Kim Kashkashian’s new album following her Spanish and Argentinian songs on „Asturiana“ is a carefully composed prgramme addressing fascinating connections between three contemporary composers from Israel and Armenia. With five pieces respectively based on traditional laments of the Near East, Armenian chant and Hasidic melody, the focus is again on essentially vocal expressivenss. “What we hear in this music touches off resonances below the level of our acquired expeience”, writes Paul Griffiths in his liner notes. “Singing these songs, in a hybrid register that embraces male and female, Kashkashian’s viola sings for us all.” Betty Olivero started work on “Neharót Neharót” under the impression of the suffering and pain caused by the war in Lebanon in 2006. Olivero’s hypnotic lament for viola, accordion, percussion, two string ensembles and tape draws on allusions to Kurdish and north African songs, traditional oriental music and Monteverdi. The instrument’s singing abilities come even more to the fore in Tigran Mansurian’s “Three Arias (Sung out the window facing Mount Ararat)” which articulate the Armenian people’s longing for the holy mountain beyond the border. “Rava Deravin” by Israeli Eitan Steinberg is based on a melody for a poem by one of the greatest traditional kabbalists and was first conceived in a version for voice and instrumental ensemble. According to the composer, Kashkashian “manages to cry the prayer from within the strings, to murmur the sacred text with no words”.
Neharót - Betty Olivero / Tigran Mansurian / Eitan Steinberg
Kim Kashkashian
- 1Neharót Neharót (for viola, accordion, percussion, two string ensembles and tape)
16:20 - 2Tagh for the Funeral of the Lord (for viola and percussion)
05:31 - 3Oror (for piano)
02:57 - Three Arias. Sung Out the Window Facing Mount Ararat
- 4I. Andante, ma non troppo09:06
- 5II. Tranquillo, poco libero05:55
- 6III. Lento, ma non troppo04:22
- 7Rava Deravin (for viola and string quartet)
15:59
BBC Radio 3, CD of the year
There’s probably never been a more fascinating viola recording. Most of the music has been written in the last six years, often by middle-aged composers with substantial personalities… One is Betty Olivero, an Israeli who wrote the disc’s title piece… It’s a wonderfully dreamy, collagelike piece, tough, with a clear trajectory in its brooding viola writing, odd but eloquent accordion writing, and tapes of voices singing in welters of Mideast microtones. There’s so much in it that any given listening is going to be a unique and personal dialogue with where you’re at that day.
David Patrick Stearns, The Philadelphia Inquirer
A strong contender for classical CD of the year and one that early Christmas shoppers should begin stocking up on is the latest ECM release featuring the extraordinary Armenian American violist Kim Kashkashian. The disc is titled “Neharót”, after a stunningly beautiful and profoundly moving piece written for her by the Israeli composer Betty Olivero. … Olivero’s piece is followed on Kashkashian’s CD by Tigran Mansurian’s “Three Arias”, resplendent works for solo viola and chamber orchestra by Armenia’s leading composer. This disc concludes with another beautiful Israeli work – Eitan Steinberg’s “Rava Deravin” for viola and string quartet – a haunting prayer in muted but glowing colors that finds common spiritual ground in Hasidic and Armenian song.
Mark Swed, LA Times
Kim Kashkashian’s interest in phrasing the viola like a human voice is beautifully indulged here on pieces by Armenian and Israeli composers which investigate correspondences between those cultures. Eitan Steinberg’s “Rava Deravin” was even transposed for the instrument from the Aramaic source text, while Tigran Mansurian’s “Three Arias” features an exquisitely yearning performance from Kashkashian. … Best of all is Betty Olivero’s “Neharót Neharót”, where the mournful violas drift among accordion drones, Armenian vocalists, and two string ensembles.
Andy Gill, The Independent
The mood throughout this seamlessly programmed disc is alternately serene and intellectually stimulating – these are powerful, emotional works of spiritual significance performed by a violist with a towering intellect, a devotion to her Armenian roots, and an ability to touch the divine.
