Monday 21 September 2015

Fascinating decay

The German neo-expressionist composer Wolfgang Rihm has written a new piano concerto, which was premiered at the Salzburg Festival this summer by body builder Tzimon Barto and controversial conductor Chris Esch:

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Rihm produced a painful, calm lament in an idiom à la Alban Berg, but with a personal touch, harking back to the early 20th century, lovingly caressing a dying late romanticism. The piece has the colours and smells of dead flowers, autumnal graveyards, and old photographs of Vienna. A remarkable and beautiful admission of regret and loss of a classical tradition.

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