- Discover more great music in our Proper Music store, and read about the very best of Proper Music's latest and forthcoming releases in Properganda Issue 19 (online flash version).
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
View the MP3 Album.
|
Product Description
International Record Review, (Ivan Moody), January 2011
The performances are outstanding...this beautifully recorded and produced disc is without doubt another jewel in Anu Tali's crown.
CD Description
The album 'Strata' presents large-scale music for orchestral forces from highly-regarded Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür - his Sixth Symphony and Concerto for violin and clarinet. It is Tüür's fifth ECM New Series album with compositions that are, in his words, "abstract dramas in sound, with individual characters and an extremely dynamic chain of events; unfolding in a space that is constantly shifting, expanding and contracting." Introduced on ECM with the 1996 release 'Crystallisatio', Erkki-Sven Tüür has come to be one of the most celebrated of Estonian composers, after Arvo Pärt probably the most widely-played internationally. 'Strata' an album of great power, recorded in Tallinn at the Estonia Concert Hall, is certain to widen Tüür's following. The album is also an ECM debut for charismatic Estonian conductor Anu Tali and the Nordic Symphony Orchestra (which she co-founded). Originally projected as a Finnish-Estonian undertaking, the orchestra has grown to include outstanding players from 15 countries. Soloists on "Noesis" are German clarinettist (and composer) Jörg Widmann and his violinist sister Carolin, two of the most distinguished instrumentalists of their generation. Carolin Widman has received praise and prizes for her ECM recordings of Schumann's Violin Sonatas and her 20th century recital disc 'Phantasy of Spring'. An album of Jörg Widmann's compositions is scheduled for New Series release in 2011. Personnel: Jörg Widmann (clarinet), Carolin Widmann (violin), Nordic Symphony Orchestra, Anu Tali (conductor)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
It certainly wasn't me. "Strata" is another major contribution to the genre, aided here by superb sound engineering, with fine and committed performances. I appreciate that some of Tuur's music might be leaving some fans behind but this sounds like a very organic whole to me. Instead of building a structure through formal development of themes what we are presented with, as the title suggests, is a work built up over many layers. Timbre is particularly important in the process and Tuur's mastery of orchestration makes the whole feel very convincing and its conclusion feel utterly inevitable.
This build up of layers and visceral physicality reminds me of Birtwhistle's "Earth Dances" and the rich chromatic mix, of Lutoslawski. The sense of organic growth is not unlike Magnus Lindberg's big orchestral scores. Tuur uses a variety of tuned and untuned percussion to ground the piece and highlight key points in the work. Tuur lives on a small island, surrounded by the sea and I don't think it is fanciful to suggest that the waves of sound in this and other works of his suggest an affinity with the sea.
"Noesis" is a double concerto for violin and clarinet. It follows the same organic route as the symphony but on a smaller scale. the work charts the drift towards a synergy between two disparate instrumental sounds. there is the semblance of a traditional concerto shape - 3 movements wrapped within the single movement structure. The finale section has more than a hint of dance and jazz: another nod to traditional concerto form. Not such a major creation as the symphony but satisfying nonetheless.
If you're looking for big tunes or something located somewhere between Sibelius and Shostakovich with a hint of Alfred Schnittke thrown in you might have a tough time getting to grips with this music. Yet, for all that, Tuur follows in Sibelius' foot steps in building a symphony with a sense inevitable organic growth.
"Strata" is a yet another big boned protein rich nordic symphony - a very good one at that. We're blessed to have so many gifted and accomplished contributors to the genre in the Baltic and Scandinavian region. This recording is a terrific showcase for the composer so it gets a big thumbs up from me.
This build up of layers and visceral physicality reminds me of Birtwhistle's "Earth Dances" and the rich chromatic mix, of Lutoslawski. The sense of organic growth is not unlike Magnus Lindberg's big orchestral scores. Tuur uses a variety of tuned and untuned percussion to ground the piece and highlight key points in the work. Tuur lives on a small island, surrounded by the sea and I don't think it is fanciful to suggest that the waves of sound in this and other works of his suggest an affinity with the sea.
"Noesis" is a double concerto for violin and clarinet. It follows the same organic route as the symphony but on a smaller scale. the work charts the drift towards a synergy between two disparate instrumental sounds. there is the semblance of a traditional concerto shape - 3 movements wrapped within the single movement structure. The finale section has more than a hint of dance and jazz: another nod to traditional concerto form. Not such a major creation as the symphony but satisfying nonetheless.
If you're looking for big tunes or something located somewhere between Sibelius and Shostakovich with a hint of Alfred Schnittke thrown in you might have a tough time getting to grips with this music. Yet, for all that, Tuur follows in Sibelius' foot steps in building a symphony with a sense inevitable organic growth.
"Strata" is a yet another big boned protein rich nordic symphony - a very good one at that. We're blessed to have so many gifted and accomplished contributors to the genre in the Baltic and Scandinavian region. This recording is a terrific showcase for the composer so it gets a big thumbs up from me.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
Erkki-Sven Tüür is Estonia's leading composer after Arvo Pärt and her foremost symphonist. RCA's release of Magma-the Fourth-some years back showed Tüür to be a significant symphonist, able to think convincingly on a large scale and construct impressive large-scale musical spans. Strata, his Sixth, is a very different animal but no less compelling as a creative utterance and fashions a unique structure that works as a true symphony. The performance by the Nordic Symphony Orchestra/Anu Tali is splendid as ECM's recording. The coupling is the double concerto for clarinet and violin, Noesis, nicely played by Jörg and Carolin Widmann, with the Nordic SO & Anu Tali accompanying. Recommended.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
STRATA - Erkki-sven Tuur's 6th symphony is a perplexing work. In some ways it's a bit like a multifaceted dream, which - being a dream - has a flow all of its own, and as a result doesn't quite know what to do with itself. The listener is led down one avenue only to be sidetracked into another, and then another, and then another etc. Think ever-changing surreal painting or shape-shifting cloudworks. This kind of aimless absorption continues for all of the symphony's 32 minutes, and the free-spirited chaos never quite forms into a recognizable structure. NOESIS - concerto for clarinet, violin and orchestra continues in a similar vein, though it is not as pleasantly perplexing as the avant-garde symphony.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
