Schubert - Death and the Maiden | Alpha ALPHA265

Schubert - Death and the Maiden

Label: Alpha

Cat No: ALPHA265

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Orchestral

Release Date: 21st October 2016

Contents

About

“With the wonderful Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra we are presently exploring Schubert’s quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’. Of course we have to include Schubert’s earlier song with the same title on the poem of Matthias Claudius. This song belongs to the medieval tradition of the dance of death. Therefore we also play ‘Toden Tanz’ (with poor me dancing), an ancient death dance written up by the German organ player August Nörmiger (1560-1613). Schubert’s song and the slow movement of his quartet use the solemn rhythm of a Pavan, so we also play one of Dowland’s Pavans from ‘Seven Teares’. Add to this ‘Moro lasso’ a madrigal about death by the famous Renaissance composer (and murderer!) Gesualdo. In between we also refresh our ears with other unsettling works by modern composers like György Kurtag and Heinz Holliger.” - Patricia Kopatchinskaja

Reviews

This must have been an enthralling concert. It’s almost impossible to imagine Schubert’s Death and the Maiden in a string orchestral arrangement better played, with Kopatchinskaja a dynamic leader of a group of vertiginous brilliance. But this isn’t just the quartet: in a ‘collaborative exploration’, movements are interleaved with pieces from Byzantine Chant to Kurtág via Dowland.  Helen Wallace (Orchestral Choice)
BBC Music Magazine February 2017
The Schubert gets an energetic, edgy performance from the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, sometimes nervy, occasionally playful; that second movement goes from a thrillingly forceful climax to a transcendentally sweet ending. The whole makes for thought-provoking, refreshing listening – and what impresses most, as ever, is the sheer aliveness of Kopatchinskaja’s music-making.  Erica Jeal
The Guardian 27 October 2016

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