Wolfgang Rihm

On this CD:

1. Klavierstück (Piano Piece) No. 6
Composed by Wolfgang Rihm
Performed by Siegfried Mauser

2. Nachstudie, for piano
Composed by Wolfgang Rihm
Performed by Siegfried Mauser

3. Zwiesprache (Dialogs), for piano
Composed by Wolfgang Rihm
Performed by Siegfried Mauser

4. Auf einem anderen Blatt, for piano
Composed by Wolfgang Rihm
Performed by Siegfried Mauser

Wolfgang Rihm, Music, Wolfgang Rihm, Siegfried Mauser, Chamber Music & Recitals, Classical, Classical Music, Keyboard, Keyboard Work Entitled "Piece" or "Stück", Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Unclassified Title

Alban Berg: Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel" (1935) / Wolfgang Rihm: "Time Chant" Music for Violin & Orchestra (1991-92) - Anne-Sophie Mutter
Average customer rating:

One of the greatest CDs Deutsche Grammophon has put out

Anne-Sophie Mutter Plays Berg

Absolutely, completely sublime!

A Breath of Fresh Air

Outstanding Berg with an unusual coupling

Alban Berg: Violin Concerto "To the Memory of an Angel" (1935) / Wolfgang Rihm: "Time Chant" Music for Violin & Orchestra (1991-92) - Anne-Sophie Mutter
Alban Berg , Wolfgang Rihm , James Levine , Anne-Sophie Mutter , and Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Berg | Berg, Alban | ( B ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Rihm, Wolfgang | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Concertos | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
Violin | Strings | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music
Mutter, Anne-Sophie | ( M ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Krzysztof Penderecki: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra No. 2 "Metamorphosen" (1992-95) / Béla Bartók: Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2, Sz 76 (1922) - Anne-Sophie Mutter / London Symphony Orchestra / Krzysztof Penderecki / Lambert Orkis

Jean Sibelius: Violinkonzert/Serenaden/Humoreske

Sur Le Meme Accord/Violin Concerto 2/Violin Concerto

Tchaikovsky, Korngold: Violin Concertos

Berg: Violin Concerto; Schoenberg: Piano Concerto; Violin Concerto

ASIN: B000001GH9
Release Date: 1993-03-16

Tracks:

Violin Concerto 'To The Memory Of An Angel': I. Andante - Allegretto
Violin Concerto 'To The Memory Of An Angel': II. Allegro - Adagio
'Time Chant' Music For Violin And Orchestra: Beginning
'Time Chant' - Music For Violin And Orchestra: Bar 179

Amazon.com essential recording

Berg's Violin Concerto (1935) is considered by many the most accessible and emotionally engaging piece of music in the atonal idiom. His last completed work, the concerto was written as a memorial "to an angel" upon the premature death of Alma Mahler's daughter Manon Gropius. But as with all of Berg's oeuvre, an autobiography of the composer's inner life is also thoroughly woven into the score. From the deeply reflective nuances of its quiet opening, Anne-Sophie Mutter takes the listener into the heart of Berg's ambiguous lyricism. There's a keen grasp, both by soloist and conductor James Levine, of the work's intricate structure and progression, but never at the price of a coldly disengaged intellectualism. Mutter summons a marvelous array of shadings and colors, effecting a truly haunting impression as tonality makes its ghostlike apparition, first in the guise of a folk song and, in the final part--following a violent cataclysm rendered with fiery power--in the variations on a quote from a chorale by Bach. Throughout, Mutter's intuitive realization of the psychic journey traced by Berg reveals the work's significance as closer in spirit to a requiem of farewell than a traditional concerto.

Mutter's command of an animated tone that pulsates with expressive purpose inspired the contemporary German composer Wolfgang Rihm to write the other work on this disc, Gesungene Zeit ("Time Chant"). It's a mesmerizing neoexpressionist poem of shimmering, elongated string lines--later punctuated with dire eruptions from full orchestra--that seem to form an ether over which the soloist floats. Any sense of time measured in bars becomes negated as Mutter intones Siren-like threads of sound in the highest register. As with the Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 and other contemporary works she champions, Mutter plays with a gripping immediacy that indeed makes Rihm's imaginative novelty seem tailor-made for her. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

One of the greatest CDs Deutsche Grammophon has put out.......2007-01-30

I've held off on reviewing this Deutsche Grammophon disc for a long time, since I didn't think I could add anything to the praise already lavished on it by the press and my fellow reviewers. Yet, it is the fate of reviewers to ultimately throw in their two cents in spite of all that has come before, so here follow my thoughts on these performances by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by James Levine, with Anne-Sophie Mutter on solo violin.

Alban Berg's "Violin Concerto" (1935), with the dedication "to the memory of an angel", seems to have finally entered the standard repertoire. Written after the death of the young Manon Gropius, daughter of Alma Mahler-Werfel and Walter Gropius, it is a work of constant elegy sometimes tempered with praise of a beautiful young soul, but at other times giving in to the darkest feelings of mourning and catastrophe. Like in all his work, Berg uses the twelve-tone system inherited from his teacher Arnold Schoenberg, but with strong echoes of traditional harmony. Romanticism is abundant in this work too often considered undesirably "modernist"; it opens with the lushest sounds of clarinet and harp, moves towards the softest touches of strings, and ultimately roars thundering crescendos pregnant with meaning. While the violin is sometimes a sort of protagonist, representing the bloom of youth held down by Fate, often the work is intensely directing us to higher themes outside of the ensemble itself.

Since Berg left the door open to traditional harmony, he brings in two objets trouvees that link the work to a long tradition before it. The most readily noticeable is Bach's chorale "Es ist genug", variations on which provide the basis of the second movement. Another is a Carinthian folk song Berg knew in his youth, when he had an illegitimate child with a family maid, giving the concerto a "secret programme". This being 2007, when film music has gone to much greater extremes of "dissonance" than Berg ever approached, the harmonies of the concerto will seem pleasing and elegant to all but the most conservative of classical listeners.

