SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg / François-Xavier Roth RICHARD STRAUSS Sämtliche Tondichtungen

 

SÄMTLICHE TONDICHTUNGEN

 

SWR Sinfonieorchester / Sylvain Cambreling HELMUT LACHENMANN Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern

Concertante recording of Helmut Lachenmann’s groundbreaking opera, and the first to feature the revised version, the so-called “Tokyo-Fassung” which the composer now regards as definitive. The opera, while loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale is not a work that admits of a single “meaning”, its plotline is multiple and diffuse, but an undercurrent of social criticism is implied as Lachenmann views the pauper (The Little Match Girl), the terrorist (Gudrun Ensslin)and the visionary artist (Da Vinci) all as outsiders, figures on the fringes of society, driven to the margins by circumstances and by society’s coldness, and, in consequence, playing with fire in their responses. Coldness, figuratively and literally, is one of the opera’s subjects. Extreme cold and burning desire, as attitudes and conditions, counterpoint each other in the music. The action evolves through the suggestibility of the sounds which Lachenmann deploys like no one else and with a poetry all his own. “Not only is ‘The Little Match Girl’ by far the biggest work of one of Europe’s most esteemed composers, but it magnifies the qualities of strangeness and intensity, of huge but frustrated power, that have given him his reputation” (Paul Griffiths, The New York Times)

Anna Netrebko / Elina Garanča / Ramón Vargas / Ludovic Tézier THE OPERA GALA Live from Baden-Baden

. . . their voices blending beautifully . . . all done with spirited fervor and admirable vocalism. Tenor Ramón Vargas is a positive presence, giving us the bel canto gem "Una furtive lagrima" from Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" in a flawlessly idiomatic interpretation that includes stunning diminuendos and a melting mezza-voce. Ludovic Tézier's rich baritone scores with a subtle rendition of Riccardo's death scene from Verdi's "Don Carlo" and, in yet another highlight in an evening full of them, joins Vargas in the great duet "Dio, che nell'alma infondere" from that opera . . . her [Garanca's] showpiece aria from Rossini's "La Cenerentola" sparkles, with impressive coloratura fireworks. Netrebko is among the most brilliant stars of today's operatic firmament . . . She brings the house down with the first of the concert's many encores, a performance of Lehar's "Meine Lippen" from the operetta, "Giuditta", that includes seductive singing and acting, sexual flirtations, and energetic dancing. Her enthusiasm is infectious, sparking her colleagues as well as the audience. All four singers join in the quartet from "Rigoletto" that ends the formal portion of the concert, and in the final encore, they trade verses in an arrangement of the "Drinking Song" from "La Traviata". Conductor Marco Armiliato, whose supportive accompaniments help make the concert a rousing success, directs the capable orchestra. So this two-hour singfest provides joys for vocal buffs . . . (Record Review / Dan Davis)

Nicolas Hodges ROLF RIEHM Hamamuth – Stadt der Engel / Wer Sind diese kinder

 Both the piano work “Hamamuth – Stadt der Engel”, premiered at the Darmstadt Summer Courses in 2006, and the piano concerto “Wer sind diese Kinder”, premiered at the Donaueschingen Music Festival three years later, are two of the major artistic attempts of the past decades which try to substantially broaden the spectrum of political music.
In “Hamamuth – Stadt der Engel”, the composer Rolf Riehm intends to respond as an artist to the omnipresence of violence experienced during the Iraq War. “This is about prevailing perceptions. 'Stadt der Engel' [City of Angels]: They refer to the pictures of devastation in Iraq which can be regularly seen on TV” – this is the beginning of Riehm's detailed introductory text which is incorporated in the score of the work. In “Wer sind diese Kinder” [Who are these children], this approach is continued.
Both works show that it would be insufficient to look for their political facets exclusively on a semantic level. The physical understanding of music appears to be almost equally important: As a consequence, the political is deeply engrained in the texture of Riehm's works – as a reflection on the omnipresence of international political conflicts and on how to deal with it appropriately. “Hamamuth – Stadt der Engel” and “Wer sind diese Kinder” are examples of how both dimensions are interwoven with each other in Riehm's works in a fascinating way.