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KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI – Paths Through the Labyrinth
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

A film by Anna Schmidt

Even at over 80 Krzysztof Penderecki is still an unflinching and active composer and conductor. Director Anna Schmidt followed Penderecki’s paths for a year—in the process interviewing such world-famous artists as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Julian Rachlin and Janine Jansen as well as Jonny Greenwood (“Radiohead”) and legendary film director Andrzej Wajda.

As a result, Paths Through the Labyrinth has become a comprehensive “work in progress” documentary, accompanying Penderecki from Kraków to Munich, from Vienna to Leipzig, and to his country estate in Luslawice. Throughout, the composer reflects on his beginnings, the turning points in his life and the world of his ideas.

Thoughts, dialogues, encounters and extracts from several famous Penderecki compositions coalesce into a fascinating, multi-layered portrayal of one of today’s most influential musicians.

Bonus:
- Interviews with Lorin Maazel and Jonny Greenwood.

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Korean
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 86 mins (documentary) + 18 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

Given how often these chamber works by John Harbison are played in concert, it is somewhat surprising that this is the first CD to offer them on one program. At once highly abstract, completely accessible, and intensely personal, Variations and Twilight Music were written in the 1980s and have become classics in their own right, fitting comfortably alongside the likes of Bartók's Contrasts and Brahms' and Ligeti's respective Horn Trios. Although both pieces on this recording were taken from live performances by the fine members of Spectrum Concerts Berlin, the sound is not compromised in the slightest. The composer's brief, loopy program notes do not aid comprehension of his music, but deep analysis is uncalled for: the works are predominantly formal in structure and are fully described in the track listings.


In simplest terms, Harbison's Variations for piano, clarinet, and violin revolves around a theme and 15 concise subsets, joined by canonic interludes and culminating in a finale that binds them all together. The variations themselves, which move seamlessly from one to the next, also refer to different instrumental combinations. Within the work, the listener will detect clear groupings: the first four variations come across as lyrical statements, while variations five through 10 are much more agitated and rhythmical. The final set explores musical form in the context of the main theme, with clever examples of fugue, passacaglia, and waltz. Violinist Janine Jansen, clarinetist Lars Wouters van den Oudenweijer, and pianist Daniel Blumenthal fashion terrific ensemble playing and really bring this music to life.


Twilight Music is a sort of desultory conversation among the piano, violin, and horn, wherein the separate instruments, in an attempt to highlight their differences, occasionally come together in brief unison lines before moving on. As might be expected, the horn (played to perfection by Bernhard Krug) sticks out, both in terms of sonority and technique (the Presto second movement being particularly difficult for the instrument). The deceptively simple third movement (Antiphon) demonstrates just how much Harbison is able to say in such a compact form, probably the truest test of his prodigious compositional skills.


In the middle of this disc, which because of its rich content seems longer than 53 minutes, is the eloquent and intimate Four Songs of Solitude for solo violin, written as a present for Harbison's wife. Harbison is at pains to depict these as songs (as opposed to any other form) and no doubt this element is caught in their improvisational style, full of intervallic leaps, sighing arpeggios, and flexible tempos. Jansen gives a free-spirited, commited performance (this time, in the studio) and negotiates the more technically bracing fourth song with the same grace as the more lyrical ones before it. Without much in the way of competition, this latest entry in Naxos' American Classics imprint is welcome and long overdue. [5/31/2003]
--Michael Liebowitz, ClassicsToday.com

Jan Willem Jansen Couperin: Harpsichord & Organ Works (2CD) Like the Bach family, the Couperins were a musical dynasty. Louis - the uncle of Francois 'le Grand' had established himself as organist of St Gervais by the mid-1650s and entering royal service shortly after as 'chamber musician' on the treble viol. He went on to become one of the most original and individual keyboard composers in France. Despite a short carrier - he died early in 1661 at the age of just thirty-five - he left more than 120 harpsichord pieces and 70 works for organ - most of them discovered in the 60's - which highlight his refined genius of colour and counterpoint. Units Per Set: 2