UE Newsletter Autumn 2007 English

Page 1

04 Leos Janácek. Boulez and Chéreau in conversation

05 Georg Friedrich Haas. Featured composer Europe-wide

06 Friedrich Cerha. Three World Premières

25 Franz Liszt / Marcel Dupré. Rediscovered organ concerto

34 Gustav Mahler. Mahler Years 2010 / 2011

Georg Friedrich Haas Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis

newsletter 04/07 • autumn 2007


Contents

NEWS Boulez and Chéreau: guests of UE — 4 FESTIVALS Wien Modern — 13 Musik Today 21 — 17 Ostrava Days 2007 — 17 COMPOSERS Haas — 5 Cerha — 6 Rihm — 7 Luke Bedford — 9 Saed Haddad — 9 Halffter — 10 Baltakas — 10 Panufnik — 11 Schwartz — 11 Staud — 15 Pärt — 19 Borisova-Ollas — 19 Birtwistle — 20 Sawer — 20 Patterson — 20 Boulez — 21 Stockhausen — 22 Krauze — 22 Kagel — 23 Kelemen — 23 Ligeti — 23 Berio — 24 Schnittke — 24 Feldman — 25 Liszt / Dupré — 25 Martin — 26 Weill — 27 Krenek — 27

WP

= World Première

2

contents 04/2007


Dear Readers, Martinu — 28 Kodály — 28 Bartók — 29 Szymanowski — 30 Braunfels — 30 Berg — 31 Schreker — 31 Webern — 32 Hauer — 32 Zemlinsky — 33 Schönberg — 33 Mahler — 34 Mahler as a point of reference — 35 - 36 Haydn — 37 Janácek — 37 ANNIVERSARIES — 38 - 39 WORLD PREMIÈRES — 40 - 41 NEW RELEASES — 42 - 43 NEW ON CD + DVD — 44 - 45 WORKLIST Braunfels — 46 - 47

Mozart scarcely needed an anniversary – but he got one anyway, and rightly so. Does Mahler need one, then? There are in fact two on their way: 2010 (150th birthday) and 2011 (100th anniversary of his death). What kinds of contemporary reading will his music be confronted with? Well, besides perennially fascinating new interpretations, based on the latest findings of Mahler research, our view of Mahler can also be modified and brought into sharper focus through other composers' music. On pp. 35–36 you’ll find an overview of those works in the UE catalogue that would be unthinkable without him. In autumn 2007 a new Mahler brochure will appear from UE with a number of unexpected programme suggestions. Looking forward to Mahler 2010/11! The Editorial Team

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 48

3


JANÁCEK / BOULEZ / CHÉREAU

Boulez and Chéreau: guests of UE They have been dubbed ‘opera’s only real dream-team: Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau, who in 1976 produced the so-called ‘Ring of the century’ at Bayreuth. In 1979 they made operatic history in Paris as well, when they premièred Alban Berg’s Lulu in the three-act version completed by Friedrich Cerha. Now an international co-production of Leos Janácek’s From the House of the Dead has brought Boulez and Chéreau together again. Critics around the world have spoken of ‘breathtaking moments’, a ‘terrific evening’ and an ‘authentic grasp of the expressiveness of the score’.

The production is now set to appear on DVD. On 12 May, the date of the première at the Theater an der Wien, Boulez and Chéreau were welcomed in the conference room of Universal Edition to field questions from a select audience of journalists and arts professionals. Both explained in vivid and detailed terms what they considered to be the challenges of Janácek’s last opera and how they had sought to overcome them. The greatest challenge for both had been to discover an overall shape for the music drama. ‘Although Janácek didn’t conceive it in such terms, it’s almost like collage technique in painting,’ explained Boulez. ‘You have one texture and then another, and paste them together one after the other.’ The interview can be accessed in both text and video format on the website: www.tinyurl.com/3b22kx

Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau at UE

4

news


HAAS

Colourful Beauty! In November 2007 Georg Friedrich Haas will be granted a very special honour: he is to receive the Grosser Österreichischer Staatspreis. This is the highest distinction granted by the Republic of Austria and is awarded once a year to an artist for outstanding achievement.

WP

In addition to the numerous works presented at Wien Modern this autumn (s. page 13), is enjoying a range of further performances across Europe. The 2007 Warsaw Autumn will see the première of Open Spaces (28 Sep), a new 16-minute work for ensemble – two percussionists and two groups of 6 strings tuned a sixth of a tone apart. Haas’ string quartets have been described as creating a ‘special, free and colourful beauty’ (Tagesspiegel on Haas’ Quartet No. 2). His String Quartet No. 5 will be premiered by Arditti Quartet at the Klangspuren Festival in Schwaz, Austria. On 6 Oct Friedrich Cerha will conduct Haas’ Violin Concerto at the festival musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst, with Ernst Kovacic and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, in what will be Kovacic’s fourth performance of the work since the première in 1998. Josquin Desprez’ Agnus Dei from

the ‘Missa l’homme armé super voces musicales’ is a beautiful example of his contrapuntal skills. The second part is a wonderful mensuration canon (where different voices play the same notes at different speeds). Haas’ Tria ex uno respectfully takes this exquisite material and extends it in sonorous and harmonic directions, blending the source material with a mixture of microtonal sonorities. The result truly gives the feeling that Haas has continued Josquin’s work, and not merely added material. Ensemble Recherche performs the work at the Ultima Festival in Oslo on 6 Oct.

5

haas


CERHA

Return to Venice One year after Friedrich Cerha was presented with the Leone d’oro of the Venice Biennale in recognition of his life’s work, the composer is returning to the city to attend the first performance of his ensemble piece for Klangforum Wien, Les Adieux (Elegie), conducted by Johannes Kalitzke (8 Oct). Two days earlier the composer himself will be on the rostrum in Graz, where the musikprotokoll festival – part of steirischer herbst – has invited him to conduct the première of his Aderngeflecht for baritone and orchestra after poems by Emil Breisach (Georg Nigl, RSO Wien). And yet a third première is taking place on 15 Nov: Eliahu Inbal, who conducted Hymnus in 2002, is performing Berceuse céleste with the SWR RSO of Stuttgart. Cerha has

WP

6

cerha

provided detailed programme notes for all three new works, which have the character of confessions more than musicological analyses. They tell us much about the 82-year old Cerha as a person – about a composer blessed with undiminished creative powers, who can afford ‘to compose in a style far removed from all fashionable trends, expectations or indeed commandments’. He has remained true to himself: already in his 1963 piano work Elegie, which forms the basis of Les Adieux, he was rebelling ‘against certain taboos of “new music”, as well as against the prevailing nervous hyperactivity’. The orchestral work Momente, first performed in Munich in 2006, is to receive its Austrian première on 6 Oct in Graz.


RIHM

Project for ECHO A major collaboration is taking shape: inspired by the music of Wolfgang Rihm, Belgian artist Jan Fabre is creating visual elements for an evening-long stage work for the concert hall, I am a mistake. Commissioned by the European Concert House Organisation (ECHO), the work will tour eight other countries after its première in Athens on 29 Nov. Its composer has meanwhile been invited to the Klangspuren Festival in Schwaz, Austria, as composer in residence, where several of his chamber works will be performed, as well as Jagden und Formen, with the International Ensemble Modern Academy under Franck Ollu (19 Sep). The same work is receiving its second New York performance on 18 Oct at

WP

the Miller Theater (Columbia Sinfonietta/Jeffrey Milarsky). Christoph Eschenbach is conducting the US première of Verwandlung 2 with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 27 and 28 Sep, and the North German Radio (Hamburg) is devoting a concert series to the composer’s vocal works, to include works for voices and orchestra as well as Lieder. The programme includes Europa nach dem letzten Regen for soloists and orchestra (3 Nov, NDR Radiophilharmonie under Stefan Asbury). In Cologne, Vers une Symphonie fleuve III (1 Nov) will be contrasted with Sphere for piano (Udo Falkner), wind and percussion (2 Nov); Peter Rundel conducts. Amongst numerous first performances, special mention should be made of Quid est Deus (Cantata hermetica) for choir and orchestra (4 Nov, Freiburg, under Sylvain Cambreling).