Greg Cahill, Strings
Wie kaum jemand entlockt Kim Kashkashian der hermaphroditischen Bratsche vokale Klangfarben – sinnlich erotische wie auf ihrer letzten CD Asturiana, sinnlich klagende wie hier. Das Lamento ist ein uraltes musikalisches Genre, und in diesen zeitgenössischen Werken aus Israel und Armenien folgt Kashkashian einer Tradition, die sich bis in unserer Tage erhalten hat.
Frank Cavigelli, Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
Ernst, eindringlich und tief berührend klingt diese unter anderem von armenischen Klagegesängen und chassidischen Melodien inspirierte Musik. Hochsensibel, mit fein schattierender Tongebung fühlt sich Kashkashian ein in diese ganz spezifische Klangwelt. Man spürt, hier ist Musik etwas Existentielles.
Norbert Hornig, Fono Forum
Es ist ein Klagegesang, wie auch Oliveros „Neharót“ ein Klagegesang ist. … Impuls für die Komposition von „Neharót“ war der Libanonkrieg zwischen Israel und der Hisbollah, doch letztlich weist das Werk – wie alle große Kunst – natürlich über diesen konkreten Anlass hinaus ins Grundsätzliche. Eine Trauermusik, die bei aller Schwärze doch auch etwas Tröstliches besitzt, ganz so, wie es im gleichfalls zitierten Lamento des Orpheus aus Monteverdis Oper „L’Orfeo“ der Fall ist.
Genau die richtige Musik für die wunderbare Kim Kashkashian, die zu den ganz großen Musikerinnen unserer Zeit gehört, mit ihrer Bratsche singt fast wie mit der menschlichen Stimme, die ihrem Instrument warme und sonore, kernige und ungemein berührende Töne entlockt.
Oswald Beaujean, BR online
Alles auf Kashkashians neuer CD dreht sich um Klage und Anklage, Spiritualität und Religiosität. Erinnertes und Vergessenes. … In ihrem intensiven, klangschönen Spiel verinnerlicht Kashkashian die schöpferischen Ideen, die sich stets vom Gesanglichen nähren. Dafür hat sie sensible Begleiter an ihrer Seite, allen voran das Kuss-Quartett und das MKO.
Marco Frei, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“In a certain way the genesis of this record mirrors life”, says Kim Kashkashian. “You can't always make plans, you can't foresee how things work together. Sometimes, important events just come to you, element by element, piece by piece.” Following “Asturiana”, Kashkashian's recital of Spanish and Argentinian songs transcribed for viola and piano, “Neharót” is one of her most personal recorded statements to date. It offers a carefully composed programme that reveals underlying but all the more multi-faceted connections between three contemporary composers from Israel and Armenia. Their five pieces respectively based on traditional laments of the Near East, Armenian chant and Hasidic melody once again emphasise Kashkashian's extraordinary vocal expressiveness and deeply affecting tone. “What we hear in this music touches off resonances below the level of our acquired expeience”, writes Paul Griffiths in his liner notes. “Singing these songs, in a hybrid register that embraces male and female, Kashkashian's viola sings for us all.”
Betty Olivero started work on “Neharót Neharót” in response to the suffering and pain caused by the war in Lebanon in 2006. Olivero's hypnotic lament for viola, accordion, percussion, two string ensembles and tape is a distinctly contemporary piece that draws on allusions to Kurdish and north African songs, traditional oriental music and Monteverdi. The instrument's singing abilities come even more to the fore in Tigran Mansurian's “Three Arias (Sung out the window facing Mount Ararat)” which articulate the Armenian people's longing for the holy mountain beyond the border. “Rava Deravin” by Israeli Eitan Steinberg is based on a setting of a poem by one of the greatest traditional kabbalists. As the composer says, Kashkashian “manages to cry the prayer from within the strings, to murmur the sacred text with no words”.
