Steve Reich's Different Trains, completed in the late Eighties, has lost none of its power to shock and challenge. Its relevance is driven home in this compelling performance by the Smith Quartet, recorded at the time of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The work contrasts Reich's childhood experiences of train journeys across the US with those of European Jews deported to the death camps. This five-star Signum issue, released on September 5, conveys the emotional power or Reich's uncompromising writing.