77

rihm



HADDAD

‘Arabian’ music? At the beginning of Saed WP Haddad’s On Love I the listener is confronted with a tremolo on the solo qanún – a Middle Eastern zither. Is this Arabic music or Western music? Haddad is a Jordanian composer who has studied and lives in Europe, and it is impossible – though tempting – to put a label on his compositional style. The European musical background is always present. The Arabic roots are unmistakable yet never superficial, and permeate the form, rhythm, structure, harmony and melody of the piece. On Love I completes a fascinating musical development in its 12 minutes. Garry Walker conducts the Nieuw Ensemble at the Festival d’Automne in Paris on 13 Oct.

10th anniversary concert. Principal conductor Thierry Fischer will take the baton. Lasting around 17 minutes, the one-movement piece is the longest continuous stretch of music that Bedford has so far composed. One of the guiding ideas in the piece is the idea of return – the way that material can return and be transformed – and the use of cyclic, harmonic and/or rhythmic patterns. A recent workshop revealed simple yet strong, organic ideas that develop in intensity; for the full picture, come to the concert!

BEDFORD

New work for orchestra The world première of a new orchestral piece by Luke Bedford for the BBC NOW will take place at the Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon on 7 Dec as part of the venue’s

UA

Saed Haddad

9

haddad / bedford


HALFFTER

Introduction and scene Cristóbal Halffter is the undisputed doyen of Spanish music. In his opera Don Quijote (premièred in 2000 in Madrid) he set the national myth. Its central themes are heroic idealism, and the question of what in our world is real, and what is a dream. For his latest opera Lázaro, Halffter is setting a Biblical theme (première 4 May 2008 in Kiel, conducted by Georg Fritzsch). The first

WP

performance of the Introducción y escena from the new work is already scheduled for 20 Sep in Burgos, with the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. BALTAKAS

Progress report Lithuanian composer and Belgian resident Vykintas Baltakas is currently writing an orchestral piece, Scoria, for viva musica of Munich. The première, originally planned for July, has now been postponed; details of the new date will appear in this Newsletter, as well as a report on the composition which Balkatas is writing for the Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, to be premièred in Stuttgart on 14 Feb 2008. The ensemble work (co)ro(na) (1 1 1 0 - 1 1 0 0 - perc, acc, pno, sop.sax, vln), first heard in Hamburg in 2005, is receiving its Japanese première on 7 Sep in Tokyo, with Yasuaki Itakura conducting the Tokyo Sinfonietta. And on 12 Sep in Frankfurt, Olari Elts is to conduct Ensemble Modern in Ouroboros (fl, ob, cl, acc, pno, sop.sax, vln(2), vla(1)).

Cristóbal Halffter

10

halffter / baltakas


PANUFNIK

Setting of Rumi The Spirit of the Saints by Roxanna Panufnik receives its world première on 1 Nov this year. It is her second setting of the C14th Sufi poet Rumi and, as before, she uses Sufi rhythms and this time, an Arabic mode. The work, composed for voices and harp, was commissioned by Downe House School to celebrate its centenary. The choir commissioned Panufnik to write a setting of the Ave Maria in 2005, and will again be conducted by Anthony

WP

Cain (with harpist Kate Milne) at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. On 8 Nov, the Krakow Philharmonic Boys' Choir and Krakow Academy String Quartet will perform Olivia as part of the Festival of Polish Music in Krakow (conductor Lidia Matynian). Finally, saxophonist Dieter Kraus will be performing new arrangements for saxophone and piano of three of Panufnik’s songs in Ulm, Germany, in Nov (see www.universaledition.com/panufnik for details). SCHWARTZ

Feeling sounds The sound installation Music for 8 Autosonic Gongs, a peripheral event of the documenta 12 festival in Kassel, has become a magnet for musically inclined art lovers who not only want to hear sounds but feel them too. The installation by Jay Schwartz is in place until 23 Sep in St Martin’s church. A different musical experience, of a quite special kind, is offered by the Kasseler Kantorei under Eckhardt Manz: the choral version of Schwartz’s Music for 6 Voices, on 21 Oct at the Philharmonie in Essen. Roxanna Panufnik

11

panufnik / schwartz


Musik der Gegenwart 1. November bis 1. Dezember 2007

Karten & Information: www.wienmodern.at 路 Konzerthaus 242 002 路 Musikverein 505 81 90 Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien, Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden K眉nste Wien, Tanzquartier Wien, Dschungel Wien, TAG u.v.a.


FESTIVALS

Wien Modern 2007 This year’s Wien Modern Festival showcases two featured compossers: Luciano Berio and Georg Friedrich Haas. In Berio’s case this means returning to a modern master whose musical universe can always be seen as a dialogue with tradition. His Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (2 Nov under Bertrand de Billy) testifies to this just as much as Formazioni (15 Nov under Stefan Asbury) or his fascinating study in layered sonorities Bewegung (Austrian première 21 Nov under Peter Ruzicka). Chemins I (su Sequenza II), Sequenza II for harp and Chemins IIb indicate other ‘paths’ into Berio’s world. Almost all his Sequenze can be heard in ‘The Sequenza Project’ on 4 Nov, while Re-Call opens the festival on 1 Nov.

Two Georg Friedrich Haas premières are eagerly anticipated: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (7 Nov, Thomas Larcher / RSO Wien) and REMIX (12 Nov, Klangforum Wien / Enno Poppe). Also to be heard is Haas’ half-hour long Bruchstück, his latest large orchestral work (2 Nov, RSO), hailed as ‘spellbinding music’ by the Süddeutsche Zeitung after the Munich première. “ .... ”, double concerto for accordion, viola and chamber ensemble can be heard on 13 Nov, while on 21 Nov Opus 68 (2003) projects Alexander Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 9 through the prism of Haas’ own sonority. Berio (Sinfonia) and Haas (Concerto for Cello and Orchestra) also form the centrepieces of the 24 Nov concert by the Vienna Philharmonic under Jonathan Nott.

