Recent press releases
Three new releases at Ensemble Modern Medien in the series ›Portrait CDs‹
After the sucessful start of the new series ›Portrait CDs‹ from Ensemble Modern Medien and its first releases in march of this year three further releases are now available – with pianist Ueli Wiget as well as the two trumpeters Valentín Garvie and Sava Stoianov introducing themselves with the most varied solo and chamber music pieces.
On his portrait CD Ueli Wiget devotes himself exclusively tho the chamber music pieces of the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949). These primarily captivate us, says Ueli Wiget, with their multiple layers: a characteristic alliance between dodecaphonic vocabulary in the melody and harmony, expressive melodization with rhapsodic freedom pushing each instrument to its physical limits as well as a trenchant, sometimes quite ecstatically unruly rhythm drawn by the composer from the folk music of his homeland. In Wigets view Nikos Skalkottas ›Cycle Concert‹ is quite quintessential for the ensemble: »chamber music in every conceivable (and also quite bizarre) instrumental combination«.
Sava Stoianov names his portrait CD after a piece featured on it entitled ›Ljulka‹ meaning ›Cradle‹ by Valeri Pachov and Sava Stoianov. Also featured as part of the CD alongside ›Mysteries of the Macabre‹ by György Ligeti are works written for him by Cathy Milliken, Chicage Imai, Carlo Crivelli and Benedict Mason. ›Mysteries of the Macabre‹ holds special meaning for Stoianov beeing the first piece he played with the Ensemble Modern as a soloist.
A special focus on Valentín Garvies CD is Hans Werner Henze’s ›Sonatine für Trompete‹ that the composer wrote for Garvie’s professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and which Valentín Garvie had prepared for his audition with the Ensemble Modern. The Argentinean trumpeter has a very personal connection with the three South American composers whose works are presented: Marcelo Perticone as a teacher and long-standing family friend, Leo Maslíah who played the piano in the recording of his work and Eduardo Moguillansky whom Valentín Garvie met through the Ensemble Modern.
The idea for these portrait albums came from a series of concerts marking the 25th anniversary of the Ensemble Modern in which the soloists of the ensemble presented themselves to the Frankfurt audience between Fall 2005 and Spring 2008 in very personal programmes. Based on these concerts each musician designed and arranged a portrait album.
The recordings were produced in collaboration with the hr2-kultur culture program of the German radio brodcaster Hessischer Rundfunk – cultural affairs parter of the Ensemble Modern.
