Musica Viva '03

On this CD:

1. Symphony No. 3 "Jesus Messiah, Save us!"
Composed by Galina Ustvolskaya
Performed by Bavarian Radio Sinfonie-Orchester
Conducted by Markus Stenz

2. Music for clarinet & orchestra ("Über Die Linie 2")
Composed by Wolfgang Rihm
Performed by Bavarian Radio Sinfonie-Orchester with Jorg Widmann
Conducted by Sylvain Cambreling

3. Photoptosis, prelude for orchestra
Composed by Bernd Alois Zimmermann
Performed by Bavarian Radio Sinfonie-Orchester
Conducted by Markus Stenz

Customer Reviews:

An interesting live music collection.......2003-11-18

This disc contains performances from both the 1998 (Ustvolskaya and Zimmermann) and 1999 (Rihm) Musica Viva festivals in Munich. The Ustvolskaya and Zimmermann works have been recorded elsewhere, but as far as I'm aware this is the only available recording of the Rihm.

Ustvolskaya's 3rd symphony is very typical of her mature style. Built upon a mosaic-like structure of repeated thematic fragments, its strong ritualistic atmosphere is intensified by the extraordinary orchestration (five oboes, five trumpets, trombone, three tubas, three drums, piano and five double-basses), the almost total lack of conventional symphonic development and the presence of a reciter chanting a Russian translation of a fragmentary prayer by the 11th century monk Hermanus Contractus. It's an extraordinary work--if exceedingly single-minded--though Ustvolskaya fans will wish to get hold of Oleg Malov's recordings of symphonies 2-5 as recorded by the Belgian company Megadisc.

Relief is then provided by Wolfgang Rihm's clarinet concerto Uber die Linie II. This is one of the most lyrical of Rihm's works, the solo part largely spinning out unending melody over half an hour, while the orchestral accompaniment often tends towards a pellucid, chamber-music-like feel. On the more negative side, the work's structure tends to ramble, and Rihm's inspiration is not consistent the whole way through.

The disc concludes with Zimmermann's bizarre orchestral prelude, Photoptosis. This synaesthesic work seems to conjure up an orchestral impression of being gradually blinded by ever-brightening light. The musical material is fragmentary at best and aggressively repetitive, becoming increasingly menacing as time passes. At the midpoint of the work, the music suddenly bursts into a festive collage of various pieces of Romantic-era music, before the blinding light takes over again. The overall feeling is disturbing, particularly in this performance, where Markus Stenz takes a much slower tempo than other recordings I've heard, giving the ominous nature of the music full play.

Despite the mixed programming, a disc worth investigating.

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