Between Two Waves
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VICTOR KISSINE
Between Two Waves
Gidon Kremer (violin) Daniil Grishin (viola) Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė (violoncello)
[ Ecm New Series / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 1 April 2013
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Following on from Victor Kissine's luminous orchestration of Schubert's String Quartet in G Major (ECM 1883) and his own "Zerkalo" with Kremer and friends (ECM 2202), here is the first ECM album devoted entirely to the compositions of the composer from St. Petersburg. The flavour of the sea pervades the three recent compositions heard here, variously inspired by the poetry of Mandelstam and Brodsky: the concerto for piano and string orchestra "Between Two Waves", the Duo (After Osip Mandelstam) for viola and violoncello, and "Barcarola" for violin, string orchestra and percussion. All three pieces are dedicated to the collaborating players - Gidon Kremer and the musicians of Kremerata Baltica. Of the "Barcarole", Kissine has said that it reflects the experience with Kremer and company on the earlier Schubert orchestration. Subsequently Kissine "wanted to write a piece that was orchestral but intimate - a kind of 'concerto in watercolour'. The explicitly chamber character of the 'Barcarole' guided me toward the form of a concerto in one movement, which also unfolds in waves." The album, recorded at last year's Lockenhaus Festival, is issued in time for Kissine's 60th birthday on March 15, 2013.
Between Two Waves is both a title for the opening work and a key to the link between all three pieces in this programme. The composer's own notes describe the city in which he was born, St Petersburg, as having 'a seaweed savour' and being a place which 'inspires elegies'. The opening of the piano concerto is certainly atmospheric in an elegiac way, with a pervasive shimmering of water expressed through tremolando strings, trills and beams of light shining through from the notes of the piano. This is no conventional piano concerto, and the solo instrument is often a point of repose between the restless strings, an inversion of virtuoso preconceptions for the genre. This sparse musical language begins to take on a more disturbing character about halfway through; the notes beginning to lurk in ever deeper extremes or being disguised through subtle bowing effects. The opening notes of the piano return however, a kind of safe haven from which to embark on a new adventure, or is it the same adventure through different conditions? These are labyrinthine waters, constantly changing in slow motion, but constantly reminding us that our forward momentum is negligible, and the final notes lead us into a parallel universe where it could all happen all over again … [...]
These works were recorded at the Lockenhaus Festival 2011, and in the words of the composer they belong together to form 'a kind of cycle'. Collectors of other Lockenhaus titles from the ECM label will hopefully be aware of a certain kind of atmosphere in these performances, and this is indeed the case here as well. This is a hard quality to define, but for me most recordings from this source have a constantly brewing creativity and a vibe of newness and the uniqueness of 'the moment'. There is virtually no audience noise to be detected with these live performances: there is no applause to break the spell, and the sound quality is excellent.
This is music which lives just below the surface of easy recognition and simple themes, but it is not music which confuses with unnecessary intellectual posturing or over-complexity. The imagery and ambience is that of honest creativity by a mind and an ear keenly tuned to the moods of his subject, and as such this is a release which can haunt and inspire.
Dominy Clements, Music Web International
Tracks:
Between Two Waves
Concerto for piano and string orchestra (2006/2008)
Duo (after Osip Mandelstam)
for viola and violoncello (1998/2011)
Barcarola
for violin solo, string orchestra and percussion (2007)
