Dinnerstein/Baroklyn
(Naïve)
With a refreshingly organic approach, the US pianist and her string ensemble revitalise the modern minimalist master’s score for The Hours and his Tirol Concerto

Getting ahead of next year’s 90th birthday celebrations, American pianist Simone Dinnerstein presents two works by Philip Glass, performing alongside her own string ensemble. Baroklyn – the name conflates her home borough of Brooklyn and the baroque sensibilities of JS Bach – take a far-from-mechanical approach to the composer’s minimalist tics. Their aim is to emulate the passage of time like sand through an hourglass (hence the title) rather than chopping the music into segments like the hands of a clock. And it works.

Arranged by Michael Riesman, Suite from The Hours splices Glass’s score for Stephen Daldry’s film into an almost symphonic three-movement work. The story’s pain and poetry is encapsulated in an immersive score for piano, strings, harp and celesta, with Dinnerstein raising the emotional stakes by adopting considerably slower tempi than the movie soundtrack.