Vienna Concert House

13

wien modern 2007


fr 7.9. 20.00 Tennishalle Schwaz | TIROLER SYMPHONIEORCHESTER INNSBRUCK | HAYDN ORCHESTER VON BOZEN UND TRIENT | CONTAKT | THE NEXT STEP | JOHANNES KALITZKE - DIRIGENT | Iannis Xenakis | Kurt Estermann UA | Hans Werner Henze sa 8.9. 20.00 Fleckviehhalle Rotholz | ÖSTERREICHISCHES ENSEMBLE FÜR NEUE MUSIK | MANUEL DE ROO – MANDOLINE | Marios Joannou Elia UA | Manuel de Roo UA | Judith Unterpertinger UA | Eva Reiter UA so 9.9. 10.00 Naturhotel Grafenast Schwaz | PILZWANDERUNG | GENUSS DES SELBSTGEFUNDENEN | TIROLER ENSEMBLE FÜR NEUE MUSIK | Thomas Amann | Paul Hindemith | Jenö Takács | Heinrich Gattermeyer 20.00 Swarovski Kristallwelten | DIOTIMA QUARTETT | Brian Ferneyhough | John Cage | James Dillon | Misato Mochizuki | Helmut Lachenmann mi 12.9. 20.00 Swarovski Kristallwelten | MICHAEL GIELEN ZUM 80. Geburtstag‚ UNBEDINGT MUSIK‘ LESUNG | STEFAN LITWIN KLAVIER | Michael Gielen do 13.9. 20.00 SOWI Innsbruck | ENSEMBLE MODERN | FRANCK OLLU - DIRIGENT | Enno Poppe | Johannes Maria Staud | Evis Sammoutis | Marios Joannou Elia fr 14.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | MINGUET QUARTETT | CLARON MCFADDEN - SOPRAN | Jörg Widmann sa 15.9. 20.00 Landesmuseum Innsbruck | TAMTAM | SAM AUINGER - SAMPLER | MICHAEL MOSER - CELLO | DAVID MOSS - STIMME/ PERCUSSION | HANNES STROBL - E BASS | UA so 16.9. ab 9.00 Pilgerwanderung LETTISCHER RADIO-CHOR | INTERNATIONALE ENSEMBLE MODERN AKADEMIE | Gavin Bryars | Jack Body | Karlheinz Stockhausen | Peteris Vasks | Gustav Mahler | Olivier Messiaen | Wolfgang Rihm | Johannes M. Staud 20.00 Dom St. Jakob Innsbruck | DIE HIMMLISCHE STADT | WINDKRAFT | LETTISCHER RADIO-CHOR | JUGENDCHOR DER MUSIKSCHULE INNSBRUCK | KASPER DE ROO - DIRIGENT | Sofia Gubaidulina | Evis Sammoutis UA | Arvo Pärt | Thomas Daniel Schlee mo 17.9. 20.00 Aula Paulinum Schwaz | ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE | RUDOLF GUCKELBERGER - SPRECHER | SUSANNE FRITZ | LESUNG | SPRECHERIN | Cornelius Schwehr di 18.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE | Wettbewerb Recherche | Marios Joannou Elia | Björn Raithel | Fausto Tuscano | Hugues Dufourt | Ivan Fedele | Jonathan Harvey mi 19.9. 20.00 O-Dorf | INTERNATIONALE ENSEMBLE MODERN AKADEMIE | MICHAEL GIELEN DIRIGENT | WOLFGANG RIHM - COMPOSER IN RESIDENCE | Wolfgang Rihm | Arnold Schönberg | Michael Gielen do 20.9. 20.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz | QUARTETT BENAIM | Pierre Boulez | John Cage | ARDITTI QUARTET | Elliott Carter | Georg Friedrich Haas UA | Wolfgang Rihm fr 21.9. 20.00 O-Dorf | DISSONART | VLADIMIROS SYMEONIDIS DIRIGENT | Yiani Christou | Georges Aperghis | Dimitri Papageorgiou | Panayiotis Kokoras | Antonis Anissegos | Yannis Kyriakides 22.00 Yannis Kyriakides sa 22.9. 18.00 Kirche St. Martin Schwaz BOZZINI QUARTET | Ernst Albrecht Stiebler UA | Walter Schweiger | George Crumb | Mark Randall Osborn | GESPRÄCH - DAS ANDERE QUARTETT Heinz Klaus Metzger, Clemens Merkel, Walter Levin und Reinhard Schulz (UA = Uraufführung)

Foto Astrid Karger, Grafik büro54

Klangspureng. 1 | Eacke Ullreichstr. 8a | A 6130 Schwaz T +43-5242-73582 | F +43-5242-73582-20 | info@klangspuren.at


STAUD

New lives, new forms Tokyo’s Music Today 21 festival is to give the first Japanese performance of Johannes Maria Staud’s Apeiron. Music for large orchestra. The work, premièred in 2005 in response to a commission from Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, will be performed on 4 Sep by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tetsuji Honna. Staud’s programme note ends with the words: ‘In essence it

was perhaps no more than an attempt to awaken in the listener, for the duration of the performance, the impression that I was working harder and faster at the creation and shaping of new lives and forms than time was working at their destruction.’ After the première Klaus Geitel wrote:‘Out gushed a composition of 20 minutes’ duration, written for no fewer than 101 musicians. Its first performance earned the composer a unanimous, thunderous crescendo of applause’. The piano work Peras forms a unity with Apeiron; according to Staud, it is ‘structured like the reverse side of the same coin’. On 13 Sep it is being performed by Ueli Wiget in Innsbruck as part of a Staud portrait. The programme also includes the Austrian première of both Suites from the opera Berenice as well as Sydenham Music, and as at the Hamburg première of the Suites on 31 May Franck Ollu is conducting Ensemble Modern. On 16 Sep Sydenham Music, for flute, viola and harp (first performed at Aldeburgh on 15 June), is performed by members of the International Ensemble Modern Academy.

15

staud


Ostrava Days 2007 New Music Festival

General Sponsor >

Media Partners >

Main Media Partners >

With Financial Support from > Produced by >


Morton Feldman Neither Staatstheater Stuttgart 2004 FESTIVALS

Music Today 21 The summer festival Music Today 21 of the Suntory Music Foundation in Japan celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special series of concerts featuring international contemporary music. Nine works, mainly by European composers, will be given their first Japanese performances. Amongst those presented in the Suntory Hall in Tokyo are Johannes Maria Staud, Vykintas Baltakas, David Sawer and Mauricio Sotelo. See pp. 10, 15, 20 for more details.

Ostrava Days In 1999, the Czech composer and conductor Petr Kotik founded the Ostrava Center for New Music in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In August 2007 the Ostrava Days, a learning

environment for young up-and-coming composers, with lectures, master-classes and concerts, will take place for the fourth time. Amongst the works on the programme are those by composers with whom Kotik has worked personally during his lifetime, including Morton Feldman and Karlheinz Stockhausen. One of the highlights of the festival is without a doubt the performance of Feldman’s one-act opera Neither on a text by Samuel Beckett, which will be performed in the closing concert on 1 Sep with the Janácek PO, conducted by Peter Rundel. Further performances include Feldman’s Cello and Orchestra and Peter Kolman’s 3 Klavierstücke zum Gedächtnis Arnold Schönbergs. The Melos Ethos Ensemble performs Ladislav Kupkovic’s Das Fleisch des Kreuzes, a 16-min work for trombone and 10 percussionists from 1962. Stockhausen is represented by the Klavierstücke 1–4 and Zeitmaße for 5 woodwinds. See www.ocnmh.cz

17

festivals



PÄRT

Baltic Star In 2004 Russia launched the annual ‘Baltic Star’ award for creative individuals in the artistic or cultural sector who have brought particular distinction to the Baltic region. Previous prize-winners have included, film director Andrzej Wajda, choreographer John Neumeier, Krzysztof Penderecki and film director Aki Kaurismäki. The 2007 Baltic Star has been awarded to Arvo Pärt and will be presented to the composer in St Petersburg this October. As the Estonian contribution to the Europalia.Europa Festival – which from now on will form a pan-European festival for the 27 member states – three concerts including Pärt’s works are taking place under Andres Mustonen’s direction in Belgium: on 13 Nov in Brussels and 14 Nov in Marche-en-Famenne (Für

Lennart, Ein Wahlfahrtslied, Da Pacem Domine) and on 15 Nov in Antwerp (Te Deum). BORISOVA-OLLAS

Feast for eyes and ears The first ever Manchester International Festival opened on 29 Jun with Victoria Borisova-Ollas’ music theatre work The Ground Beneath Her Feet, after the novel by Salman Rushdie. A massive success for all involved: Mike Figgis provided an equally inspired visual counterweight to the music with specially prepared film footage, while actor Alan Rickman – how else could it have been? – captivated everybody’s heart. The Hallé Orchestra was conducted by Mark Elder. Next performance: May 2008, in Stockholm.

Victoria Borisova-Ollas The Ground Beneath Her Feet Manchester International Festival 2007

19

pärt / borisova-ollas


BIRTWISTLE

Cortege Following its triumphant première at the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall (last UE newsletter), Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Cortege will be performed next in Cologne by musikFabrik. Andrew Clements wrote in The Guardian that ‘the series of instrumental solos [are] in turn more virtuosic and more outward-going, though the sense of a collective tribute persists’ and Michael Church stated that ‘if the first version had smouldering power, it's now more of a bonfire’ (The Independent). Cortege will be performed in Cologne, on 23 Nov. SAWER

Tokyo Festival David Sawer’s Rebus receives its Japanese première (Tokyo Sinfonietta, conducted by Yasuaki Itakura) on 7 Sep at the Suntory Music Foundation’s Music Today 21 in Tokyo. Since its première in 2004, in Cologne, the work has also been performed in Essen and London. ‘Rebus parallels the idea of a visual riddle with a teasing play on note patterns, rhythms and harmonies’ (Matthew Rye, The Telegraph); ‘Rebus was like an eviscerated version of Ravel's ‘La Valse’, constantly

David Sawer

teasing us with fragments in dance rhythm.’ (Paul Driver, The Sunday Times) PATTERSON

Canterbury Psalms As part of Paul Patterson’s 60th birthday celebrations, Canterbury Psalms will be performed again in the city from which it takes its name (20 Oct). The work was written whilst Patterson was South East Arts’ composer-in-residence and as such was based at The King's School, Canterbury. Composed for the school in 1980 and dedicated to Alan Ridout, it comprises of three movements, and uses a text taken from psalms 97, 121 and 148. This new performance also takes place at the school, with the Canterbury Orchestra under the baton of Michael Lewis.

