Album Review: Peter Calandra - "Inner Circle"
Composer Peter Calandra’s fourth solo work, Inner Circle, consists of 13 tracks filled with, as is his speciality, compositions that are solely instrumental. Calandra’s talent and skill are enormous, and what he does with that aptitude proves his musical capacity early on. Calandra utilizes an entire orchestra within his music, which provides a vast expanse of sound. And in many cases, Calandra has set up his compositions in ways that make them sound like deep, lofty conversations between his piano and stringed instruments.
After giving each of these songs even a single listen, it becomes easy to imagine them in a Hollywood movie or in a Broadway musical. It’s amazing how much vibrance and character can be created through sounds created by instruments alone. Each of these instrumentals tells a story, but what’s so unique about that story is that it’s up to each listener to create that narrative while they’re listening to it. “Clyde and the Pearl” sounds like shooting stars flashing across the sky, whereas “Whispers in the Dark” sounds more like tiny ballerinas dancing in synchronicity after a music box has been wound.
“Better Angels” is one of the softest songs on the release. He wrote it using only two pianos, and it’s as if this song is a quiet conversation between these two pianos. Similarly to this conversation, Calandra does a wonderful job of portraying conflicts within his tracks. You could easily imagine “Faith,” for example, being used for a play in which a character is severely torn about a difficult decision they’re being faced with.
In the world of composing and scoring, Peter Calandra is a force to be reckoned with. Within his career thus far, he has written scores for films, compositions for television broadcasts, and has served as a musician in Broadway productions. On top of that, Inner Circle marks his fourth solo release as a musician. He is able to take the listener on extravagant highs and plummeting lows through the beautiful work he creates with his instruments. This guy has a knack for creativity that he should be incredibly proud of.
Review by Alec Cunningham
Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