There are, of course, many other performances of Berg's concerto out there. But several things set this apart. For one, the digital sound quality is superb, bringing a clarity to a piece too often heard in primitive recordings. And it was recorded after examination of the original sketches in the 1980s revealed that a key part of the work was muddled in the published score. Finally, there is Mutter's technique itself. While she has now grown rather stale and trite, at this time the violinist was at the height of her powers, and this performance is simple flawless.

The second piece on the disc is Wolfgang Rihm's "Time Chant" (1991-92). Here the violin is meant to exhibit nearly vocal characteristics, and when the small orchestra contributes, it is only in the role of filling out a line that is, as Rihm, claims, "in essence monophonic". The writing for the violin hovers in the heights of its range, playing crystalline sounds in the longest durations. This is actually something unusual for Rihm, as his music is often concerned with movement and energy--see JAGDEN UND FORMEN in DG's "20/21" series for an excellent work in this vein. Here Rihm amost approaches Alexander Knaifel in the light purity of the writing. I enjoy it immensely, especially played on a top-of-the-line stereo where its fragile beauty shines through, but I'd certainly recommend that people look elsewhere for an introduction to Rihm.

This disc is one of the greatest achievements on the CD. It commands so much respect and demand that 15 years after its release, it still has not been lowered to mid-price. It deserves a place in your collection, and the music will undoubtedly find itself a place in your heart as well.

Anne-Sophie Mutter Plays Berg.......2005-11-02

Alban Berg (1885 -- 1935) composed his violin concerto as a requiem for a young woman, Manon Gropius, but the work effectively became Berg's own requiem as well. It is Berg's last completed score, written in 1935. This is passionate, emotive music which staddles the bounds between atonality and musical romanticism. The performance by Anne-Sophie Mutter and James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recorded in 1992,is justly celebrated. This is an ideal introduction to Berg and to his masterful violin concerto. This is difficult music, make no mistake. The new listerner should stay with it, as the violin concerto will reward many hearings.

I used the discussion of this work in Michael Steinberg's book, "The Concerto," (1998) as a guide to my listening. Steinberg writes with great enthusiasm for Berg's concerto and gives the reader a good, brief introduction to Berg and his work. The violin concerto is a hermetic work. That is, the concerto is filled with allusions to Berg's love life, to affairs both late in his life and to an affair he had as a young man. The work also shows Berg's fascination with secrecy and with numerology. He followed certain pseudo-science of his day in thinking that the number 23 had some mystical significance for the life-rhythm while the number 28 had significance for women. This thinking, and other beliefs in lucky numbers and the like are built into Berg's score.

But of the music were only a code to be deciphered, it would not be of much interest. The emotion and force of the violin concerto drew me in and will make the work live for other listeners as well. The work is in two movements, each of which has two parts. The first movement opens slowly and elegaically with a quiet figure in the harp, followed shortly by an ascending 12-tone figure for the violin. The second part of the music is more rapid in tempo and develops nostagically an old folk-song -- in Berg's case, perhaps, to remind him of a love affair he had when young, the memory of which remained with him through life.

The second movement opens with a violently dissonant passage that speaks of calamity and loss. The second part of the movement, though, is a response and an answer to deep sorrow. It develops a chorale theme from a Bach cantata, "Es ist Genug" through a combination of Bach's harmonies and Berg's own. The chorale goes through a number of variations and moods ranging from a rememberance of love and passion to quiet acceptance and resignation. The work fades away with only the solo violin remaining at the end. The solo and the orchestral writing are deeply intertwined in this concerto.

It may be a shame that Wolfgang Rihm's "Time Chant: Music for Violin and Orchestra" is the companion piece on this CD. It seemed to me a thoughtful work, but it pales in comparison with the Berg. Rihm is a prolific contemporary German composer, and he wrote this work for Anne-Sophie Mutter. This was my first exposure to his music. The "Time Chant" is in two movements, both of which feature the violin playing declamatory passages at the top of its register punctuated on occasion by orchestral outbursts. The work shimmers and has the quality of a chant but functions mostly as a showpiece for Ms. Mutter's formidable technique. There are some striking passages for the violin but they are surrounded by musical moments in which not much happens.

The Mutter-Levine reading of Berg's concerto is more than enough reason to hear this CD with Rihm's work an intriguing addition. This disk offers an outstanding opportunity to get to know one of the great masterpieces of Twentieth Century music.

Robin Friedman

Absolutely, completely sublime!.......2004-02-16

I have long put off writing this review because I was afraid my puny words could not match this recording, which is one of the very finest in my collection of 3,000+ classical CDs. I have about a dozen recordings of this work, as it's my favorite violin concerto (sorry, Beethoven), but this reading is in a league of its own: the only comparable recording is the famous Krasner/Webern, which was only the second performance of the work ever. (The work was written for Krasner...see post script.)

Mutter and Levine are both on a very, very high level here, and the consistency is astonishing as well. Levine never holds back--the fortissimo climaxes in the second movement that represent the physical agony of 18-year-old Manon Gropius are truly hair-raising. (Some conductors perform this with more head than heart, but this is very emotional music and the emotional content should not be downplayed.) As someone else pointed out, Mutter give less vibrato than most in the Corinthian folksong, but the result is haunting, and here she was not abusing this technique, as I feel she now often does. Mutter was far more emotional and connected more with her audience, to my ears, in 1992 than she does today. I would not be interested in hearing what she does with this work now, sad to say, because I think she would turn it more into a vehicle for her technique than an exploration of the work.

But in 1992 Mutter was not yet "Anne Sophie Mutter," and instead she uses her magnificent control over the colors of her violin to imply the evolution of Manon's life, consciousness and illness. Although the grief is already present when we begin, there are also many light and airy moments in the first movement that make the grief feel more like freshadowing. In the second movement the illness is already fully present, and we hear what can only be the wracking pain of the illness. Her violin thus sounds, if not weak, at least subdued and drained when the Bach Chorale enters. But the most astonishing effect is saved for last: as the final bars play, the Corinthian theme is heard again, seemingly as Manon's last statement, and Mutter somehow gives her tone here an eerie "disembodied" quality, as though Manon is departing from this earth. It's not the colorless vibratoless approach that she overuses nowadays, but something very special. I must go back and check my Krasner recording to see if he did it. Then Levine brings the orchestra in for the fattest, warmest chords of all as we feel Manon has ended her suffering.