20

birtwistle / sawer / patterson


BOULEZ

French polish Music history shows that composers are not always the best conductors of their own works, but in the case of Pierre Boulez the matter is rather different. Anyone who has seen him at rehearsal or in concert can confirm how compellingly he can make the emotional and structural strength of his own works shine: the music sparkles like a polished jewel. Several cities now have the opportunity to experience this for themselves: Pierre Boulez is to conduct Ensemble Modern Orchestra in Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Essen and Baden-Baden. The programme includes his Notations I–V and VII, whose origins date back to small piano pieces from 1945: germinal cells from which something great has grown. In Paris (Ensemble

Intercontemporain) and Essen (Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble) Boulez will also conduct Le Marteau sans maître, the work which once so aroused Stravinsky’s enthusiasm. Two other works that also have a place in the standard repertoire are the two versions of Dérive, which use material originally devised for Répons. Dérive I will be performed in London (17 Oct) and Essen (25 Oct), Dérive II in Amsterdam (2 Oct, under Reinbert de Leeuw). Boulez’s close relationship with the Lucerne Festival, where he heads his own academy and passes on his experience to international students, has left its mark again on this year’s programming. Works to be performed include sur Incises, Dialogue de l’ombre double and Le Marteau sans maître (4 Sep, conducted by Jean Deroyer).

Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio

21 21

boulez


STOCKHAUSEN

Entrance Ticket to New Music In its series ‘100 classics of modern music’ the German newspaper Die Zeit recently described Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Gruppen as both an ‘entrance ticket’ and ‘season ticket’ to new music. Stockhausen’s revolutionary work, with the 3 orchestras placed separately in the auditorium, included the parameter of position with those of pitch, duration, strength and timbre. At the

Lucerne Festival, Gruppen will be performed twice by the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez, Jean Deroyer and Peter Eötvös, as well as participants in the conductors’ master classes. Kreuzspiel, for oboe, bass clarinet, piano and 3 percussionists, will be performed by Ensemble Intercontemporain under Susanna Mälkki in Paris (7 Nov). More performances: www.universaledition.com/stockhausen

KRAUZE

Arabesque in Hongkong Polish composer and pianist Zygmunt Krauze (b. 1938) is considered a representative of so-called ‘Unism’, an aesthetic movement which essentially eschews dramatic conflicts or real contrasts, but in which, however, ‘many fine and subtle things happen’. The inspiration behind it came from the Polish painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski (1893–1952). Krauze himself is to give the Chinese première of his Arabesque for piano and orchestra (1984) at the Academy of Performing Arts in Hong Kong on 30 Nov.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

22

stockhausen / krauze


KAGEL

Inspiration Beethoven Breaking the mould of listeners’ expectations has always been a distinctive trait of Mauricio Kagel. In Ludwig van the composer, who has lived in Cologne since 1957, undertook nothing less than a ‘drastic expansion of collage technique’. Beethoven’s chamber music serves as the sole source of all sound materials; it is the music’s entire alpha et omega. This homage can be heard on 1 Oct in Milan (Divertimenti Ensemble), while on 11 Oct there is a performance of Kantrimiusik at the Venice Biennale. KELEMEN

Dazzling self-assurance Croatian composer Milko Kelemen (b. 1924) has just been awarded the KulturPreis Europa 2007. An important principle of his creative work is an effort to make ‘the complexity of new music more transparent’. The Concertante Improvisations for string orchestra were first performed in 1955 at the Salzburg Festival:‘music full of aggressive moods

and dazzling self-assurance, not least in the snappy endings,’ wrote the Berliner Zeitung. The Sinfonietta Wuppertal is performing the work on 15 Sep in the Lutherkirche, Wuppertal. LIGETI

Musical labyrinths It was after the Cologne première of his orchestral piece Apparitions at the ISCM World Music Days in 1960 that György Ligeti and his music first advanced to the centre stage of contemporary music. Here he had created intricately branching musical labyrinths filled with sounds and delicate noises of a kind never heard before. The work will be performed on 15 Sep in Lille. Ligeti’s classic Atmosphères is also enjoying several performances, including one at the BBC Proms (4 Sep), with the Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim.

23

kagel / kelemen / ligeti


China Philharmonic Orchestra BERIO

Suspended time Peter Ruzicka has rediscovered a seldom heard masterpiece for orchestra amongst Luciano Berio’s extensive output: Bewegung (1971, 11’). Berio himself described it as ‘a piece in which disturbances gradually begin to proliferate in the midst of a uniform tone row of fixed character. By such means, after a relatively short while … an impression of movement can already be created within a state of ‘suspended time’.’ Peter Ruzicka conducts Bewegung on 12 Oct in Peking with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, and for the first time in Austria on 21 Nov with the Vienna Philharmonic. Wien Modern 07 (see page 13) spotlights Berio as one of the festival’s featured composers, with 2 further Austrian premières: Concerto for 2

pianos and orchestra and Formazioni for orchestra. Other works to be heard include Chemins I and IIb, Recital, Call and Sinfonia. SCHNITTKE

Merely faked Alfred Schnittke said of the first performance of his popular orchestral work (K)ein Sommernachtstraum: ‘I didn’t steal any of the antiques in this piece – I faked them’ (9–10 Sep Hamburg, NDR SO/Christoph von Dohnányi). The String Quartet No. 3 marked a turning point in Schnittke’s work: from now on fully integrated musical quotations take the place of stylistically abstract collages. Peter Manning’s string orchestra version is to be recorded on 21–22 Nov by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

24

berio / schnittke


FELDMAN

Meditative and timeless Morton Feldman died twenty years ago in New York. His unmistakable musical language can transport the listener to a kind of meditative introspection and awaken feelings of timelessness. His only opera Neither (for soprano and orchestra) is one of the twentieth century’s most fascinating works of music theatre. The first concert performance in France is to take place on 22 Sep as part of the Festival d’Automne. Neither can also be heard in Frankfurt (21 Sep) and Ostrava, Czech Republic (1 Sep).

opera Le Prophète by Meyerbeer. This ‘Prophet Fugue’, as Liszt called it, is one of the most impressive works in the secular organ repertoire. Marcel Dupré (1886–1971), one of the greatest organists of the 20th century, wrote an orchestral version of the Prophet Fugue, which was thought to have been lost and has only recently been rediscovered. This version for organ and orchestra is being played on 23 Sep in Merseburg where in 1885 the first performance of the solo version also took place. www.merseburger-orgeltage.de

FRANZ LISZT / MARCEL DUPRÉ

Rediscovered organ concerto For the consecration of the new organ in Merseburg Cathedral, Germany, Franz Liszt was commissioned to write a fantasy on the notes B-A-C-H. Liszt was however unable to complete the work in time, and offered as substitute his Fantasia and Fugue on the Chorale ‘Ad nos, ad salutarem undam’, based on a movement from the

Merseburg Cathedral organ by Heinrich Ladegast

25

feldman / liszt - dupré


MARTIN

Tristan with a difference ‘A Tristan with a difference’ – that was how the critic of the Neues Österreich newspaper described Frank Martin’s Le vin herbé (The Magic Potion) after the first staged performance of this secular oratorio at the 1948 Salzburg Festival. The concert version had already been premièred six years previously in Zurich. In its more than 60year history Le vin herbé (based on Joseph Bédier’s novel Tristan and Iseult) has enjoyed countless concert performances and several staged productions. In recent years it has been seen as a chamber opera in Zurich, Paris and Berlin. Now the RuhrTiennale has invited Willy Decker to realise his vision of the work on stage, with the première

on 2 Sep in the Gebläsehalle, Duisburg featuring Friedemann Layer and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. In his programme note for the Geneva première of the four symphonic studies Les quatre éléments in 1964, the work’s dedicatee, Ernest Ansermet, called it ‘a princely gift’. In his opinion the music illuminated new aspects of Martin’s creative talent and reflected the wild landscapes of Norway and Iceland. Leon Botstein and his American Symphony Orchestra have now scheduled the work for 18 Nov in New York. Meanwhile, the Berne Stadttheater is staging one of Martin’s most frequently choreographed works, the Petite Symphonie Concertante, in Hans van Manen’s choreography, on 27 Oct.

