With his keen sense of the political dimension within the cultural sphere‚ it’s no surprise that Heiner Goebbels took Hanns Eisler as his creative role­model‚ nor that he should pay homage to the older composer in one of his theatre works. Eislermaterial is less a portrait of Eisler than a journey through his musical sensibility – and from a perspective more diverse than would have been possible in his lifetime. Twelve of the 21 continuous tracks are treatments of Eisler songs‚ done with a fine appreciation of the emotional pungency and pathos of the originals. Thus‚ the tangibly Spiritualist feel of ‘Anmut sparat nicht noch Mühe’‚ or the four ‘Wiegenlieder’ which highlight subtle emotional differences within some of Eisler’s most didactic writing. All the vocal items are taken by actor Joseph Bierbichler‚ whose frayed yet lyrical and affecting tone (think Walter Houston singing Weill’s ‘September Song’) is ideal for the subdued songs from Eisler’s years in exile. Instrumentally‚ Goebbels’ reworkings range from the ensemble elegance of ‘Kleine Passacaglia’ to the big band implosion of ‘Ballade vom zerrissenen Rock’. Particularly effective are the composite movements – a strident Allegro assai merging into a poetic and previously unknown clarinet solo (track 2)‚ or the manic energy of ‘Die Fabriken’ enclosing the ethereal strains of an unpublished string quartet (track 20). The two ‘Hörstücken’ are collages of Eisler interviews – bringing him into tangible focus‚ yet at a remove that mirrors both Eisler’s detachment from his own music and that of Goebbels from his source material. The Ensemble Modern is its customarily committed self‚ taking the absence of a conductor and an unorthodox spatial layout effortlessly in its stride. Given this second factor‚ it seems a pity that DVD­Video presentation was not opted for; but‚ annotated and illustrated to ECM’s usual high standards‚ the disc gives a vivid impression of perhaps the most involving of Goebbels’ recent projects.