JORGENSEN: Moon-pain

Hillier, Paul;
Oja, Iris;
klettWood;
Remix Ensemble

8.226505

Klaus Jorgensen is right at the front in the vanguard of Danish composers who are taking music who knows where. Now aged forty-two, he is much in demand on both sides of the Atlantic, with a noteworthy presence at major contemporary music festivals. The present disc contains two works only completed last year, Moon-pain and Lisbon Revisited, his atonal world is not for those who are squeamish when it comes to uncompromising modernity. He uses the mezzo soloist in so many different ways from conventional singing to screaming her way through words by the 20th century Portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa. Taken from an English language collection of poems, The Mad Fiddler, the music is at times creating the mood of a nightmare. The work’s six sections, five of which are vocal, are here interspersed with the three Goblin Dances dating from 2005. Scored for clarinet and piano they sit quite happily as interludes, though the interpolation of Lisbon Revisited, a montage of voices speaking Pessoa texts in various languages come with snatches of Jorgensen’s music, is a track that I find simply irritating. The ultimate test came when I found on a second hearing, a few days later, the music of Moon-pain had remained in my memory. Iris Oja takes the virtuoso role with an assiduity that overcomes the technical challenges, while the Portuguese sextet of strings, woodwind and piano, Remix Ensemble, are obviously well-versed in the composer’s sound-world, and bring Moon-pain perfectly to its uncertain conclusion. First class engineering. • David Denton, David's Review Corner, March 2009

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Marco Polo

05-01-2009

636943650523