I am aware that we now know this masterpiece has multiple interpretations, and Berg apparently had more than one woman in mind when he wrote the work (the concerto is filled with various numerical mysticisms), but at the same time, we don't know who those other women were or what the rest of the "program" was, so I have a feeling Mutter and Levine took the Gropius story as their reference point, as one has to pick something as a focus. Agreed the trombones can't do that glissando from Bb to Eb in the second movement properly, but I am so wrapped up in the music that I just don't care!

Through all this there is an effortless quality that I have never heard in any other recording of this concerto, save possibly the Krasner. (It's hard to tell--the sound is very poor in spots.) Not a gesture is wasted; there is no loss of momentum, not even for a second. Mutter and Levine know exactly where they are going, and the result is one of the greatest orchestral recordings in the catalog, both a sonic tour-de-force and a tender elegy, a modernist work and a deeply Romantic piece filled with the echoes of 19th century Europe. The breadth they achieve is surpassed only by how they manage to unify it all. The Berg is so overwhelming a work that each time I put it on, I am in no mood to play the Rihm that comes after it, as it would have to be anticlimactic, and so I have to confess I have never listened it. Someday I must evaluate that work separately.

(Post script: I've recently found out that Louis Krasner, a couple of years ago in the New York Times, praised this recording as one of the very best. So if you don't believe me, take *his* word for it!)

A Breath of Fresh Air.......2003-05-18

Sometimes it takes going to a live performance of a work that is familiar to you on recording to make you revisit an old friend with renewed passion. So it was after hearing the astonishingly fine young violinist Jennifer Frautschi collaborate with Pierre Boulez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Berg Viloin Concerto that I returned to this brilliant recording of the Berg with Anne-Sophie Mutter, James Levine, and the Chicago Symphony to revive those moments. And once again this recording seems definitive. Berg's Requiem work is knowingly and lovingly performed with a richness of tone and technique that erases all of the seeming hurdles of atonal writing and delivers a wrenchingly passionate farewell work. The other joy of this particular recording is the coupling of Wolfgang Rihm's "Time Chant" which he wrote for violinist Mutter. This lyrically transcendent piece is evocative of the best of Messian and more than any other violin work to my knowledge succeeds in creating the illusion that the violin is a human voice, singing over a murmuring, pensive orchestral obbligato. Mutter masters this and the result is hair-raisingly beautiful. This is a very solid and very beautiful recording - and one that even the most harsh critic of atonal and contemporary music will succomb to in time.

Outstanding Berg with an unusual coupling.......2002-11-08

Anne-Sophie Mutter is one of the world's leading violinists, and this transcendent performance of the haunting Berg Violin Concerto shows why. With a gorgeous tone, she is in total command of the score's many expressive details, while keeping an eye on the larger structure. The overall impression is of quiet intimacy, even when the piece erupts into more blazing outbursts. The Rihm "Time Chant," written for Mutter, creates a vivid sound world and is also a fascinating complement to the Berg. Rihm is one of the most interesting composers around, and this piece, also on the quiet side, is an excellent introduction to his work.

James Levine is outstanding with Berg, as his glowing performances of "Wozzeck" and "Lulu" have shown. In his hands, this basically atonal score sounds more related to Richard Strauss or even Brahms. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra plays with its typically high level of virtuosity (such pianissimos!) and the recording is clear and natural-sounding.

The Berg is fairly well-represented on CD, and while I also like Itzhak Perlman's version with Ozawa and the Boston Symphony, Mutter's is equally memorable and the Chicago recording has a slight edge over the other one. If you are at all curious about the Rihm, this is well worth looking at.

Jagden Und Formen
Average customer rating:

Not merely entertaining and innovative, but truly exhilirating

Exhilarating study of rhythm and texture

An extreme statement on musical motion

Hunts and Forms, an open-ended chase...

Jagden Und Formen
Wolfgang Rihm , and Ensemble Modern
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Rihm, Wolfgang | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Deutsche Grammophon: Music | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Tristan Murail: Gondwana; Désintégrations; Time and Again

Boulez: Sur Incises/Messagesquisse/Anthèms 2

Musik Fur Streichinstrumente

Boulez conducts Boulez

Maderna: Quadrivium; Aura; Biogramma

ASIN: B0000630QB
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Customer Reviews:

Not merely entertaining and innovative, but truly exhilirating.......2005-08-14

This Deutsche Grammaphon disc--part of the "20/21" series of contemporary music recordings--contains Wolfgang Rihm's great piece "Jagden und Formen" performed by the Ensemble Modern conducted by Dominique My. Here the German composer characteristically blends the avant-garde tradition with echoes of German romanticism, especially concerned with the idea of a "hunt" for form, all resulting in an exhilarating work that is among the strongest entries in the "20/21" series yet.

In the 1990s Rihm wrote three pieces which explored the concept of form, "Gejagte Form" (1995-1996), "Gedraengte Form" (1995-1998), and "Verborgenne Formen" (1995-1997). He later collected these together to form "Jagden and Formen" ("Hunts and Forms"), yet this is not a mere hour-long concert of each piece in succession. Instead, Rihm weaves them together so that "Gejagte Form" serves as the skeleton of the work, appearing five times, first on two violins out of phase with each other, strings, flutes, clarinents, and harp, then on woodwinds, then on horns and trumpets, a fourth time on horns and trombones, and a last time for strings and piano. In between these structral elements, the piece abounds with unexpected turns, build-ups that fall when the "quarry" eludes the musicians/hunters, moments of uncertainty, and even the occasionally lyric or engine-like passage. Suspense is constant; rarely does contemporary repertoire, many of whose godfathers (I'm thinking especially of Webern) were compelled to keep their pieces short, offer an hour-long work that never lets the audience's attention wander. Furthermore, Rihm's orchestration, highlighting winds, percussion (especially the marimba), harp, and guitar over the usual strings, results in a use of colour as exotic as anything in Messiaen.

