Camille KERGER
Ekatvam
Walter CIVITAREALE Cello Concerto
Marco KRAUS Suite Concertante
Luc ROLLINGER Arion
RTL Symphony Orchestra/Marcel
Wengler with Georges Mallach (cello) Marco Putz (saxophones)
LGNM Anthology of Luxembourg
Music Vol. 3 [69 mins]
LGNM
Luxembourg Society for Contemporary Music
The LGNM series gives great support to native Luxembourgisch composers by
recording many of their works for full symphony orchestra, well recorded
(often from live concerts) and usually under the able direction of Marcel
Wengler.
Kerger (b.1957 started as a trombonist. His powerful lament for his
mother, composed in 1988, is a substantial 17 min. single movement in an
accessible, non doctrinaire musical language, expressing a wide range of
moods with effective orchestration.
Civitareale was born 1954. His cello concerto dates from 1986, in
tribute to a pioneer of the country's new music, René Mertzig. The
first movement is elegiac, but never lachrymose, and the second a scherzo
finale in sonata-rondo form, with a huge cadenza followed by a return to
material from the beginning of the whole concerto. Whether it will be fully
effective in concert is hard to be sure, because the cello is recorded too
far forward for my taste.
Rollinger (b.1969), the youngest of the four, seems on this showing
to be the most conservative. He is represented by a continuous melody for
alto saxophone, exploiting the instrument's closeness to the human voice,
supported by strings with material based on superimposed fourths. It sounds
to be a delight to play and is easy to listen to.
Most interesting was the five movement Suite Concertante by
Marco Kraus (b. 1955) each featuring a different saxophone in ascending
order from baritone to sopranino. There is ample scope for full exploration
of this instrument, including modern advanced techniques, and I would expect
saxophonists to be queuing up for opportunities to play it. The orchestration
is clear and transparent, and the performance impressive in its precision
and confidence. Marco Putz is a founding member of the New Saxophone
Quartet of Luxembourg, which was featured during the
ISCM World Music
Days.
Peter Grahame Woolf