Frank Martin Le vin herbé RuhrTriennale 2007 (Willi Decker, stage director)

26

martin


Kurt Weill Der Silbersee Wexford Opera 2007 WEILL

Der Silbersee in Wexford Artistic director David Agler chose Der Silbersee by Kurt Weill to open the 2007 Wexford Opera Festival in Southern Ireland. Directed by the renowned Keith Warner, and with a revised translation by British comedian Rory Bremner, the opera was presented in the grounds of a local castle. Simply but very effectively staged, the principal roles of Severin, Olim and Fennimore were able to shine thanks to the excellent direction and the timeless wit of Bremner’s translation. The evil Frau von Luber was the fine British soap opera actress Anita Dobson, who commanded the stage in ever more outrageous dresses, whilst the assured conductor, Tim Redmond, ensured that the production

was successful aurally as well as visually. We are grateful to Wexford for its commitment to this beguiling opera! KRENEK

Tarquin - his rise and fall In 1940 Ernst Krenek wrote his chamber opera Tarquin, about the rise and fall of a dictator whose arrogance proves his own downfall. The opera was first performed in Cologne in 1950 and recently (22 Apr) received its highly acclaimed Austrian première by the Opera Studio of the Anton Bruckner University, Linz, as part of the Ernst Krenek Festival. Krenek used twelvetone technique to set this compelling operatic subject, and the work presents the singers with vocal demands of the highest order.

27

weill / krenek


KODÁLY

Perennial Piero della Francesca The Legend of the True Cross MARTINU

Great energy and warmth Impressed by Piero della Francesca’s fresco cycle ‘The Legend of the True Cross’, which he had admired in Arezzo/Italy in 1954, Bohuslav Martinu composed Frescos for orchestra, dedicating the work to Rafael Kubelik, who gave the première in Salzburg with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1955. It seduces the ear with its great energy and warmth, conveying both the ‘peace and colour’ of the frescos and the spectator’s astonishment. The Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the work on 24 and 25 Sep, and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao on 22 and 23 Nov.

favourites Born in 1882, Zoltán Kodály spent eight years of his childhood (1885– 1892) in Galánta, where his father was the local stationmaster. In 1933 he arranged the folk songs he heard there to form a work which has rooted the name of this small North Hungarian town (since 1920 in Slovakia) in the world’s musical consciousness forever. It is impossible to imagine the concert repertoire today without the Dances from Galánta or the Dances from Marosszék (an arrangement of Transylvanian folk tunes). The former can be heard shortly in Lucerne and London, as well as in Stockholm, Zurich and Brussels, while the latter are being performed in Rotterdam. Elsewhere, Mark Elder is conducting the Psalmus Hungaricus in Manchester (14 Oct), and on the same day Horst Meinardus is giving a performance of the Te Deum in Cologne.

28

martinu / kodály


BARTÓK

On stage and concert platform Béla Bartók wrote a single opera and two ballets – all three have conquered both stage and concert platform. His music has the power to speak directly to the listener without any visual elements; without the narration of a ‘story’. Duke Bluebeard’s Castle can be seen in Bilbao conducted by Juanjo Menas from 22 Sep, while Barcelona has co-produced the work with Paris (first night 2 Nov, Josep Pons conducts the Fura dels Baus production). Christoph König is conducting a concert performance of the work in Porto on 8 Sep. The Miraculous Mandarin can be heard in nine cities in the next three months: in Lucerne with Pierre Boulez, in Berlin with Sir Simon

Rattle, in Munich, Luxembourg, Tallinn and Brussels with Andrey Boreyko on the podium, with Michael Gielen in Freiburg and Mannheim and Vassily Sinaisky in Rotterdam. On 30 Nov Stefan Asbury is conducting the second suite from The Wooden Prince with the Dresden Philharmonie. And Daniel Barenboim has entrusted the Berlin Staatskapelle to Gustavo Dudamel, in order to appear as soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 1 (16 and 17 Sep, Berlin). Both artists can also be heard in Lucerne, with the Vienna Philharmonic on 10 Sep. Daniel Barenboim is also conducting the orchestra in London on 4 Sep and in Lucerne on 8 Sep, in a programme including the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta – a work which Lawrence Foster is also conducting on 18 Sep at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

Béla Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle Long Beach Opera 1999

29

bartók


SZYMANOWSKI

Miniature gems The Teatr Wielki in Poznan, Poland, is preparing a ballet evening for 15 Sep entirely based on works by Karol Szymanowski. As the basis for their expressive dance forms the choreographers have chosen, amongst other things, the quivering intensity of the ecstatic Myths for violin and piano (1915) and the moods and colours of the Notturno and Tarantella for violin and piano (1915). There are further performances on 16 and 30 Sep and 18 Nov.

The Songs of the Amorous Muezzin (1934) are miniature gems. These and a series of other works rich in impressionistic colour are the result of Szymanowski’s extensive travels in the Mediterranean region, which stimulated an intensive study of Mediterranean and Islamic history and culture. Aleksandra Zamojska will bewitch the muezzin on 29 and 30 Sep, with the help of the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra under Lothar Zagrosek. BRAUNFELS

Sacred rediscoveries

Jean-Léon Gérôme The Muezzin 1866

Alongside Franz Schreker and Richard Strauss, Walter Braunfels was considered one of the foremost German operatic composers of his time. His opera Die Vögel was performed by such famous conductors as Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Otto Klemperer. But only since the 1990s has he also been remembered for his late romantic sacred works. Worthy of mention here, besides the Great Mass (1926), is above all the Te Deum (1920–21), soon to be performed in Cologne by Markus Stenz and the Gürzenich Orchestra (25, 26 and 27 Nov).

30

szymanowski / braunfels


Alban Berg Wozzeck Vienna State Opera 2005 BERG

Il ritorno di Wozzeck On the 3 Nov 1942 Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck was given its Italian première at the Teatro Reale dell’ Opera in Rome. The preparations for the performance – war raging across Europe – involved the participation of Mussolini himself, who apparently phoned Hitler to announce his intention to have this opera of ‘social pity’ performed. UE director Alfred Schlee wrote after the première to Berg’s widow Helene ‘… the singers exceeded all expectations. I couldn’t have believed that the Italians would get the style so well.’ 65 years later, Wozzeck returns to the Teatro dell’Opera (its current name) on 19 Oct in a production by Giancarlo Del Monaco conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti.

In Berlin, Michael Gielen conducts Der Wein, with soprano Anja Kampe and the Staatskapelle Berlin (26 and 27 Nov.). See more at www.universaledition.com/berg

SCHREKER

Music of spheres As far as form and title go, Franz Schreker’s Chamber Symphony seems to be one of the few works of his that meet the criteria of ‘absolute music’. However, on closer inspection its thematic kinship to his opera Die Gezeichneten is unmistakable. Without a doubt his unfinished opera Die tönenden Sphären (1915) also assisted at the work’s birth. Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki, the new principal conductor of Ensemble Intercontemporain, presents it on 7 Nov at the Cité de la musique in Paris.

31

berg / schreker


HAUER

Ascetic and visionary WEBERN

Taking abstraction to its limits In 1984 Henri Pousseur made an arrangement for small ensemble of Anton Webern’s Passacaglia. In his orchestral Passacaglia Webern had, by 1908, already developed a finely nuanced orchestral manner exclusively serving a compositional logic far removed from the late romantics’ intoxicating sound-world. Pierre Boulez is conducting the original Passacaglia with the Orchestre de Paris on 28 Nov – Peter Keuschnig is bringing the reduced version to Vienna on 8 Oct, with his Ensemble Kontrapunkte. The Cantata No. 1 for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra Op. 29 (1939) is one of Webern’s most subtle works, in which he strove for ‘a sound perhaps more differentiated than any that has ever come into my head’. The Cantata inaugurates his final creative period, in which he took abstraction to its limits. The Riga Sinfonietta is performing it on 20 Sep under Normunds Sne.