The performance is remarkable. In a work based on the idea of motion, Dominique My never lets up the pace, and the orchestra never takes a wrong step. My only complaint is that the recording, though crystal-clear, doesn't really explore the studio space as it should; having seen "Gedraengte Form" in concert, I think the piece sounds better with room to breathe. The liner notes are good, too, containing a musicological analysis of the piece along with an interview with Rihm where he defends his work with the kind of zany quips that we've come to love. And, though it feels somewhat dirty to praise the graphic design when the music is what matters, DG have come up with some impressive futuristic artwork.

I'm very enthusiastic about "Jagden and Formen", and think it deserves a place in the collection of any fan of contemporary music.

Exhilarating study of rhythm and texture.......2004-01-07

This is a marvelous recording. I have enjoyed Rihm's work for years (such as "Time Chant," written for Anne-Sophie Mutter) and this piece just clinches my admiration. "Jagden and Formen" ("Hunts and Forms") rushes by in a blur of multiple rhythms and fast tempi that are breathlessly executed by Ensemble Modern. The savvy conductor (new to me) is Dominique My, and she clearly knows what to do with Rihm's nervous, glittering opus.

Although the work is conceived in a single, unbroken movement (about 45 minutes long), the disc includes track numbers to easily locate individual sections, to help the listener grasp the work's structure, according to the notes. The track numbers also help to quickly locate a particular section.

This is a bracing new composition, and easy to recommend to anyone wanting a fast, energy-packed listening experience. The virtuosic playing -- good on its own -- and intelligent conducting are complemented by DG's excellent sound that enables all of Rihm's gestures to be audible. For some who complain that "no good music is being written today," this outstanding recording begs to differ.

An extreme statement on musical motion.......2003-06-08

"Hunts and forms": The CD booklet compares the motion of the music with that of a high-speed train - yet that comparison does not quite hold. In the main thread of the music there rarely is a "run-away" motion as can only be formed by regular rhythms; rather the irregular rhythms found in the main threads provide a constant game of holding back/jumping forward, with a jerking motion that nonetheless overall pushes the music ahead. This music does not establish a Beethovenian forward momentum, yet a high level of energy of motion is found nonetheless.

Regular rhythms - as "run-away" patterns - mostly occur just for a brief moments, only to quickly disappear again. Only in the second half of the work there are a few passages where the music moves in more extended, massive unison motion of fast regular rhythms; the massive circular motion in these few moments pushes the music forward with almost barbaric, primeval vehemence, in great contrast to the refinement and elegance of the musical motion and timbres usually found in the work. All these unison motions in regular rhythm disperse, crumble quite rapidly, however.

From the very beginning it is clear that not only the motion is agitated, but also that the music features an excited tone. This tone is at first mainly associated with the predominant playing of smaller ensemble groups; bigger tutti initially feature more massiveness than excitement of tone. Yet on a large-scale, over the course of the entire composition, there is a development of this excited tone into an all-encompassing, massive timbre, gaining sharp brightness along the way: in a statistical manner - not in a gradual continuum - massiveness and excitement of timbre more and more coalesce, the further the work progresses, up to the final climax (which is not the end of the work). This large-scale development, together with the common motivic material throughout the work, lends coherence to the music, even though the individual "hunts" never translate into a long, continuous thread along which the music might chase.

The two violins (later joined by other strings) present the motivic material that will be used throughout the work. Later woodwinds play an important role, the final sharpness of timbre is foreshadowed by polyphonic soloist playing of members of the trumpet section at about 1/3 through the work (after the first interruption of the "running" motion, see below), and in the final combination of massiveness and sharpness of excited tone the brass section as a whole plays an important role; percussion accents become more and more weighty as well. Woodwinds continue to play an important role until the end; the dominance of the string section at the beginning does not repeat itself. As coloring device, however, the sound of strings is used often in combination with other instruments, and strings may also contribute to the polyphony in separate strands. The ensemble of about 25 players often sounds like a larger orchestra in terms of weight.

The development of the motivic material at first may seem rather repetitive - the material is more oriented towards rhythm and interval than towards melody - yet it is not. Of course, the work is divided into sections that differ enough from each other as to make clear that there is a great level of non-repetition, yet it may take some time to discover how astonishingly little repetitiveness there is (actually none, strictly spoken) within one section, even though a given section may appear to be of rather uniform color. Given the "limited" material, the actual lack of repetitiveness seems the more admirable, the more one listens to the music.

Several times, at first about 1/3 through the work, the music comes to a halt, in drawn-out music that, at least partially, appears to represent broad augmentations of the motivic material in very slow motion. Those incisions in the music, full of tension since so much at odds with the main character of agitated motion, add to the complexity of the overall development of the work.

The main voice in the music may come from one instrument group, it may be formed by a dialogue between different groups, or there may be several main voices running in parallel and at different apparent speeds, forming diverse time layers.

The complexity of the polyphony is extraordinary. Following such polyphonic complexity in agitated motion over the entire length of the work with the concentration necessary to appreciate the musical argument is not easy, also given the relative uniformity of the musical material used throughout.

This certainly is one of those works that both challenge and train the listener's capabilites of perception, and in the end, the richness of experience fully rewards the effort. This is an important work: it says new things in music, and it does so with weight.

Hunts and Forms, an open-ended chase..........2002-09-18

This is the first music of Wolfgang Rihm that I've heard. One continuous 51-minute composition, "Jagden und Formen (Hunts and Forms)" is in ceaseless, lively motion, a headlong rush that pauses, shifts instrumentation -- "multiple superimposed lines in constant flux" as the liner notes put it -- and then continues hunting. Performed with precision by the Ensemble Modern, the piece begins with the graduated entry of several "desks" of instruments -- strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. The strings play a lesser role in the overall scheme, to give a sense of the timbre. The obvious points of comparison for me, based on what I've heard, are Boulez and Reich. Perhaps more similar technically to Boulez, "Jagden und Formen" is more frantic and bold than "Repons," with its dreamy circularity. "Jagden und Formen" has an overall effect similar to Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians," at least in contrast to traditional classical orchestration and composition, partly due to the use of "swing-like cross-rhythms" and marimba. A fascinating work which, also like "Repons," leaves me somewhat dissatisfied, but looking forward to hearing more by Rihm.

