Feldman Orchestral and Chamber Works
Two contrasting mid-price releases. Ensemble Recherche are very fine, but Klangforum Wien provide an almost perfect performance of Rothko Chapel
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Morton Feldman
Label: Col legno
Magazine Review Date: 3/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Catalogue Number: WWE1CD 20506
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Piano and Orchestra |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Hans Zender, Conductor Morton Feldman, Composer Roger Woodward, Piano Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra |
Durations II |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Rohan de Saram, Cello Yvar Mikashoff, Piano |
Rothko Chapel |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Beat Furrer, Conductor Julie Moffat, Soprano Klangforum Wien Morton Feldman, Composer Stuttgart Radio Chorus Ulrich Koch, Viola |
Composer or Director: Morton Feldman
Label: Montaigne
Magazine Review Date: 3/2001
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Catalogue Number: MO782126
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Routine Investigations |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Recherche Ensemble |
(The) Viola in my Life I |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Recherche Ensemble |
For Franck O'Hara |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Recherche Ensemble |
I met Heine on the Rue Fürstenberg |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Recherche Ensemble |
(The) Viola in my Life II |
Morton Feldman, Composer
Morton Feldman, Composer Recherche Ensemble |
Author: kYlzrO1BaC7A
Such is the case with Durations II, the poise of De Saram’s and Mikashoff’s account cancelled out by offstage interference. This 1960 piece typifies the calm abstraction of earlier Feldman: the remaining works date from the first half of the 1970s, when a new emotional ambience, intuition if you will, infuses the compositional process. The first two The Viola in my Life works are masterpieces of discreet characterisation; to which the wordless mezzo in I met Heine on the Rue Furstenberg adds a wry twist, as if evoking that imagined encounter. Vocalise plays a more complex role in Rothko Chapel, perhaps the masterwork of Feldman’s middle phase, its rapt contemplation enhanced by the introduction of a soprano melisma and a pastoral viola melody from the composer’s past. The sometimes threatening choral dynamics aptly evoke the brooding introspection of Rothko’s canvases. As with late Nono, this is spiritual music without religious connotations.
There can be little but praise for Ensemble Recherche’s immaculate performances on the Montaigne disc. The Woodward/Zender premiere of Piano and Orchestra must yield in expressive subtlety to Feinberg and Tilson Thomas, but the Col Legno release is still essential for the well-nigh perfect account of Rothko Chapel. As Kyle Gann aptly comments in the Montaigne notes, ‘… the amazing quality of his aural balance in these middle works makes them uniquely precious for the Feldman fan.’ And one day, one hopes, for many others too.'
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