Cellist Heinrich Schiff delivers a transcendent performance of a cello concerto dedicated to him “in friendship” by Austria’s great composer Friedrich Cerha (born 1926). Cerha’s special combination of stylistic conviction and expressive diversity, much in evidence here, has been attributed to his intense involvement with the Second Vienna School (he is still best known for completing Act 3 of Berg’s ‘Lulu’) . Under Peter Eötvös’s direction the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra explore the variegated textures of Cerha’s concerto and also the rich colours of the Chamber Symphony in One Movement by Franz Schreker (1878-1934).
Friedrich Cerha / Franz Schreker
Heinrich Schiff, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Peter Eötvös
- Konzert für Violoncello und Orchester
- 1I13:10
- 2II10:41
- 3III11:34
- 4Kammersymphonie in einem Satz (1916)
25:54
Gramophone, Editor’s Choice
A work that both reflects the Straussian opulence of his previous operas and anticipates the impressionistic subtlety of those that followed. Peter Eötvös emphasises the latter and throws the ingenious four-movements-in-one format into constructive relief. With its luminous textures alluringly caught by the superb recording, this is now the version to have and the whole disc offers an unfailingly absorbing listen.
Richard Whitehouse, Gramophone
The Austrian composer and conductor Friedrich Cerha … is best known for completing Act III of Berg’s Lulu, but his own music has travelled little beyond the Austro-German heartland. Which is a shame, because his Cello Concerto, completed in 1996 for Heinrich Schiff, is a work of both substance and originality. Schiff himself is the eloquent soloist here, casting off reams of golden tone in the work’s lyrical central movement and never resorting to coarseness in the more energetic music. … Peter Eötvös conducts the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra in a full-blooded, luxuriant account of Schreker’s masterly late-Romantic score, and both works benefit from a generous but immediate recorded sound.
Matthew Rye, BBC Music Magazine
„Der reine Klang“ war die zentrale Kategorie für Schrekers Komponieren. Seine Musik ist denn auch von fast unwirklicher Schönheit, glitzert und schillert in allen Farben. … Das Cellokonzert des österreichischen Altmeisters Friedrich Cerha knüpft hörbar an das Wien des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts an und bekennt sich klar zum expressiven Gestus Bergs. Widmungsträger Schiff spielt es hinreißend, Peter Eötvös und das Orchester realisieren beide Werke mit suggestivem Klangsinn und fabelhafter Transparenz.
Oswald Beaujean, Partituren
Fin de Siècle ist hier nur Teil einer faszinierenden Vielschichtigkeit, die hitzige Dramatik, rhythmische Impulsivität und ungewöhnliche Farbkombinationen bereithält. Musikalischer Jugendstil mitten im Ersten Weltkrieg dann mit Franz Schrekers Kammersinfonie in einem Satz, deren üppige Klangsinnlichkeit Peter Eötvös und sein glänzendes Orchester nie zu dick auftragen.
Dirk Wieschollek, Fono Forum
Vielgestaltig, ohne je zu verwildern, mit großartigen Solopassagen für ein melodiehungriges Instrument: Das Cellokonzert des Wieners Friedrich Cerha ist eine zutiefst menschliche Klangreise. Gespielt vom Widmungsträger Heinrich Schiff, tritt das Stück neben Schrekers Klangschwelgerei von 1916; beides Musik für alle, die Gefühl nicht mit Naivität gleichsetzen.
Johannes Saltzwedel, Kulturspiegel
Ein fulminantes Cellokonzert aus den 90er-Jahren von Friedrich Cerha … dazu die herrliche Kammersymphonie von Franz Schreker aus dem Jahr 1916 – ein österreichischer Bogen über das 20. Jahrhundert. Eötvös arbeitet jedes Detail dieser Werke auf das Feinste heraus und lässt auch, dafür sorgt im Cellokonzert natürlich ebenso Heinrich Schiff, den fulminanten Schwung, den Farbenreichtum und die sinnliche Präsenz dieser beiden Werke nicht zu kurz kommen.
Reinhard Schulz, Neue Musikzeitung
Following Heinrich Schiff’s widely-acclaimed recital disc (ECM New Series 1912) with Frank-Peter Zimmermann and music of Honegger, Ravel, Martinu, Pintscher, and J.S. Bach (the New Yorker spoke of “fierce intelligence and implacable virtuosity” and the album was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice and a BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice), the Austrian master cellist returns to play Friedrich Cerha’s Cello concerto, of which he is the dedicatee, on a recording that looks at artistic independence in Viennese music-making. The disc is released in time for the Mondsee Festival where Schiff is artistic director and Cerha, acknowledged as Austria’s greatest living composer, is composer-in-residence this year: More details: www.musiktage-mondsee.at
The present recording also underlines ECM’s collaboration with Peter Eötvos and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, an association that has led to important releases including Elliott Carter’s “What Next?” (ECM New Series 1817) and Kim Kashkashian’s exploration of 20th century Hungarian music in a programme with compositions of Bartók, Eötvös and Kurtág (ECM New Series 1711) which won the Cannes Classical Award in 2001.
The present recording also underlines ECM’s collaboration with Peter Eötvos and the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, an association that has led to important releases including Elliott Carter’s “What Next?” (ECM New Series 1817) and Kim Kashkashian’s exploration of 20th century Hungarian music in a programme with compositions of Bartók, Eötvös and Kurtág (ECM New Series 1711) which won the Cannes Classical Award in 2001.
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