Clara Schumann: Romanzen / Heinz Holliger: Romancendres
Christoph Richter: cello, Dénes Várjon: piano

Heinz Holliger: Gesänge der Frühe
SWR Vokalensemble, Sinfonieorchester des SWR, conducted by Heinz Holliger

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.

based on vocal fragments by Guillaume Dufay (1397–1474)
John Potter: tenor; Ambrose Field: composer, live and studio electronics

Estonian Philhramonic Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra; Tõnu Kaljuste

A first wonderful review for this new album by american monthly magazine Stereophile.

Elena Vassilieva: mezzosoprano, The Hilliard Ensemble,
Dresdner Philharmonie, Dennis Russell Davies

Socratis Sinopoulos Constantinople lyra, laouto, Christos Tsiamoulis ney, suling, outi, Panos Dimitrakopoulos kanonaki, Andreas Katsiyiannis santouri, Maria Bildea harp, Andreas Papas bendir, daouli, Veronika Iliopoulou soprano, Antonis Kontogeorgiou chorus director

Ivan Monighetti - violoncello, Tatiana Melentieva - soprano, Piotr Migunov - bass, State Hermitage Orchestra, Saulius Sondeckis Principal - conductor, Lege Artis Choir, Boris Abalian Artistic - director