Wolfgang Rihm - Über die Linie II, Coll'Arco

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Wolfgang Rihm - Über die Linie II, Coll'Arco

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This is Volume Six of the Rihm Edition, another excellent entry in Hanssler's composer-curated series of recordings by the orchestras of the SWR (Southwest German Radio). This time around we find Sylvain Cambreling leading his SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg in two concertos.

"Uber die Linie II: Musik fur Klarinette und Orchester" (1999 – 37'07) was written for Jorg Widmann, composer, clarinettist, and Rihm protege. It is one of many works Rihm has written for Widmann. The clarinet line runs nearly continuously throughout the entire piece. As Widmann says in the liner notes, "[t]he only other composer who writes in a similarly songlike manner with almost no virtuoso runs and 'reduces virtuosity to the point of unplayability' (Rihm) is Johannes Brahms. Pure tone, pure song with no ornaments – and similarly difficult to play." Widmann observes that "[a] form of athletic preparation would be necessary to handle these extreme demands on my endurance, power, and control."

"Uber die Linie II" is basically an extended nocturne with restrained orchestral accompaniment, a quite unusual concerto. The smooth, lyrical flow is only interrupted once, with a loud minimalist-sounding percussion passage at about the half-way point. I had to listen to it several times before I began to really appreciate it. While not one of Rihm's masterpieces, it is a fine work, and this performance and recording is definitive. The live premiere of the piece at the annual Musica Viva Festival in Munich has been available for some time from Col Legno, with Cambreling leading the SBR (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra). This new recording is much better: slower (by over five minutes) and more assured, while lacking the nervous energy of the premiere.

"Coll'Arco: Vierte Musik fur Violine und Orchester" (2008 – 29'03) was written for Jorg's sister Carolin Widmann. His "Fourth Music" for violin and orchestra, it continues Rihm's penchant for more Romantic sounding music in recent years, more accessible than his music from the Seventies through the early Nineties. The most obvious influences are the concertos of Berg and Korngold. According to the liner notes, Rihm makes "unabashed use of thirds, sixths, major and minor triads in the solo part." The violin surges passionately into the higher register again and again, a far cry from "Time Chant", the concerto Rihm wrote for Ann-Sophie Mutter in the early Nineties. As with the last Rihm Edition disc, Verwandlungen – Volume 5, it is clear that the music inhabits an early Twentieth Century soundworld, still Modern, but familiar to many classical listeners.

I was a bit taken aback when I first heard it, but with repeated listening I find it to be richly rewarding. I am still coming to terms with the more audience-friendly Wolfgang Rihm.

Autonomeus @ Amazon.com