Three keyfigures from ECM’s contemporary music roster – Heinz Holliger, Thomas Zehetmair, and Thomas Demenga – team up for an exceptional recording of three works by German post-war composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann. Zimmermann, almost half a generation older than the serialists such as Boulez and Stockhausen, integrated state-of-the-art compositional methods in his writing while constantly following his own independent, highly expressive musical language. The rhythmically energetic violin concerto (1950) which is partially based on twelve-tone models and cast in three movements, was soon hailed as a model for a post-war solo concerto, while “Canto di Speranza” (1953/57), a one-movement cello concerto, acccording to Zimmermann, emphasizes monologue and introvert meditation. “Ich wandte mich…” on the other hand is Zimmermann’s last work, finished only a few days before his suicide in 1970. Labelled by the composer as an “ecclesiastical action”, the 35-minute oratorio on biblical verse and the famous parable "The Grand Inquisitor" from Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov” is a deeply pessimistic “performance art” work – of the kind that flourished in Germany’s ‘Fluxus’ scene around 1970 – involving recitation, singing, and both gestural and acrobatic action.
Bernd Alois Zimmermann: Canto di speranza
Thomas Zehetmair, Thomas Demenga, Gerd Böckmann, Robert Hunger-Bühler, Andreas Schmidt, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Heinz Holliger
- Konzert für Violine und großes Orchester
- 1Sonata. Allegro moderato, rubato04:43
- 2Fantasia. Rubato molto10:03
- 3Rondo. Allegro con brio04:17
- 4Canto di speranza
17:47 - 5Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht, das geschah unter der Sonne
36:37
Diapason, Diapason d’or
This is a fine representative selection of his output: the early, still essentially neo-Classical violin concerto, the more characteristic cello concerto, Canto di speranza, and Zimmermann’s final work. … Thomas Zehetmair … is an ideal advocate for the solo part; the lush colours of Zimmermann’s generous orchestration come off beautifully under Holliger, particularly in the glorious slow movement. … The work should be much better known and I can hardly imagine a better way to make its acquaintance. …
Thomas Demenga is also an ideal soloist, managing to retain a full-bodied tone throughout, despite the thorny tasks Zimmermann sets him.
A genuine cantata concludes the programme – a song not of hope but of despair. … With its clear narrative form, the work is no mere 1960s ‘happening’ and its effect not only in concert but on record can be deeply harrowing.
Carl Rosman, International Record Review
The stylistic and emotional distance that Zimmermann travelled in barely 20 years is graphically illustrated by the works that frame the outstanding ECM disc. The synthesis of Bartók, Schoenberg and Stravinsky in the sparky Violin Concerto of 1950, played with expressive intelligence by Thomas Zehetmair, seems light years away from the deep pessimism of Zimmermann’s final work… Between the two comes a beautifully judged account of one of Zimmermann’s perfectly achieved scores, the 1957 ‘cantata’ for cello and orchestra, Canto di Speranza. With its finely honed lyricism and limpid scoring it has the focus and economy that Zimmermann’s later music sometimes lost; Thomas Demenga’s performance of the solo part maintains that purity even under the greatest pressure.
Andrew Clements, BBC Music Magazine
Die ausgewählten Werke gewähren einen konzentrierten Überblick über das Werk, über die Ästhetik Zimmermanns. Darüber hinaus sind hier Referenzaufnahmen des WDR-Sinfonieorchesters Köln mit Heinz Holliger am Pult zu annoncieren… Thomas Zehetmair bedient sich einer immens großen Skala von Spieltechniken… Thomas Demenga bettet die komplizierte ins Endlose projizierte, bisweilen rhythmisch scharf aufgeraute Kantilene des Cellokonzerts mit größter Behutsamkeit in den so stillen wie grell beredsam auffahrenden Orchestersatz ein. Und die „Ekklesiastische Aktion“, das Hörtheater über die Begegnung von Christ und Antichrist geht unter die Haut.
Annette Eckerle, Stuttgarter Zeitung
Gerd Böckmann und Robert Hunger-Bühler gelingt es in der Aufnahme, die Texte aus dem Alten Testament und Dostojewskis Großinquisitor in so „flammender“ Rezitation zu vergegenwärtigen, wie vom Komponisten verlangt. Das WDR-Sinfonieorchester Köln unter Heinz Holliger katapultiert die abrupten Klangkontraste und Stilmixturen fast erschreckend plastisch heraus. Entdeckung früherer Werke Zimmermanns: Thomas Zehetmair spielt das Violinkonzert und Thomas Demenga das Cellokonzert „Canto di speranza“, in denen noch Strawinsky geistert, mit makelloser Musikalität.
Wolfgang Schreiber, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Dem Solisten Thomas Zehetmair ist diese Musik hörbar eine Herzensangelegenheit. Das gilt auch für Thomas Demengas Interpretation des Canto. Was dieses einsätzige Cellokonzert so faszinierend macht, ist die Tatsache, dass es Zimmermann hier gelungen ist, trotz konsequenter Anwendung der seriellen Technik Farbenreichtum und Ausdruck, ja Sinnlichkeit in den Vordergrund der klanglichen Ereignisse zu stellen. Dies ist Musik, die zweifelsohne bleiben wird.
Thomas Schulz, Applaus