Composer: Giselher Klebe
Performer: Silke-Thora Matthies, Christian Köhn
Orchestra: SWR-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg
Conductor: Peter Ruzicka
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Marco Polo
Catalogue: 8225290
Release: 2004
Size: 198 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Poema drammatico, Op. 130
02. Soggetto cavato primo, Op. 122
03. Soggetto cavato secondo, Op. 129
Widmungen (Dedications), Op. 115
04. Zehnmal Funf Johannes Driessler
05. Soggetto fur Christiane und Axel Eggers zur Hochzeit (Senza misura, liberamente)
06. Fur Karl Schumann zum 60. Geburtstag (Larghetto)
07. Ariette fur Aribert Reimann (Ariette)
08. Hommage a Heinz Trokes zum 75. Geburtstag (Poco rubato)
Zornige Lieder ohne Worte (Angry Songs without Words), Op. 118
09. Zorn (Anger)
10. Verlassenheit (Loneliness)
11. Trauer (Sorrow)
12. Aufbegehren (Revolt)
13. Kassiber (Secret Message)
Meine Enkelkinder und ich (My Grandchildren and I), Op. 140
14. Der Regenbogen (The Rainbow)
15. Erinnerung (Remembrance)
16. Schneller Entschluss – Zogen – Erneuter Entschluss (Quick Decision – Hesitation – Decided Again)
17. Nachdenklichkeit – Erste Trauer (Pensiveness – First Sorrow)
18. Boogie grazioso
19. Meditation
20. Fantasie – Nachdenklicher Ausklang (Fantasy – Pensive Ending)
21. Thema und 39 Variationen, Op. 142
Strongly informed by the Romantic operatic impulse, Giselher Klebe’s music is vividly dramatic and intensely passionate, in both his stage works and his instrumental music. This 2004 release from Marco Polo is the second volume of Klebe’s piano music, and prominently features his ominous Poèma drammatico for two pianos and orchestra. The performance by pianists Silke-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, directed by Peter Ruzicka, is powerful and menacing. A sense of theatrical violence and high tragedy is conveyed through this double concerto’s numerous Verdi quotations — from Otello, Simone Boccanegra, Macbeth, and other operas — which are especially effective in the dissonant harmonic context. Matthies and Köhn also perform together in the clashing piano duets, Soggetto cavato, Opp. 122 and 129, and divide their labors in the remaining works. Of these pieces, the most striking may be Zornige Lieder ohne Worte, in which Matthies unleashes a flood of painful emotions, and the Thema und 39 Variationen, a compactly organized set in a deeply introspective reading from Köhn. The other pieces are more subdued and gentle, no doubt due to Klebe’s personal affection for their dedicatees. The recording is clear and naturally resonant.