Tracks:

Nobody Knows De Trouble I See: Conc in C
Sequenza X in C
Sine Nomine I
Vier Stucke: '1/4nt' = 84
Vier Stucke: '1/4nt' = 58
Vier Stucke: '1/4nt' = 88
Vier Stucke: '1/4nt' = 66
The Broken Farewell in D

Wolfgang Rihm: Musik für Oboe und Orchester; Styx und Lethe; Dritte Musik; Erster Doppelgesang

Average customer rating:

Four concertos, the best Rihm yet on disc!

Wolfgang Rihm: Musik für Oboe und Orchester; Styx und Lethe; Dritte Musik; Erster Doppelgesang

Manufacturer: Hanssler Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

György Kurtág: Complete Choral Works
Penderecki - Die Teufel von Loudun
Brian Ferneyhough: Funérailles

ASIN: B000O5B514
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Tracks:

Musik Fur Oboe Und Orchester
Styx Und Lethe Musik Fur Violoncello Und Orchester
Dritte Musik Fur Violine Und Orchester - Michael Gielen
Erster Doppelgesang Musik Fur Viola, Violoncello Und Orchester - Jan Latham-Koenig

Album Description

Includes World Premiere Recordings! Wolfgang Rihm is one of the most performed, most discussed, most successful living German composers--and one of the most productive as well: he has written over 400 works. Rihm's confession--his "Donaueschingen Credo" of 1974--so bold for its time, has since lost none of its authority. This is a recording to be welcomed by all fans of twentieth-century music--a celebration of one of Europe's most extraordinary musical minds.

Customer Reviews:

Four concertos, the best Rihm yet on disc!.......2007-06-23

This Hannsler disc bears the title RIHM-EDITION, VOL. 1. This is great news for admirers of Rihm's music, and the Edition is off to an amazing start with this collection of four concertos from the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Frieburg, with conductors Michael Gielen and Hans Zender. I recommend this disc without reservation to anyone who is curious about the prolific contemporary German composer -- it instantly becomes the best introduction to Rihm.

Concertos, it seems to me, often provide an accessible doorway to a composer's work. The foregrounding of a solo line over an orchestral counterpart can be easier to follow than the complex structures of, say, symphonies or string quartets. This set of Rihm concertos is a fantastic example of the principle, in any event. All four are either world premieres, or world premiere recordings, or both.

The first, "Musik fur Oboe und Orchester" (16'19" -- 1995/2002) is the least intimidating of the four. Alexander Ott plays the lovely solo part, which is melodic in the best romantic tradition. Some will not doubt see this as Rihm mellowing and making a neoclassical turn, but it is a beautiful piece in its own right. It works toward an energetic and humorous climax. "Styx und Lethe: Musik fur Violoncello und Orchester" (23'34" -- 1997/1998) is the most impressive of the four concertos, and features Lucas Fels on cello. It is a very dense work, but utterly fascinating in its complexity. Rihm describes it as being like "over-packed suitcases." Like the oboe concerto, the cello concerto concludes with frantic energy. Together, they stand as two chapters of a story, beginning light and carefree, and turning dark and tormented. Hans Zender leads the SWR Symphony Orchestra in live performances of both pieces.

"Dritte Musik fur Violine und Orchester" (17'42 -- 1993) features Gottfried Schneider on violin and Michael Gielen as conductor. Finally, "Erster Doppelgesang: Musik fur Viola, Violoncello und Orchester" (14'04" -- 1980) is the earliest work included, and the only one recorded in the studio. Jan Latham-Koenig conducts, Hirofumi Fukai plays viola, and Walter Grimmer plays cello. These string concertos maintain the high level of music. The "Doppelsegang" is a striking work with several strong tonal passages that emerge as out of storm clouds, and it concludes with percussion beating down the strings al Schnittke. Rihm, who wrote it in Rome, says "[i]n April the war cries were ringing out louder and louder. Why should it not be said? The drum, small and malicious has to do with it. The singing is over." Apparently referring to the intensifying Cold War confrontation of the time, this is the most political comment I have run across from Rihm.

Hanssler retroactively identifies KLANGBESCHRIEBUNG(2001) and TUTUGURI (2003) as part of the Rihm Edition. A schedule of future releases is projected for 2007 -- 2010, with the next promised disc to include two orchestral works from 1974 and 1975 (DIS-KONTUR and SUB-KONTUR) and a mid-1970s violin concerto (LICHTZWANG).

This "FOUR CONCERTOS" disc is recommended to all contemporary music devotees. For more excellent Rihm, see my review of the CHIFFRE-ZYKLUS (Cipher Cycle) on CPO, released in 2006.

Reinhold Friedrich Plays Mason, Walter, Rihm

Average customer rating:

three readings of the post modern, What was
Definitely not easy listening, but . . .
An unusual contemporary trumpet recital

Reinhold Friedrich Plays Mason, Walter, Rihm

Manufacturer: Capriccio
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Nobody Knows de Trouble I See: Trompetenkonzerte des 20. Jahrhunderts
Modern Trumpet
La Belle Epoque: French Music for Trumpet and Piano

