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Christopher Rouse:
Der Gerettete Alberich, Rapture & Viulukonsertto(2004)
HPO Leif Segerstam
Evelyn Glennie, lyömäsoittimet
Cho-Liang Lin, viulu
ODE 1016-2
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In 2001, Ondine released the world premiere recording of Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women, one of the most successful new operas of the last 20 years. Ondine’s initiative to record living American composers continues with a major premiere recording containing music by Christopher Rouse. One of the most famous percussionists of our time Evelyn Glennie joins forces with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Leif Segerstam in performance of Christopher Rouse’s Percussion Concerto ‘Der gerettete Alberich’. The disc contains also also ‘Rapture for Orchestra’ and the Violin Concerto with Cho Liang Lin as the soloist.
Christopher Rouse is one of America’s best known and most frequently performed composers. Rouse composes primarily orchestral music, an arena in which he has been unusually successful. Nearly every major orchestra in the world has programmed his works.
After winning the Pulitzer Prize in music in 1993 for his Trombone Concerto (1990-91), he produced a bumper crop of concerti, including the Violin Concerto and percussion concerto ‘Der gerettete Alberich’ recorded here as well as works for cello (1992), flute (1993), piano (1997-98), guitar (1999), and clarinet (2000). The guitar concerto, Concert de Gaudí, earned Rouse a Grammy in the “Best Contemporary Composition” category in 2002.
Rouse’s instrument is percussion. He hit upon the connection to Wagner’s Ring cycle. “At the end of Götterdämmerung, the greedy dwarf Alberich is the only main character who is still alive,” Rouse points out. “I’d always wondered what happened to him, and decided to have a little fun with that idea. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but not making fun of Wagner — more a case of having fun with Wagner.”
Rapture (2000), the most recent Rouse composition presented here, is a surprisingly straightforward and consonant work with a resolute focus on all that is positive, even ecstatic. “I used the word ‘rapture’ to convey a sense of spiritual bliss, religious or otherwise,” the composer has written.
The Violin Concerto (1991) is the largest-scale work presented here. Its architectural model was the two movement form of the Bartók First Violin Concerto. In this case, Rouse opted for traditional movement types in a non-traditional context. His first movement is a barcarolle; the second a toccata. Both movements are firmly anchored in tonality, with strong allusions to earlier composers.
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Rousen musiikki on vahvan kuvausvoimaista ja vauhdikasta sekä tekniseltä toteutukseltaan taidokasta. Erityisesti orkesterin tehokeinojen käyttäjänä säveltäjä on mestarillinen. Leif Segerstamin, HKO:n ja solistien työskentely tekee erinomaisesti oikeutta Rousen vulkaaniselle musiikille.
(Suomen Kuvalehti 12/2004: Lauri Kilpiö)
Glennie och Lin hanterar sina instrument med auktoritet och virtuositet, Segerstam njuter i fulla drag av att ge sig Rouses orkestrala fantasier hän och HSO-musikerna är bra med på noterna.
(Hufvudstadsbladet 10.3.2004: Mats Liljeroos)
Leif Segerstam ja Helsingin filharmonikot ovat railakkaassa menossa mukana täysin rinnoin. Tarjolla on levyllinen mielenkiintoista, elävää ja kuulijaystävällistä nykymusiikkia, jossa ei ole hitustakaan paperin makua.
(Etelä-Suomen Sanomat 21.3.2004: Arto Sakari Korpinen)
Leif Segerstam on tällaisen nousuhakuisen musiikin parissa kuin kotonaan. Kaupunginorkesteri nostattaa järiseviä fortissimoja, kun käsky käy.
(Muusikko 3/2004: Pekka Nissilä)
In both concertos, as well as the serene, radiant Rapture, Leif Segerstam and his excellent Finnish orchestra bring Rouse’s farthest-flung imaginings vividly to life, a feat faithfully captures by Ondine’s clear, vivid procuktion.
(Time Out New York April 8-15, 2004: Steve Smith)
Orkesterinkäyttäjänä Rouse on erinomainen, suuretkin massat soivat kirkkaasti. Levyn solistit ovat ensiluokkaisia, ja Leif Segerstamin johtama Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri soittaa nautittavasti ja isolla soundilla. Varsinkin Rapturessa Segerstamin ekstaatikon kyvyt pääsevät vellomaan. Ei liene sattumaa, että Rousea levyttävät samat tekijät kuin Einojuhani Rautavaaraa.
(Turun Sanomat 16.4.2004: Tomi Norha)
Rapture (Hurmio) on suurieleinen runoelma, jonka Segerstam saa sykkimään täydellä paatoksella, ja Helsingin kaupunginorkesterikin lainehtii kuin Aivazovskin maalaukset.
(Rondo-Classica 5/2004: Antti Häyrynen)
Evelyn Glennie, who often performs the work live, gives an invigorating performance.
The Violin Concerto was commissioned for Cho-Liang Lin, whose fiery blend of honeyed tone and bravura brilliance is perfectly suited to its dramatic, Romantic temperament.
Despite the work’s rather traditional feel, it still manages to sparkle with life and originality, due in no small part to the labours of Lin as well as spirited direction of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from conductor Leif Segerstam.
(The Strad June 2004: Catherine Nelson)
Jos pitää modernia musiikkia pitkästyttävänä, kannattaa kuunnella Rousea. Hänen fantasiansa lyömäsoittimille ja orkesterille hakee alkuvoimansa Wagnerilta. Jos Wagner tuntuu joskus laahaavalta, vie Rouse musiikkia eteenpäin hurjaa kyytiä; pidä tuolistasi kiinni kaksin käsin! Leif Segerstam on saanut Helsingin kaupunginorkesteriin kerrassaan huikeaa potkua.
(Gloria 2004 / heinäkuu: Olli Paunu) |
