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Site review by Polly Nomial August 7, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
One can only echo the review from Castor - this is fascinating music, which is vividly conjured up by the Berlin RSO & Strobel.
As mentioned, Clowns & Kinder has many circus music elements; for those unfamiliar with Rota's score to La Strada, there is extravagent use of percussion combined with a full orchestra with enjoyable melodies. All the excerpts are short (the longest is about 2'30) but the length is just enough to prevent them from appearing to be fragmentary.
The concluding waltz of Clowns & Kinder tees up The Waltz very well indeed. This, as noted, sees Schnittke (as is frequent with his works) molding a pre-existing composition (Tales from the Vienna Woods - Strauss, J Jnr) into a cohesive piece of his own. One thing that will be noted by comparing this re-orchestrated version is the subtlety that Strauss gave the "original" is missing here. As the transformations increase, this is less and less of a problem though it was quite a rude awakening to my ears!
I cannot add anything to Castor's review of The Glass Harmonica or The Ascent - his review perfectly captures my impressions of this remarkable disc.
Apart from the wonderfully enthusiastic contribution of the Berlin RSO, great credit must go to Capriccio for this series (I cannot imagine many other companies giving us this lovely music) and especially their wonderful recording from the Jesus-Christus Kirche, Berlin. Lastly, many thanks to Frank Strobel for his informative notes and tireless work in preparing the scores for this recording. I can't wait to further explore this most eclectic composer.
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Copyright © 2006 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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Site review by Castor August 1, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
This, the second volume of the film music of Alfred Schnittke, brings us music from four very different sounding, but equally fascinating, scores.
Clowns and Kinder is truly circus music reminiscent of Rota’s music for Fellini’s La Strada, very catchy, but with a harder, more ironic edge. It features a very jazzy section entitled ‘Acrobats’ and concludes with a haunting waltz.
This leads nicely into the music from ‘The Waltz’ a TV film made by Viktor Titov in 1969. It begins with a carefree, graceful and melodic section (bizarrely entitled The Building Site) and moves into a percussion statement of the same music, at which point Schnittke introduces a waltz by Johann Strauss (it is in fact Tales from the Vienna Woods, although the notes accompanying the disc do not tell us this). Gradually this waltz becomes distorted and transformed in a manner often used by Schnittke in his symphonic works.
The music for The Glass Harmonica, a surrealist animated cartoon by Andrei Khrzhanovsky, is played in full (20min.) and features such exotic instruments as an Ekvodin (early Russian synthesiser), an Ionika (electric organ) and a theremin. After an eerie baroque-sounding melody Schnittke gives full reign to his imagination. To quote the notes ‘Whining violins, giggling woodwinds, roaring brass and rattling percussion create a ghostly atmosphere. Symphonic dimensions open up and are soon torn to pieces again, slashed, unravelled.’ Exactly!
Altogether this is an astounding if somewhat unsettling score and makes one eager to see the film that it was written to accompany.
Finally a short suite from ‘The Ascent’, a 1976 film set in WW2. The opening movement ‘Sotnikov’s Death’ begins quietly in the depths of the orchestra with dense textures, akin to the start of Shostakovich’s 2nd Symphony and gradually builds to a huge climax with bells and crashing tam-tams. It will certainly test your system to the full.
As on the previous Volume, both the playing of the Berlin RSO and the recording are outstanding. The multi-channel sound is natural, vivid and benefits from the generous acoustic of the Jesus-Christus Kirche in Berlin.
Since Schnittke wrote over 60 film scores, it is to be hoped that Frank Strobel will give us a further volume in this excellent series.
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Copyright © 2006 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
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