Josef Matthias Hauer (1883-1959) is a unique case in music history. The Austrian composer had already invented his own twelve-tone technique before Arnold Schönberg (who admired him!), but in his creative work he remained essentially without precedents or followers: an ascetic and thinker, steeped in ancient Chinese wisdom. It is, however, precisely this penchant for Far Eastern philosophy that makes him topical even today. The Reconsil Sinfonietta is to perform his Concerto, Op. 55 in Vienna under Roland Freisitzer (7 Oct).

Josef Matthias Hauer

32

webern / hauer


ZEMLINSKY AND SCHÖNBERG

Athen discovers Zemlinsky and Schönberg Conductor Nikos Tsouchlos, musical director of the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, has made it his goal to familiarise his audience with masterpieces of 20th century opera which have never yet been experienced live in Greece. It is thanks to him, for instance, that in 1995 Wozzeck and in 2005 Lulu had their Greek premières.

(29 and 30 Sep). Der Zwerg can also be seen at the Frankfurt Opera (with Barbara Zechmeister and Peter Marsh in the main roles), together with A Florentine Tragedy (soloists: Yves Saelens, Tom Fox, Claudia Mahnke; conductor: Friedemann Layer; director: Udo Samel; sets: Tobias Hoheisei, first night 27 Oct). James Conlon is conducting the Florentine Tragedy in Dresden on 26, 28 and 29 Oct and Ryusuke Numajiri is conducting a performance of Der Zwerg in Shiga, Japan on 25 Nov.

Now the first Greek performance of Arnold Schönberg’s Erwartung, coupled with Alexander Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, is taking place under his baton (first night 23 Oct). The soloist in Schönberg’s monodrama is Inga Nielsen, while the main roles in Der Zwerg are sung by Marlis Petersen and Boiko Zvetanov, with Eike Gramss directing, sets and costumes by Gottfried Pilz, and the Orchestra of Prague Radio. Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder are being performed in Brussels (2 Sep, under Mark Wigglesworth) and in Helsinki (19 Sep, under Esa-Pekka Salonen), while Daniel Barenboim is to conduct the Four Orchestral Songs, Op. 22 with Katharina Kammerloher and the Staatskapelle in Berlin

Arnold Schönberg Erwartung La Fenice 2007

33

zemlinsky / schönberg


MAHLER

Inextinguishable flame Among the many performances of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, one that stands out is when Venezuelan shooting star Gustavo Dudamel will conduct the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time (10 Sep, Lucerne). The VPO is also playing ‘Mahler 1’ under Georges Prêtre in Vienna (9 Nov), Luxembourg (15 Nov) and Dortmund (17 Nov), and Christoph Eschenbach is conducting it in Paris (10 and 11 Nov). Performances of Symphony No. 2 include those in Dresden (2 Nov, under Fabio Luisi) and Cologne under Franz Welser-Most (27 Oct, Cleveland Orchestra), while Symphony No. 4 can be heard under Ingo Metzmacher in Berlin (17 and 18 Sep) and elsewhere. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos has chosen the expansive Symphony No. 8 for his Dresden concerts on 8 and 9 Sep, and the Darmstadt Staatstheater Orchestra is playing Symphony No. 9 (7 and 8 Oct). Das Klagende Lied is receiving a high-profile performance in London, when Vladimir Jurowski conducts the original 3-movement version (19 Sep, London Philharmonic)

34

mahler

Gustav Mahler

Das Lied von der Erde can also be heard in interpretations by two top orchestras: the Berliner Philharmoniker (Ben Heppner and Thomas Quasthoff under Simon Rattle, 1 and 3 Nov, Berlin) and the Vienna Philharmonic (Angelika Kirchschlager and Rolando Villazón under Daniel Harding, 21 Oct, Vienna). The choral version of Die zwei blauen Augen from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen can be heard on 2 Sep in Stuttgart (Saarbrücken Chamber Choir) and twice in Poland (8 Sep Olesnica, 9 Sep Wroclaw, with the Rias Chamber Choir).


Mahler as a point of reference Several UE composers have made reference to Gustav Mahler in their own work. The following suggestions might help you plan exciting concert programmes for the Mahler anniversary years of 2010/11. With his five-movement Sinfonia for eight vocalists and orchestra (1968–69), Luciano Berio produced a masterpiece of 20th century music. The central Scherzo is based

on the Scherzo of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, which serves as a kind of background canvas against which fragments of music by seventeen composers are quoted. Peter Ruzicka’s 1981 viola concerto “... den Impuls zum Weitersprechen erst empfinge” (Music for viola and orchestra) also revolves around the music of Gustav Mahler. Parts of the composition refer to the drafts and sketches for the first movement of his Symphony No. 9. Kurt Weill’s cantata Der neue Orpheus is an expressionistic, tonally free work which blends the very different stylistic worlds of aria and chanson. It also contains parodistic reminiscences of popular and traditional tunes. Gustav Mahler’s music is always lurking unmistakably in the background. Two years older than Mahler, his fellow student at the Vienna Conservatoire Hans Rott (1858–1884), was for him the ‘founder of the modern symphony’. His Pastoral Prelude is therefore reason enough to take a fresh look at the history of late romantic music. Above all, a passage characterised by sustained notes and birdsong powerfully evokes the pastoral imagery in Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Kurt Weill

35

mahler as a point of reference


Vally and Karl Weigl

‘I have always considered Dr Weigl one of the best composers of the older generation: one of those who is carrying on the magnificent Viennese tradition’. These words were written in June 1938 by Arnold Schönberg, in a testimonial for Karl Weigl (1881–1949). The Rhapsody reveals the repétiteur of Mahler’s at the height of his powers: late romantic and colourful writing united with virtuoso mastery of form. The Lyric Symphony (written 1922– 23) is Alexander Zemlinksy’s bestknown work, not least because Alban Berg made reference to it in his Lyric Suite. As a fusion of the genres of song and symphony, the Lyric Symphony is indebted above all to Mahler’s Lied von der Erde. At its heart lies the question of the relationship between life and art: one of the burning questions, if not the question, of the fin de siècle.

Wolfgang Rihm has produced a work of moving intimacy in the shape of his My Death. Requiem in memoriam Jane S. for soprano and large orchestra (1988–89). Rihm’s starting point was poetry by Wolf Wondratschek, written as a response to a friend’s suicide. The wide-arching cantilena passages and mood of painful longing would be unthinkable without Mahler’s music. Rihm’s Abkehr is a commission from the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie to write a prologue for Mahler’s Symphony No. 9.

36

mahler as a point of reference


HAYDN

Down Under Under the baton of Hungarianborn conductor Imre Palló, students at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music have been rehearsing Joseph Haydn’s dramma giocoso La vera constanza. Four performances are scheduled: on 15, 18, 20 and 22 Sep. The three-and-a-half hour opera was first performed in 1779 at the Esterházy court – and in the same year the performance material was destroyed in a devastating fire. In 1785 the Prince persuaded Haydn to reinstate the opera in the performance programme. To achieve this the composer had to reconstruct the score – a stroke of luck for music history. Universal Edition has published six operas of Joseph Haydn, edited by H.C. Robbins Landon and Eva Badura-Skoda, including Die reisende Ceres, which remained unperformed until 1977.

A brochure with programme notes and details of scoring is available on request. JANÁCEK

Cunning little adaptation Leos Janácek’s The Cunning Little Vixen is one of his most popular operas. To make it possible for smaller theatres to stage it as well, Jonathan Dove produced a version in 1998 for 16 instrumentalists which preserves all the colours, contrasts and effects of the original. Janácek’s magical scope of sound remains intact in the chamber version because the all-pervasive folk character is equally effective without opulent orchestral sonorities. The Vienna Kammeroper is now to stage the Austrian première (2 Oct).

