Continuum: Symphony at Night
Marco SCHäDLER (b.1964)
Nachtschicht [26:37]
Matthias FROMMELT (b.1975)
*Nocturne (2007) [12:51]
+Turbulenz (2010) [8:48]
*Ohne Namen (2010) [6:06]
Jürg HANSELMANN (b.1960)
Dies Irae Variationen, for two pianos and orchestra (2005) [22:22]
Klavierduo Sandra und Jürg Hanselmann (pianos)
Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein/Albert Frommelt, +William Maxfield (conductor)
*Sinfonietta Vorarlberg/Benjamin Lack
rec. Kloster Mehrerau, Bregenz, 13-16 July 2010; SAL Schaan, Liechtenstein,
1 May 2010 [Turbulenz]; Vaduzer Saal, Liechtenstein, 25 March, 2007 [Hanselmann];
18 June 2009 [Schädler]. DDD
CARUS 83.364 [76:46] 
Where the title of this new release by Stuttgart-based multimedia publishers
Carus, 'Symphony at Night', comes from is not made clear. Continuum is however
the name of the Liechtensteinian Composers' Promotion Society, which commissioned
these works from local musicians, one from Liechtenstein itself and two from
Chur, down the road in Switzerland.
To date, Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901) is Liechtenstein's most famous composer
by a long way, and even he spent most of his life in Germany. Carus have just
re-issued Rheinberger's complete piano works - played by the prolific Jürg
Hanselmann, with help from his wife Sandra - on 10 CDs (83.365, previously
available on Prezioso), and have been working their way through his choral
works. There are already an amazing four volumes of secular music and ten
of religious (see review of the most recent, vol. X, here).
There’s also a single disc so far of organ music - for which, ironically,
Rheinberger is best known to the wider public.
The CD opens with the standout work, Marco Schädler's Nachtschicht
('Nightshift'). Schädler describes the work as "a song of [my]
homeland [Chur, Switzerland] without words", but that does not really
do it justice. Somewhat Bartókian in its striking rhythms and colours, it
is certainly nothing like another Alpensymphonie, though it is imaginatively
orchestrated, and in an approachable tonal idiom - like all the music on this
CD, in fact.
The other big work is at the other end of the programme: Jürg Hanselmann's
Dies Irae Variationen. As indicated above, Hanselmann has made many
recordings as a pianist. Most of his compositions are not surprisingly for
piano, with a smaller number for orchestra. The Dies Irae Variations combines
the two, and the result is most attractive. This work - presumably the same
recording - appeared on an earlier CD sponsored by Continuum, which also featured
works by Schädler and Frommelt, and which seems to be available now only
through Matthias Frommelt's website.
The opening of the Variations sounds like a gentler, elongated Mars (from
Holst's The Planets), until the appearance of the famous Dies Irae
'melody', much beloved of Berlioz, Liszt, Rachmaninov and others. Two
thirds of the way through there is a direct quotation from Liszt's Totentanz,
giving rise to some excellent four hand playing. Otherwise Hanselmann's score
is quite different, with little emphasis on piano virtuosity: the duo's role
is more one of colourisation than concertante. There are protracted dreamy
sections in which the work turns towards the monochrome soundscapes of modern
Hollywood film. Nevertheless, the final minutes are totally memorable, with
both pianistic and orchestral fireworks and an imaginative, if again somewhat
Hollywoodesque, ending. Touchingly, Hanselmann dedicates the work to the memory
of those killed by the colossal Asian tsunami in December 2004.
On his half-finished website Matthias Frommelt lists only a handful of works,
with the earliest dating back to 2005. Both Frommelt's three-movement Nocturne
and his three-movement-in-one Ohne Namen ('Nameless') are fairly
conventional and tend towards easy-listening, often sounding like John Barryish
scene-painting for a mainstream TV drama. It is hardly a surprise to learn
from his biography that he has written music for the mass media industry.
His best work here is Turbulenz, helped by the much larger orchestral
forces. The notes explain rather blandly that this work is about "blows
of fate and overcoming them". There is still a distinct orthodoxy of
style, again with something of a soundtrack feel suffusing the work - though
now rather more big screen in gestures and vividness. Not a compelling listen
by any means - it is fair to say that the title is somewhat misleading. On
the other hand it is not uninteresting, and is likely to appeal to today's
more generic audiences.
All the performances on this disc are better than might be imagined from such
low-key ensembles. The Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra gives a particularly
commendable performance under its founder Albert Frommelt; the booklet does
not say whether he is related to Matthias Frommelt.
Sound is pretty good throughout, although the definition in higher registers
and at higher volume is not always that clear. There are a few noises off
in Schädler's Nachtschicht, including an annoying cougher. The
monastery setting for Frommelt's Nocturne is fairly reverberant. Early
on in the Dies Irae Variations there is the suspicion of a minor editing
join, and, bizarrely, the conductor's voice can be heard for a split second
right at the end of the track. Overall though technical quality is more than
adequate. The trilingual booklet is nicely informative, although some of the
photos are a bit cheesy.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
All the performances on this disc are better than might be imagined from such low-key ensembles.