ASIN: B00005MK6N
Release Date: 2001-07-24

Customer Reviews:

three readings of the post modern, What was.......2006-06-14

Rihm can be boring, depending on the genre and how much he has spent himself there, for his ideas easily get eaten up quickly by wherever he finds himself situated, the String Quartets for example are all marvelously exciting with e birth to death narrative with some venturing into Mahlerian lengths and dramatic scope as the Third Quartet. This trumpet rhapsody amples along for a whilelike it is lost, almost arbitrary melodic lines in the trumpet,I suppose this gives a sense of tension, of being lost, without focus, anti-romantic, for the soloist is suppose to guide, perhaps not in the 20th Century, all guides have disappeared or questioned out of existence, its Rihm's unaltered on-goinf sense that keeps his music on target, he is committed to the end,even though he gives the impression of getting lost himself, ambling around in and out of fragements of the expressionist realms, the almost organlike sounding marimba following the pitches of the trumpet is what?, the tones of the solo trumpet like materials from his sketchbooks, then things get grotesque, the neo-expressionist raises his head; dimensions Rihm has captured so well, I cannot help also recalling the German painter Baselitz,another creative soul full of passion and invention,yet evoking what has been, what was, what cannot be changed;the more un-playful ones.
Rihm has spoken well about his aesthetic, his musical philosophy to allow his materials to direct him wherever, and he does come to suggest almost the history of Romanticism coming to the surface,as if Brahms had lived through the Third Reich' it is all surface anyway for Rihm for his music shuns atonal-like procedures,although you never sense the music is not tightly controlled' he wanted more freedom of gesture in the musical language he has adopted, of pulsations, of the irrational, not afraid anymore of the irrational, the madness dimension so attenuated/discussed after the war,those as Stockhausen hid behind pure theory and technique,pure science,busting the rhythms of the 20th Century into splinters; but Rihm in this concerto is explosive, always inventive when you feel he has reached the ends of an idea, a phrase a gesture, gesturing forward, with snarling French Horns, motoric, incestuous rhythms,there is something new,we may not like it as functions change like with tympani as an alter ego, with the trumpet trying to maintain his role here, you sense however the music is following a plan for the music is stilted much of the time, suggesting jaz even with a walking bass and muted trumpet, but it is only a caracature, it is not jazz, it is Rihm playing at jazz, another piece of garbage from the 20th Century, all part of junkspace.
The Caspar Johannes Walter seems to outdo Rihm at his/their game more graphic, more seedier,more grotesque more intense, yet internal with multiphonics cropping up in the trumpet, well here the materials are parcelled, fragmented into five distinct pieces. But the trumpet works with the orchestral forces to survey the timbral landscape, stopping on a few intervals sustained, before proceeding.Wlater has more control here he needs to keep his materials focused it seems. There are more noise-like almost (dare I say it) film cinema-like ambiences, mists of music for the film, this is music requiring an image which we never get, so Walter does give his materials some integrity, but he doesn't allow their independence their own committment to their own agenda, so all seems lost, perhaps this being lost is what is required. There are wonderful moments however in the typical always heard string glissandi with "witches sabbath" like sounds, timbres for the Nacht, the nocturne, but you can tell Walter studied his extended techniques much more than Rihm although he is not quite as adventuresome as Lachenmann without the theoretical indenpendence Lachenmann can summon to his materials. The trumpet tries to stay in the forefront but is continuously getting disrupted.

For Benedict Mason the conceptual seems to be an important component;constructing his own musical discourse;although it is decipherable, a composer where whatever ideas he has seem to not make the effect, the affect of the music all too cumbersome, he needs to keep his music free, , all the sustained-ness in the beginning quickly overdoes its welcome, perhaps the antiphonal-ness is missed on the recording, still Mason is not afraid of taking chances with his music, his creativity, and here the barely audible moments simply makes a CD presentation quite ill-focused, I suspect the beauty in a live performance hall is overwhelming,more gentle and private where the sounds can be followed in space. Mason has a lyrical bent, an affinity here, it is music quite familiar, and he yes indeed allows the listener to have fun, to cherish the moments in the concert hall, so the listener doesn't feel cheated with the Box, the Cash Box forebearance of exchange. There really is no instrumental mixtures, here, timbres are spatial, like fragments, but there is the serious here coming from the hinterland of the majestic trombones, blatting serious their entrances. The trumpet is conceptual, playing with the proceedings again I suspect with, playing with the spaces, the acoustics of the performance room. There is however a kind os spirtuality in this music, like a forgotten time that is summoned here, very English is all one can say, of friendly music, but not too much so, the music has the English reserve to it, a kind of familiar blandness, that captivates you, it is a blandness that is welcome, because it is suggestive of again a liturgy, a spirit of vocal music, the voice is very much present in this music, there are no sweeping orchestral tuttis, or overhwhelming string bodies of canvas. And again Mason brings his avant-garde experiences to his work, simply content to have the trumpet play single tones, on and on and going up to have some high declamations while the trombon choirs try to provide the barest of accompanimental responses, at times however these same trombones sound like monstrous beasts of the depths, but not Wagnerian more folk like from English myth. Then the trumpet is "warming-up" with exercises for a moment, and the orchestra gets back to servicing the concerto genre. It is all a game to Mason, it is all like an interesting game of chess where you go, how you move, when you move, what you reserve, and hold for a future time is what this music seems to be about. It is music quite un-dense, quite parcelled, like a finely wooven piece of cotton, you can see through it in the English summer breeze in the garden by the gnome. Yes gnomes seem to be residing some place in this work, like playing jokes on the listener, for we don't quite know where we are in the work at all times, perhaps Mussorgsky comes to the surface at times, the "catacombs", or the mule-cart slowly grinding by the cottage. There is beauty here as well in open string sonorities, the trumpet disrupting the proceedings. It is quite a beautiful concerto, that grows on you, like the question of the day, or like a cross-word puzzle you just cannot quite complete.

Definitely not easy listening, but . . ........2005-08-20

. . . this is definitely a very important recording of some very difficult trumpet works that you won't hear anywhere else. Friedrich displays some downright amazing facility and control especialy in the Walter. The Rihm is sophisticated and subtle, yet violent and downright barbaric. Friedrich plays at both a barely audible whisper and an earsplitting roar and everything in between and still sounds great. The Rihm is probably my favorite, simply because of the wide range of emotional content. To get the real jist of that, you really need to read the program notes.

