Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Time & Eternity
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Lubos Fiser, Johann Sebastian Bach, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Frank Martin, John Zorn
Genre:
Chamber
Label: Alpha
Magazine Review Date: 11/2019
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: ALPHA545
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Kol Nidre |
John Zorn, Composer
John Zorn, Composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Composer |
Concerto funèbre |
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Composer
Camerata Bern Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Composer |
Polyptyque |
Frank Martin, Composer
Camerata Bern Frank Martin, Composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Composer |
Crux |
Lubos Fiser, Composer
Camerata Bern Lubos Fiser, Composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Composer |
Chorales |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Camerata Bern Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Composer |
Author: Mark Pullinger
She loves unusual juxtapositions, such as the wild swings from contemporary to pre-Baroque in ‘Take Two’ (12/15) and her splitting up Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet with Dowland, Gesualdo and Kurtág. We get more juxtapositions here on ‘Time & Eternity’, performed with Camerata Bern, of which Kopatchinskaja is artistic director. The disc features Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funebre, composed in response to the Nazi terror in Germany, along with Frank Martin’s Polyptyque, inspired by six panels of the Passion of Christ painted by Duccio di Buoninsegna. Although the Hartmann is played straight through, Kopatchinskaja breaks up Polyptyque with transcriptions for string orchestra of Bach chorales, which land on the ear like the balm of consolation after the pain and emotion depicted in Martin’s music.
The programme opens with the reciting of the Jewish Kol Nidrei, leading into John Zorn’s prayer of the same title. Prayers are also offered by priests of the Polish Catholic and Russian Orthodox traditions, while the Jewish song ‘Eliyahu Hanavi’, which Hartmann quotes in his concerto, is sung by a Polish folk singer, along with the popular German song ‘Unsterbliche Opfer’ (Immortal Victims), also quoted in the Hartmann, followed by an unsettling, improvised War Cadenza.
This is very much a concept album and, as such, it needs to be listened to as programmed. Kopatchinskaja’s playing is daring in her use of extreme dynamics, sometimes down to a spidery whisper. She is never afraid to produce a harsh, uningratiating sound – the Concerto funebre is properly aggressive at times – but there is sweetness too, especially from Camerata Bern in those Bach chorales. The excellent booklet features texts and colour images of the Buoninsegna panels. Not easy listening, but strongly recommended.
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