Robert Shaw's awards shelf had to be expanded to make room for the National Medal of Arts from Pres. Reagan, Musician of theYear by Musical America, the Theodore Thomas Award of the Conductor's Guild, a Gold Record, Britain's Gramophone Award, 13 Grammys, four ASCAP awards, the list goes on and on. Shaw began directing the Fred Waring Glee Club to radio fame, then his Collegiate Chorale, finally moving on to the Robert Shaw Chorale, whose tours and recordings brought him worldwide fame. He became music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 1967. "The Power" combines the orchestral power (as in heavily accompanied) of the Symphony with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Robert Shaw Festival Singers to do justice to 17 monumental pieces by such heavies as Verdi, Durufle, Orff, Mozart, Borodin, Bach, Handel, Berlioz, Faure, Haydn and Rachmaninoff. Remember the drama and power of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah?" It's here, and there's 16 others like it. Amazing! |