The "Three Pieces Against Stagnation," perhaps the most demanding of the works on this disc come off very effectively. There is a mysterious, at times disturbing aura about the whole piece and Friedrich cultivates that. What could be a purely academic and coldly calculated piece, is suddenly transformed into music, unconventional music, yes (note the use of microtonal harmonies, unusual playing techniques, and a hammer and saw in the orchestra) but real music with a real message none the less.

The Mason concerto is definitely not as effective as a live performance might be. It is very difficult to capture the nuances of the differing distance of the instruments away from the audience. I think the engineers did the best that they could in that. But the distance and empty space is what makes this piece what it is. Yes there is a lot of background noise, but that is part of the music! Mason takes silence and emptiness (things which his fellow german composer Webern loved) which most people are afraid of and reveals that there is music even in those silences just as John Cage set out to prove in his works such as 4'33".

If you are a trumpeter or even just like trumpet music or avant- garde music in general, this recording demands your attention!

An unusual contemporary trumpet recital.......2003-11-25

Reinhold Friedrich, a stalwart of contemporary trumpet music only somewhat less famous than Hakan Hardenberger in trumpet circles, has recorded an extensive selection of new music on the German independent label Capriccio. This disc features three concertante works from the 1990s by three different composers, though only one of the composers is well known and only one of the works is called a concerto.

Wolfgang Rihm's rhapsody for trumpet, percussion and orchestra, Marsyas, is based on the story from Ovid's Metamorphosis of the satyr Marsyas, who picked up Athena's discarded flute and with it challenged the god Apollo to a musical constest. Losing this, he was flayed to death, and his skin became the river Marsyas. This is a primarily melodic work, with the trumpet solo line varying from aggressive rhythmic writing to a sort of German blues. I don't think it's one of Rihm's best works, but it's worth hearing.

Caspar Johannes Walter was a composer new to me. His Four Pieces Against Stagnation are essays in gradual loss of musical motion. Non-melodic, often using much microtonal sliding and displaying a disdain for 'beautiful' harmony, these works seem to me to be placed somewhere in the area around Ligeti's Apparitions and the 1960s works of Giacinto Scelsi. I wasn't hugely impressed, but Walter is certainly a young composer with something unusual to say.

The final work on the disc is in my opinion the finest. Benedict Mason is a composer in the English experimental tradition, and I think one of the more underrated compositional figures active at present. (Those collecting Collins Classics' now moribund range of CD singles will remember the excellent work Lighthouses of England and Wales recorded there.) The present work, in concert, is about half way between installation and concerto, with the performers scattered as far away from the audience as possible, both for dramatic reason and to make the sound appear is if it is coming from afar. These effects, of course, do not appear on CD, but it is still a musically interesting piece, often focused around reiterated or long-held single notes. Stylistically, it reminds me a little of the late orchestral works of Luigi Nono, though in softer focus.

Tracks:

Concerto en Re: 1. Toccata
Concerto en Re: 2. Aria I
Concerto en Re: 3. Aria II
Concerto en Re: 4. Capriccio
Partita: 1. Allegro giusto
Partita: 2. Ad libitum
Partita: 3. Largo
Partita: 4. Ad libitum
Partita: 5. Presto
Chain 2: 1. Ad libitum
Chain 2: 2. A battuta
Chain 2: 3. Ad libitum
Chain 2: 4. A battuta - Ad libitum - A battuta

Tracks:

1. Allegro non troppo
2. Andante tranquillo - Allegro scherzando - Tempo I
3. Allegro molto
1. Lumiere vaporeuse. Mysterieux et envoutant
2. Dialogue avec l'Etoile
3. Azur fascinant (Serenade tessinoise). Exuberant, un air de fete

Tracks:

Violinkonzert: I. Andante - Allegretto - Anne Sophie
Violinkonzert: II. Allegro - Adagio - Anne Sophie
Musik fur Violine und Orchester: Anfang - Beginning - Debut - Inizio - Anne Sophie
Musik fur Violine und Orchester: Taka - Bar - Mesure - Battuta 179 - Anne Sophie

Customer Reviews:

Excellent buy!.......2007-04-09

This is an excellent buy. I especially like the Stravinsky and Berg. But all compositions are good and she really plays the heck out of fthem.

DIABETES IS HELPED BY TWENTIETH CENTURY VIOLIN MUSIC.......2002-09-04

I listened to Igor Stravinsky's concerto en re and Witold Lutoslawski's Partita and Chain 2 before lunch. Stravinsky was fine and easy. Lutoslawski I kind of glossed over. After lunch I got through Bartok,enjoyed Norbert Moret's En reve, submerged with Berg, and got reamed by Rihm.
Lutoslawski always lowers my blood sugar. I think it is because his music is unfamiliar, dissonant, and requires a lot of attention as do the rest. The violin concerto by Bartok and Berg were intriguing and held me spellbound.
Wolfgang Rihm I thought extreme in his high registers for the violin. My sugar three hours after eating was 122. This is good for me.
So, I ordered Norbert Moret's Cello Concerto by a favorite named Rostropovich along with Hymne de Silence. I was going to order Wolfgang Rihm's Sring Quartets 1,8 & 5, but the review made it sound like a lot of noise. But this is good for me, so I ordered. I got a little Stravinsky in Flute for Relaxation. Maybe the unfamiliar is better when the familiar has too many memories and auditorial reactions. I may revisit more Twentieth Century musicians.

Nicely Done.......2000-04-01

An all around great collection of important 20th century stuff. She really has a unique take on the Bartok...

Great collections of modern music by fine musician........1999-12-16

This is certainly one of the great collections of modern music, and it's much to Mutter's credit that she plays this music. She's not just a babe, though that's frequently how she's packaged on CD covers (why do they do that?). She can really play, with tremendous fire, for instance, on the great Bartok 2d, or subtlety and nuance on the Berg. The two Lutoslawski's call for rapid changes in style, perhaps Mutter's greatest strength. The lesser known works on this set are really worth it, too--the Moret is dazzling, the Rihm mysterious and beautiful. In all this is an excellent buy.

