| 60 this year, the Hungarian composer and conductor Peter Eötvös is increasingly looking like the most important figure in his country's music since the 1920s generation of Ligeti and Kurtág, but, until recently, comparatively little of his music has been available on CD. With a variety of recordings (including one of the stunning Atlantis) now available on the Hungarian BMC label, and other recordings available on ECM, Bis and (as here) Kairos, this neglect has fortunately been rectified.
The present recording contains three works for ensemble. Chinese Opera (heard here in the composer's revised edition) is a three-movement work of just under half an hour in duration. It's in part an evocation of imaginary folk musics, in part a drama for instruments instead of singers, and in part an expression of sheer joy in varied instrumental colour. At times the music reminded me of Boulez, Bartók or Kurtág, but ultimately the language is Eötvös' own.
Shadows is, in effect, a brief (fifteen minutes long, and in three movements) double concerto for flute, clarinet and ensemble, and is probably the finest work on the disc. It has a lithe, muscular lyricism and an almost Stravinskian rhythmic verve, and is a joy to listen to. The duet for the two solo instruments that closes the finale also shows off Eötvös' talent for lyrical melodic writing. Some of the spatial effects may not come off ideally here--they are more obvious in live performance--but even on disc it's clear this is a very fine work.
Steine is a quarter-hour piece for twenty-two instruments, in part based on the harp part from Eötvös' 60th birthday tribute to Pierre Boulez. It travels at a generally slow pace, with trills and brief motifs pointed up by insistent percussion patterings. Bizarre dance-like figures occasionally intrude, along with barkings from the low brass, but generally this work summons up an atmosphere of slightly uneasy gentle motion.
This is a good disc, with the composer directing the experienced Klangforum Wien in predictably excellent performances. (Steine was recorded live, and there is some occasional audience noise audible; the other two works are studio recordings.) If I were to recommend one Eötvös disc, it would not be this one but the BMC disc with Atlantis, Shadows (in just as good a performance) and Psychokosmos, but this recording will certainly appeal to anyone interested in the composer. |