Leos Janácek The Cunning Little Vixen Opera Zurich 2006

37

haydn / janácek


2007 75th 70th 125th 60th 20th 80th 125th 125th 125th 75th 70th 60th 50th 50th 125th 70th 50th

Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniv. of Death Birthday

Eugen d'Albert † 03 March 1932 David Bedford * 04 August 1937 Walter Braunfels * 19 December 1882 Alfredo Casella † 05 March 1947 Morton Feldman † 03 September 1987 Michael Gielen * 20 July 1927 Zoltán Kodály * 16 December 1882 Gian Francesco Malipiero * 18 March 1882 Joseph Marx * 11 May 1882 Richard Meale * 24 August 1932 Gösta Neuwirth * 06 January 1937 Paul Patterson * 15 June 1947 Thomas Daniel Schlee * 26 October 1957 Othmar Schoeck † 08 March 1957 Karol Szymanowski * 06 October 1882 Karol Szymanowski † 29 March 1937 Julian Yu * 02 September 1957

Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Birthday Birthday Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniversary

Cathy Berberian † 06 March 1983 Alfredo Casella * 25 July 1883 Gottfried von Einem * 24 January 1918 Zygmunt Krauze * 19 September 1938 Gerhard Lampersberg * 05 July 1928 Olivier Messiaen * 10 December 1908 Nigel Osborne * 23 June 1948 Peter Ruzicka * 03 July 1948 R. Murray Schafer * 18 July 1933 Tona Scherchen * 12 March 1938 Max von Schillings † 24 July 1933 Karlheinz Stockhausen * 22 August 1928 Eugen Suchon * 25 September 1908 Anton Webern * 03 December 1883

2008 25th 125th 90th 70th 80th 100th 60th 60th 75th 70th 75th 80th 100th 125th

38

anniversaries


2009 50th 75th 75th 80th 150th 90th 50th 200th 50th 80th 75th 100th 75th 75th 100th 90th 50th

Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniv. of Death Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death Anniversary Anniversary Anniv. of Death

George Antheil † 12 February 1959 Harrison Birtwistle * 15 July 1934 Frederick Delius † 10 June 1934 Edison W. Denisow * 06 April 1929 Joseph Bohuslav Foerster * 30 Dec 1859 Roman Haubenstock-Ramati * 27 Feb 1919 Josef Matthias Hauer † 22 September 1959 Joseph Haydn † 31 May 1809 Bohuslav Martinu † 28 August 1959 Henri Pousseur * 23 June 1929 Bernard Rands * 02 March 1934 Karl Scheit * 21 April 1909 Alfred Schnittke * 24 November 1934 Franz Schreker † 21 March 1934 Alfred Uhl * 05 June 1909 Roman Vlad * 29 December 1919 Eric Zeisl † 18 February 1959

Anniv. of Death Anniv. of Death Birthday Birthday Anniversary Anniversary Birthday Anniversary Anniv. of Death

Hugo Alfvén † 08 May 1960 Alban Berg * 24 December 1935 Paul-Heinz Dittrich * 04 December 1930 Cristóbal Halffter * 24 March 1930 Rolf Liebermann * 14 September 1910 Gustav Mahler * 07 July 1860 Arvo Pärt * 11 September 1935 Toru Takemitsu * 08 October 1930 Egon Wellesz * 21 October 1885

2010 50th 75th 80th 80th 100th 150th 75th 80th 125th

39

anniversaries


FRIEDRICH CERHA Aderngeflecht after poems by Emil Breisach for baritone and orchestra musikprotokoll, RSO Wien, c. Friedrich Cerha, Georg Nigl, Bar 06 October 2007 · Stefaniensaal Graz/A Les Adieux (Elegie) for ensemble Biennale di Venezia, Klangforum Wien, c. Stefan Asbury 08 October 2007 · Arsenal Venedig/I Berceuse céleste for orchestra SWR RSO Stuttgart, c. Eliahu Inbal 15 November 2007 · Liederhalle Beethovensaal Stuttgart/D GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS String Quartet No. 5 Klangspuren Schwaz, Arditti Quartet 20 September 2007 · St Martin’s Church Schwaz/A Open Spaces for strings and 2 percussionists Warsaw Autumn, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra, c. Marek Mos 28 September 2007 · National Philharmonic Concert Hall Warsaw/PL REMIX for 15 instrumentalists Wien Modern, Klangforum Wien, c. Enno Poppe 12 November 2007 · Concert House Mozart Hall Vienna/A SAED HADDAD Les 2 Visages de l'Orient (I–V) for violin (première of the final version) MachtMusik Festival, David Wedel, vln 15 September 2007 · Leipzig/D On Love I for qanun (Middle Eastern zither) and ensemble (première of the revised version) Festival d'Automne, Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam, c. Garry Walker, Taoufik Mirkhan, qanun 13 October 2007 · Opéra National de Paris/F

40

world premières


GEORG FRIEDRICH HAAS Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Wien Modern, RSO Wien, c. Martyn Brabbins, Thomas Larcher, pno 07 November 2007 · Musikverein Golden Hall Vienna/A

CRISTÓBAL HALFFTER Introducción y escena for soloists and orchestra Dresdner Philharmonie, c. Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos 20 September 2007 · Burgos/E ROXANNA PANUFNIK The Spirit of the Saints for high voices and harp c. Anthony Cain, Downe House Choir 01 November 2007 · St. Paul's Cathedral London/GB WOLFGANG RIHM Canzona nuova for 5 violas Festival Musica, Christophe Desjardins, vla (with tape) 29 September 2007 · Palais du Rhin Strasbourg/F QUID EST DEUS Cantata Hermetica for choir and orchestra SWR-SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg, c. Sylvain Cambreling SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart 04 November 2007 · Concert House Freiburg/D

41

world premières


JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Inventionen und Sinfonien BWV 772-801 for piano Urtext Edition ed. by Ulrich Leisinger UT 50253 LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza IV for piano (New Release) UE 33012 RICHARD FILZ Rhythm Coach – Level 2 (CD included) Rhythm workout for instrumentalists, singers and dancers UE 32348 RICHARD GRAF Guitar for 2 (Vol. 3, CD included) for 2 guitars UE 33337 ALEKSEY IGUDESMAN Klezmer Violin Duets for 2 violins UE 33650 GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2 for soloists (soprano, alto), choir (SATB) and orchestra choral score UE 32600 NICOLAI PODGORNOV Podgornov’s Piano Album for piano 31 easy to middle-grade pieces UE 33649 FRANZ SCHUBERT Clarinet Album for clarinet and piano ed. by James Rae UE 21398 SIEGFRIED STEINKOGLER 24 Competition Pieces for guitar solo UE 33667 KURT WEILL Fünf Songs aus der Dreigroschenoper for choir SATB choral score UE 33663

42

new releases


UNIVERSAL EDITION

Flute Project for flute solo UE 33661 New contemporary pieces for performance and study

Misato Mochizuki, Roxanna Panufnik, Arvo Pärt and Jay Schwartz!

Famous flautists join forces with famous composers for a voyage of discovery into modern music. New music is fun! New music is not hard to listen to or understand. New music is playable. New music thrives on extraordinary ideas! One such extraordinary idea has now been realised, in the shape of Universal Edition’s Flute Project. Four of the best young musicians in their field asked well-known composers to write small pieces for solo flute and to make them as easy as possible. And they willingly agreed. The result is distinguished by an incredible musical diversity, a wealth of different colours and styles. And besides simple pieces, the range deliberately incorporates completely new challenges, repeatedly providing incentives to continue this musical voyage of discovery. Along with Emmanuel Pahud, Emily Benyon, Mathieu Dufour and Kazushi Saito, discover the music of Victoria Borisova-Ollas, David Cutler,