The first seed for the project appeared when Kashkashian heard Etty Ben-Zaken perform a vocal piece by Israeli composer Eitan Steinberg, the singer’s husband, in Boston. She was so impressed by Ben-Zaken’s combination of singing, recitation and theatrical action that she asked the composer whether a comparably eloquent and emphatic solo part could be transferred to the viola. Steinberg suggested “Rava Deravin” which originally had been conceived for wordless voice and a mixed ensemble. In accordance with Kashkashian’s timbral and coloristic ideas he subsequently transcribed it for the more homogenous sonorities of solo viola and string quartet.
“I met both Steinberg and Betty Olivero through the composer Osvaldo Golijov with whom I had spoken about my interest in music employing the stringed instrument as a human voice”, says Kashkashian. “When Betty Olivero received a commission for a new piece from New York’s cultural center 92nd Street Y she immediately suggested to write something for me. I played a lot of Armenian songs for her. However, she didn’t choose any of these but rather adapted her writing to the general character of my playing while using completely different historical sources. As it finally turned out the first performance took place in Amsterdam with the New York premiere following only one year later.”
The most recent piece on the album is “Three Songs” by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian with whom Kashkashian has frequently collaborated for many years and whose works she recorded on exemplary ECM productions such as “Hayren” (released in 2003) and “Monodia” (2004). The present recording stems from the Boston world premiere in May 2008. Kashkashian: “Tigran himself has this predilection for song and the spoken word and, when composing, he identifies very closely with the musician he is writing for. But I think this piece epitomises a pure essence of his music, something that emanates from the very soul of his personality and transcends any instrumental character.”
Betty Olivero started work on “Neharót Neharót” in response to the suffering and pain caused by the war in Lebanon in 2006. Olivero's hypnotic lament for viola, accordion, percussion, two string ensembles and tape is a distinctly contemporary piece that draws on allusions to Kurdish and north African songs, traditional oriental music and Monteverdi. The instrument's singing abilities come even more to the fore in Tigran Mansurian's “Three Arias (Sung out the window facing Mount Ararat)” which articulate the Armenian people's longing for the holy mountain beyond the border. “Rava Deravin” by Israeli Eitan Steinberg is based on a setting of a poem by one of the greatest traditional kabbalists. As the composer says, Kashkashian “manages to cry the prayer from within the strings, to murmur the sacred text with no words”.
The first seed for the project appeared when Kashkashian heard Etty Ben-Zaken perform a vocal piece by Israeli composer Eitan Steinberg, the singer’s husband, in Boston. She was so impressed by Ben-Zaken’s combination of singing, recitation and theatrical action that she asked the composer whether a comparably eloquent and emphatic solo part could be transferred to the viola. Steinberg suggested “Rava Deravin” which originally had been conceived for wordless voice and a mixed ensemble. In accordance with Kashkashian’s timbral and coloristic ideas he subsequently transcribed it for the more homogenous sonorities of solo viola and string quartet.
“I met both Steinberg and Betty Olivero through the composer Osvaldo Golijov with whom I had spoken about my interest in music employing the stringed instrument as a human voice”, says Kashkashian. “When Betty Olivero received a commission for a new piece from New York’s cultural center 92nd Street Y she immediately suggested to write something for me. I played a lot of Armenian songs for her. However, she didn’t choose any of these but rather adapted her writing to the general character of my playing while using completely different historical sources. As it finally turned out the first performance took place in Amsterdam with the New York premiere following only one year later.”
The most recent piece on the album is “Three Songs” by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian with whom Kashkashian has frequently collaborated for many years and whose works she recorded on exemplary ECM productions such as “Hayren” (released in 2003) and “Monodia” (2004). The present recording stems from the Boston world premiere in May 2008. Kashkashian: “Tigran himself has this predilection for song and the spoken word and, when composing, he identifies very closely with the musician he is writing for. But I think this piece epitomises a pure essence of his music, something that emanates from the very soul of his personality and transcends any instrumental character.”