Wien Modern: Works by György Ligeti (Atmosphères, Lontano) / Luigi Nono (Liebeslied) / Pierre Boulez (Notations I-IV) / Wolfgang Rihm (Départ)

Average customer rating:

Your Voice Says Nono, but Your Eyes Say Yesyes.
Spectacular performances of unusual repertoire

Wien Modern: Works by György Ligeti (Atmosphères, Lontano) / Luigi Nono (Liebeslied) / Pierre Boulez (Notations I-IV) / Wolfgang Rihm (Départ)
Vienna Youth Choir , Vienna Philharmonic , and Claudio Abbado (Conductor)
Manufacturer: Polygram Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Babbitt: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra/The Head Of The Bed
Scelsi: Natura Renovatur
Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel; Why Patterns?
Harrison Birtwistle: The Axe Manual
György Ligeti Edition 6: Keyboard Works (Piano, Harpsichord, Organ) - Irina Kataeva / Pierre-Laurent Aimard / Elisabeth Chojnacka / Zsigmond Szathmáry

ASIN: B00000E4G8
Release Date: 2005-03-21

Tracks:

Dart (1988) (For Mixed Chorus, Speaking Chorus And 22 Players)
Atmosphes
Lontano (1967) (For Large Orchestra)
Liebeslied (1954) (For Mixed Chorus And Instruments)
Fantasque - Mod
Rythmique
Tr Mod
Tr Vif

Customer Reviews:

Your Voice Says Nono, but Your Eyes Say Yesyes........2007-02-08

Consider the case of the bitter tasters. Some people have a gene coding for a specific tastebud receptor, allowing them to get a pungent bitterness from some foods, whereas others do not. Consider the disagreement between a taster and non-taster of such a substance. The taster argues it's cleary disgusting, and the non-taster finds it not bad at all. Who's right?

Our gut instinct is to say neither is right--this is merely a matter of taste, literally, in which there are no right answers. Now consider the possibility that some people have a gene that codes for liking pointilistic, avant garde works such as (some of) these, and some do not. If we disagree on the worth of these pieces, is it simply a matter of taste, in which no right may obtain? Perhaps it is.

Now consider the case of the two-headed grizzly bear across the room. I don't see it, and yet you do. You insist that there is a grizzly bear over there and it's got a head and then another one. Wait, wait, I protest; perhaps you simply have a gene that codes for seeing grizzly bears and I do not have that gene. "The presence of that grizzly bear is simply a matter of taste. And there are no right answers in such things. Thus to say the grizzly bear is there is silly--at most you see a grizzly bear, but that proves nothing. Proves about much as my sensation of bitterness on tasting some things."

Clearly, there must be some meaningful distinction among this gradient. I'm not sure where it is, but I'm going to place it between the sound and the taste. Perhaps there is no such gene for pointilism--and that is the difference. Perhaps it is something much more subtle. But a distinction must exist.

This is all to say, I don't much care for the Rihm here. Maybe with more listenings I will, but this kind of gestural (apparent) randomness does nothing for me at present. Ultimately, I'll have to decide if that preference is simply a matter of taste, or some real tracking of artistic quality. I don't know now.

But I will say the Boulez is excellent, and Atmospheres has its moment. The Nono is surprisingly charming. And no matter the quality of the pieces, Abbado's performance is impeccable. One's only complaint is the chorus of coughs the live audience interjects during the hushed beginning of track 2.

Spectacular performances of unusual repertoire.......2004-07-02

The most familiar works on this terrific recording are probably the two Ligeti pieces, "Atmospheres" and "Lontano." With remarkable sensitivity and subtlety, Claudio Abbado creates sheer magic out of these other-worldly scores. As but one example, listen to the end of "Atmospheres" as the piece gently fades out with the Vienna Philharmonic creating waves of gorgeous, ethereal harmonics.

This is one of the best versions of Boulez's "Notations" -- on par with the composer's own recording. The orchestra mines all the color Boulez asks for in a really exciting performance. The unusual Rihm and Nono works are also quite marvelous, and all the more valuable for being preserved in readings of such high quality -- and the Vienna Youth Choir sounds splendid.

Throughout the recording, the musicians of the Vienna Philharmonic sound completely comfortable -- as if they play these pieces every week, with a technical assurance that will grab your ears immediately. The sound quality is excellent, especially given that the program was culled from live performances. This is an unusual recording for Abbado, and can't be recommended highly enough for those curious about the repertoire.

Average customer rating:

Trio Recherche
Original, but not altogether moving

Rihm: Musik für drei Streicher

Manufacturer: Kairos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Trios | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00002DDUF
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Customer Reviews:

Trio Recherche.......2000-09-12

I enjoy listening to this CD. It contains works composed by Wolfgang Rihm (b1952) for a String Trio. They are a pleasant spin. If you are familiar with Beethoven, Brahms and/or Bartock pieces for string ensembles, these pieces will be accessible to you. The outstanding feature of this CD is the band. Trio Recherche is in complete control of the mechanical and emotive aspects of these pieces. The vigour they apply to ENERGICO brings it to life. The dynamics of CANZONAs 1 & 2 are skillfully executed. If you are interested in a performance by one of the best string trios this world has to offer, this CD will be interesting to you.

Original, but not altogether moving.......2000-08-03

Wolfgang Rihm is one of those composers who's name I saw all over the place (most notably, Anne-Sophie Mutter CDs) but had never actually heard any of his music. I somehow had gotten the impression that he was some sort of "new tonalist" composer, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

While Rihm's music is more clearly in debt to romantic music than most 20th century composers, he's still careful enough to keep his music progressive, rather than regressive. "Music for 3 Strings" does utilize all sorts of things from older music (triads, quotes from Beethoven quartets) but they're used in totally new ways so that you almost don't even notice he's using something old.

However, the trait of Rihm's music that is most often discussed, and probably most appealing to a lot of people, is his very immediate and emotional style of writing. Rihm lays everything on the table, my only problem with it is that his idea of passion and emotion is, unlike his other compositional techniques, clearly a romantic one.