Thomas Zehetmair: violin, Thomas Demenga: cello, Gerd Böckmann: voice, Robert Hunger-Bühler: voice, Andreas Schmidt: bass, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Heinz Holliger: conductor

• Konzert (1950), für Violine und großes Orchester
• Canto di speranza (1952/57), Kantate für Violoncello und kleines Orchester
• Ich wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht, das geschah unter der Sonne (1970), Ekklesiastische Aktion für zwei Sprecher, Bass-Solo und Orchester

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.

Anna Gourari: piano

Bach/Busoni: Ich ruf’ zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ
Gubaidulina: Chaconne
Hindemith: »1922« — Suite für Klavier
Bach/Busoni: Nun komm’ der Heiden Heiland
Bach/Busoni: Chaconne
Bach/Siloti: Prelude in b minor

Eduard Brunner: clarinet, Maacha Deubner: soprano, Kim Kashkashian: viola, Jan Garbarek: soprano sax, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Dennis Russell Davies: conductor

The Czech Philharmonic Low Brass Ensemble
Robert Kozánek (leader) – alto trombone; Lukáš Motka, Jan Perný, Lukáš Besuch – tenor trombones; Karel Kucera – bass trombone; Karel Malimánek – tuba

guests: 
Ivana Kozánková Hlavonová – piano 
Camilo Caller – percussion
Josef Vejvoda – percussion

Kühn Choir of Prague

Benjamin Britten: Ceremony of Carols
Arvo Pärt: Two Lullabies
Arvo Pärt: Salve Regina

Ensemble Inégal, Adam Viktora – conductor
Kateřina Englichová – harp

Dietburg Spohr: mezzosoprano, Brigitta Zehetner: mezzosoprano, Andrea Baader: soprano, Rita Huber: soprano, Dzuna Kalnina: alto, Rica Rauch: alto

Natalia Zagorinskaya: soprano; Gerrie de Vries: mezzo-soprano; Yves Saelens: tenor; Harry van der Kamp: bass

Jean-Guiten Queyras: violoncello; Elliott Simpson: guitar; Tamara Stefanovich: piano; Csaba Király: pianino, spoken word

Asko/Schönberg Ensemble, Netherlands Radio Choir, Reinbert de Leeuw, conductor