 |
 |
|
 |
||
|
Kurtág Kafka Fragments Tony Arnold, soprano Movses Pogossian, violin BRIDGE 9270 CD and DVD Gyorgy Kurtág is a cult figure in excelsis amongst composers, though for long "his celebrated status was invisible in the West" (Ligeti, Kurtág, and Hungarian Music during the Cold War); Kurtág's work consists of myriad miniatures in which every note and texture speaks volumes (Tim Ashley, The Guardian). He is famous for the brevity of most of his works and for his extreme demands upon their performers. The scores carry detailed instructions, which often are hard to decipher and bring off successfully. And he has long been notorious for his teaching style. It is therefore valuable to have some twenty minutes of a several days long The arduous process is fascinating and Bridge Records has done the project proud, with the class filmed in Budapest June 2004 followed by a studio recording in August and, additionally, a live performance filmed in Armenia 2006. This is all riveting, but I am not sure how many converts it will make to this rarified oeuvre. How did it all come about? Well, I have some foreknowledge, having reviewed in great depth the Gaudeamus International Interpreters Competition (Rotterdam 2001), where Tony Arnold became the first vocalist ever to win first prize. Also present was American guitarist David Starobin, Bridge Records Director of Artists & Repertoire, who "voiced his concerns about competitions to a group sitting on the floor at his feet and offered sensible and helpful advice about life and careers in music"... Tony Arnold has subsequently made many recordings of contemporary music for Bridge (q.v. Wolpe's songs reviewed by Musical Pointers) and we caught up with her in Jonathan Harvey at Lucerne, 2004). The presentation of this double disc package is immaculate, with lengthy analysis of the work (Marc McAneny) and full texts and translations (their pagination is clumsy, though). It may be that total appreciation of all Kurtág's subtleties and nuances is only possible for German speakers? This exceptional release will find an essential place in college departments of singing and violin playing, and is recommended as indispensible to Kurtág's admirers. Peter Grahame Woolf See also Kurtág's Ghosts |
master class in which these musicians were coached to exhaustion to maximise expression in these forty fragments; the composer's particular concern was to achieve perfect clarity in enunciation of Kafka's words. Marta Kurtág was on hand throughout to minister Alexander relaxation techniques...