Release Date: 05 October 2009
Label: ECM New Series
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028947669951
Description
The outstanding German baritone Christian Gerhaher, winner of a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2009 and rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after interpreters of Lieder today, makes his ECM debut with the Rosamunde Quartet in the very personal, romantic Notturno by Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957).
Although generally acknowledged as one of the leading composers of his native Switzerland, Schoeck has never acquired a stable reputation outside the German-speaking world. This is partly due to his strong focus on the sung word: His output comprises eight operas, some 400 songs and a couple of smaller instrumental works. Moreover, his essentially late-romantic style was considered démodé after the Second World War when the avant-garde was arguing for a more rational and emotionally restricted approach to composition.
"Here is a composer who deserves rediscovery," says Heinz Holliger. "His works often come across to me as immensely personal, intense utterances that are both touching and moving - perhaps none more so than the wonderful Notturno op. 47." Composed by Schoek between 1931 and 1933, it served as a personal confession after an unhappy extra-marital love affair. Its five movements set verses by German 19th-century-poet Nikolaus Lenau and by the great Swiss writer Gottfried Keller. The highly differentiated, insightful interpretation by Christian Gerhaher - one of the most distinguished young German "Lied" singers and a former disciple of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - and the Rosamunde Quartet offers a strong plea for Schoeck's expressive music and sheds an exciting light on his artistic preoccupation with the dark abysses of human existence.
Personnel: Christian Gerhaher baritone, Rosamunde Quartet: Andreas Reiner (violin), Diane Pascal (violin), Helmut Nicolai (viola), Anja Lechner (cello)
Tracklisting
Anna Gourari, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana & Markus Poschner
Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica & Vida Mikneviciute
Arvo Part
Thomas Larcher
John Holloway Ensemble
Heinz Holliger & Anton Kernjak
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra & Tonu Kaljuste
Karlheinz Stockhausen Michaels Reise
Oslo Kammerkor, Hakon Daniel Nystedt
Hans-Christoph Rademann, NDR Chor Hamburg
Chorwerk Ruhr, Florian Helgath
BachWerkVokal, Gordon Safari
Dionysos Now!
Soloists; Les Traversees Baroques; Meyer
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park
La Compagnia del Madrigale