43

new releases


BÉLA BARTÓK The Wooden Prince Hungarian National Philharmonic, c. Zoltán Kocsis Hungaroton/Klassik-Center SACD 43502 BÉLA BARTÓK String Quartet No. 5 Zehetmair Quartett ECM New Series CD 1874 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN / ALEXANDER ZEMLINKSY Fidelio for piano for four hands Maki Namekawa, Dennis Russell Davies, pn CA vi-music CD 42 6008553019 9 ALBAN BERG Lulu Laura Aikin, Cornelia Kallisch, Peter Keller, stage director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Opera Zurich Orchestra, c. Franz Welser Möst Opera Zurich Edition / Naxos DVD 5450270007844 LUCIANO BERIO Sequenza XIII Teodoro Anzellotti, acc Winter & Winter CD 910124-2 LUCIANO BERIO Folk Songs ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Pierrot Lunaire Stella Doufexis, MS, opus21musikplus, c. Konstantia Gourzi NEOS CD 10709 SIR HARRISON BIRTWISTLE Punch and Judy Phyllis Bryn-Julson, S, Jan de Gaetani, MS, Philip Langridge, T, Stephen Roberts, Bar, London Sinfonietta, c. David Atherton NMC ANCORA NMC-D138 PIERRE BOULEZ Dérive, Mémoriale London Sinfonietta, c. George Benjamin Nimbus Records NI CD 5167 FRIEDRICH CERHA Spiegel, Monumentum für Karl Prantl Klangforum Wien, c. Michael Gielen col legno WWE CD 20006 LEOS JANÁCEK Jenufa Nina Stemme, Eva Marton, Jorma Silvasti, Pär Lindskog, Orquestra Simfónica i Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu, c. Peter Schneider, Regie: Olivier Tambosi Naxos TDKDVD DVWW-OPJENU 7438045 GYÖRGY LIGETI Atmosphères Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Gabriel Feltz Dreyer Gaido CD 21029 WOLFGANG RIHM Antlitz, Phantom und Eskapade Ulf Hoelscher, vln, Siegfried Mauser, pn CPO/JPC CD 999883-2 WOLFGANG RIHM Mehrere kurze Walzer Friederike Haufe & Volker Ahmels, pn Medien Kontor Hamburg ISMN M-700167-363

44

new on cd + dvd


HANS GÁL 3 Skizzen, 24 Preludien Martin Jones, pn Nimbus Records NI CD 1727

G. MAHLER Symphony No. 2 Interactive Visualisation WDR-SO, c. Semyon Bychkow, vis.: J. Deutsch Arthaus/Naxos DVD 101 421

FRANK MARTIN Die Weise von Liebe u. Tod des Cornets Ch. Rilke Musikkollegium Winterthur, c. Jac van Steen,Christianne Stotijn,A CD MDG+SACD 601 1444-2

J. M. STAUD Apeiron, Incipit III, Peras, Violent incidents, etc. Berliner Philhar. c. Simon Rattle WDR SO,c.Lothar Zagrosek, etc. KAIROS CD 0012672 KAI

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Gurrelieder Melanie Diener, Yvonne Naef, Robert Dean Smith, Gerhard Siegel, Ralf Lukas, BR-Chor, MDR-Chor, SWR SO, c. Michael Gielen Hänssler/Naxos 2 SACD 93.198 ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG Glückliche Hand, Variationen über ein Rezitativ für Orgel (ed. by Felix Greissle), EnsembleUnited Berlin, c. P. Hirsch ARS MUSICA AM CD 1344-2 PANCHO VLADIGUEROV Vardar, 2 Morceaux, Ratschenitzka Edua Amarilla Zádory, vln, Katalin and Endre Hegedus, Raluca Stirbat Hungaroton HCD 32301 ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY Serenade A-Dur Mirijam Contzen, vln Oehms Classic / HM CD 596 JANET K. HALFYARD (HG.): Berio’s Sequenzas Essays on Performance, Composition and Analysis Book: UCE Birmingham Conservatoire, UK, www.ashgate.com

45

new on cd + dvd


WALTER BRAUNFELS (1882–1954) Worklist (summary)

Die Ammenuhr op. 28 16’ for boys’ choir and orchestra Auf ein Soldatengrab op. 26 for baritone and orchestra Divertimento op. 42 for small orchestra Don Gil von den Grünen Hosen op. 35 180’ Musical comedy in 3 acts for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra Vorspiel from the opera Don Gil von den Grünen Hosen op. 35 for orchestra Tänze und Melodien op. 35b for orchestra Suite from the opera Don Gil von den grünen Hosen Don Juan op. 34 for large orchestra 18’ A classic-romantic phantasmagoria

1914/1919 8’ 1922 20’ 1929 1921–1923

1921–1923 1921–1923 1920/1924

Study score available at Musikproduktion Höflich: www.musikmph.de

Galathea op. 40 für soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra 50’ A Greek fairy tale in 1 act Der gläserne Berg op. 39b Suite for small orchestra Große Messe op. 37 105’ for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, boys’ chloir, mixed choir (SATB), organ and orchestra Kleine Messe op. 37b 50’ for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, boys’ choir, mixed choir (SATB), organ and orchestra, short version of the Große Messe 2 Hölderlin-Gesänge op. 27 for bass and orchestra Konzert op. 38 for organ, boys’ choir and orchestra Sonnenuntergang op. 41/1 for male choir (TTBB) a cappella Nr. 1 from 2 Männerchöre Nachtzauber op. 41/2 for male choir (TTBB) a cappella Nr. 2 from 2 Männerchöre 10’ Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas 47’ von Hector Berlioz op. 25 for large orchestra

1928/1929 24’ 1928 1923–1926

1923/1926

13’ 1922 22’ 1928 1924–1925 1924–1925 1954/1961 1914–1917

Study score available at Musikproduktion Höflich: www.musikmph.de

14 Präludien op. 33 for piano Präludium und Fuge op. 36 for large orchestra

46

braunfels worklist

1921 17’ 1922–1925


Prinzessin Brambilla op. 12b 120’ 1906–1908 Fantasia in 1 prologue and 5 pictures for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna op. 57 1939–1943 Composition after the court records from 1431, text and music by W. Braunfels for soli, choir and orchestra Te Deum op. 32 60’ 1920/1921 for soprano, tenor, mixed choir (SATB), orchestra and organ Der Traum ein Leben op. 51 for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra 1934–1937 A dramatic fairy tale Die Vögel op. 30 A lyric-fantasy in 2 acts 120’ 1913–1919 for soli, choir (SATB) and orchestra Vorspiel und Prolog der Nachtigall from the opera Die Vögel 10’ 1912/1913 for coloratura soprano and orchestra Die Taubenhochzeit for orchestra 12’ 1912/1919 Ballet music from the opera Die Vögel Abschied vom Walde for tenor and orchestra 5’ 1912/1913 Final song of Hoffegut from the opera Die Vögel Vor- und Zwischenspiele op. 31 for piano 1918–1920

The complete UE worklist, with all specific details, can be found at: www.universaledition.com

47

braunfels worklist


UNIVERSAL EDITION Austria: PO Box 3, A-1015 Vienna, Austria tel +43-1-337 23 - 0, fax +43-1-337 23 - 400 UK: 48 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7BB tel +44-20-7437-6880, fax +44-20-7292-9173. USA: European American Music Distributors LLC 254 West 31st Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10001-2813 tel +1-212-461-6940, fax +1-212-810-4565. Web: www.universaledition.com Chief Editors: Angelika Dworak and Eric Marinitsch Contributors: Bálint András Varga, Angelika Dworak, Eric Marinitsch, Wolfgang Schaufler, Jonathan Irons, Rebecca Dawson, Marion Dürr and Nick Cutts Design: Egger & Lerch, Vienna Photo Credits: Marion Kalter (3), Eric Marinitsch (5), Konzerthaus Wien (2), Keith Saunders, Helmut Wiederin, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Manchester International Festival, Harlad Fronzeck, China PO, Merseburger Orgeltage, RuhrTriennale / Roland Weihrauch, Wexford Opera / Derek Speirs, www.italica.rai.it, Long Beach Opera, Francis T.B. Martin Collection Omaha, Wiener Staatsoper / Axel Zeininger, UE Archive (3), Teatro La Fenice / Michele Crosera, H. de Booij, Stone / Kurt Weill Foundatin for Music, Karl Weigl jun., Opernhaus Zürich / Suzanne Schwiertz, Musikfreunde Wien / Peter Schramek; CDs: Nimbus Records, Arthaus / Naxos, MDG, KAIROS. DVR: 0836702

48

thema


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.