Composer: Iannis Xenakis
Performer: Irvine Arditti, Claude Helffer, Penelope Walmsley-Clark
Orchestra: Spectrum
Conductor: Guy Protheroe
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (track+cue)
Label: Wergo
Size: 188 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
1. Palimpsest
2. Épéi
3. Dikhtas
4. Akanthos
Who Doesn’t Have This Xenakis WERGO Disc?
There is no way any fan of Xenakis can only have this cd, and nothing else. This cd really works best when listened to in conjunction with the Erato set by Boulez, and the Arditti set on Montaigne. The music on this cd practically only spans a couple of years, so, there is no way you’ll get away with just it, haha. You’re not getting off that easy!
Although all the pieces here have alternative recordings (Epei only has one other, on Bvhaast), these are all definitive performances. I’m not even going to bore you with comparisons or descriptions (though, the string sound in Palimpsest is wonderfully malignant (and not caught as beautifully in the Mode alternative)). I am actually so certain that anyone reading this already has this music, that you’ll certainly applaud my decision!
I would like to mention Epei, a strange little limp piece, the most flaccid thing Xenakis ever wrote. It is very tonal (starting with an E-A-B, I believe), and rhythmically limpid, as if the tones of the piece are floating around in a vacuum. I enjoy the piece well enough, but it is quite the curiosity.
Anyhow, you have this cd, I have this cd, we all, surely, have this cd! I’m sure we all love it to death. No?
how could I miss? thanks. even 2 1/2 years later….