GRUBER, H.K.: Frankenstein!! / Dancing in the Dark / Charivari

Approfondimenti

HK Gruber's Frankenstein!! is one of the strangest and most engaging pieces of new music to come out of Austria in many years. (It has actually been around for a while -- the original version was composed in 1971, and the composer made this orchestral version in 1978.) It's rooted in the cabaret tradition, but it remains sui generis. While its effect is entirely unlike that of Pierrot Lunaire, its use of a collection of loosely related poetry combined with the composer/performer's own peculiar Sprechstimme does point to Schoenberg's masterpiece as a distant ancestor. Based on some very eccentric children's rhymes by H.C. Artmann (that, frankly, would mystify or terrify most small children) the music outdoes the poetry in its goofiness, an attribute that's found far too rarely in contemporary art music. Subtitled "A pandemonium for chansonnier and orchestra," Frankenstein!!'s text and music are also tinged with menace, and the interplay between the naïve and the sinister demands that the piece be taken seriously. Besides conducting, Gruber performs the vocal part brilliantly, astonishing the listener with the variety of sounds that can be produced by a human throat. Charivari shares Frankenstein!!'s irreverence. It begin with the entirety of Johann Strauss the Younger's polka Perpetuum mobile before launching into a zany riff on its playful mood and theme, and it is nearly successful in suppressing the darkness that lies just below the music's manic surface. Dancing in the Dark, which is recorded here for the first time, is as energetic as the other works, and while the mood is ominous and threatening, Gruber's skill at creating high drama makes it a thoroughly engaging piece. The BBC Philharmonic powerfully captures both the comedy and the menace in this music. The recorded sound is deep and clean.
© TiVo

Dettagli della registrazione originale : 70:48 - DDD - Enregistré aux Studios 7 de la BBC à Manchester (Angleterre) en février & novembre 2006 - Notes en français, anglais & allemand avec le texte de <em>Frankenstein !!</em> dans les trois langues