Ensemble: Ensemble InterContemporain
8 products
Pintscher: Nemeton / Ensemble InterContemporain
| ‘Going all the way back to the Celts and the Druids, the term nemeton designates a place where forces and energies are crystallized, generally clearings where solemn or ritual actions were performed. The best-known nemeton is certainly Stonehenge. The architectural marvel of Chartres Cathedral is built on a nemeton. In composing this piece for solo percussion, I wanted to depict a “place” of this kind by means of sound. I’m utterly fascinated by the instrumentarium of this work, consisting chiefly of metal, wood and skin instruments that don’t have their own “specific” resonance. The trajectories between the different tones condition and define the energy charge, rather as if two beings, in the mad hope of an encounter, were rushing towards each other’, writes Matthias Pintscher as an introduction to one of the pieces in this monograph of works composed between 2000 and 2018: it also includes his violin concerto Mar’eh, the concerto for piano and ensemble Nur, Beyond for flute, Verzeichnete Spur, Lieder und Schneebilder, Celestial Object I & II and Occultation. |
Ligeti / Bleuse, Ensemble Intercontemporain
The Ensemble Intercontemporain and its new music director Pierre Bleuse pay homage to György Ligeti, whose centenary we celebrated in 2023: ‘Ligeti is one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century and certainly one of those who first made a powerful aesthetic impact on me personally!... This recording, which combines concertos and chamber music, highlights the EIC’s qualities as soloists and chamber musicians. And I’m not forgetting that Ligeti is an integral part of the repertoire of the Ensemble, which has performed his works extensively… So this is an ideal way of beginning my own story with the EIC’, says Pierre Bleuse, who brings his personal conception to these works and seeks to approach each score like ‘a virgin forest’. A noteworthy feature here is the new cadenza composed by Philippe Maunoury for the Violin Concerto, with Hae-Sun Kang as soloist. Renaud Déjardin (cello) and Dimitri Vassilakis (piano) perform the other concertos of this tribute program.
REVIEW:
The Paris ensemble’s new music director Bleuse sets out his stall with a wonderful all-Ligeti disc that honors a composer it has long been associated with. The violin concerto and the concerto for piano and orchestra are among the works on this beautifully realized recording. Utterly engrossing.
-- The Sunday Times (U.K.)
Bartok, Ligeti / Ensemble Intercontemporain

The innovative Alpha label has launched a series with the outstanding Ensemble Intercontemporain and artistic director Matthias Pintscher. The recordings combine major masterworks of the 20th-century with new pieces by 21st century composers.
Boulez: Rituel, Eclat, Multiples / Boulez, Bbc So
Pintscher: Bereshit / Ensemble Intercontemporain
New York / Pintscher, Ensemble Intercontemporain
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REVIEW:
This excellent compilation — excellent in its musical choices and in its performance — is a marvelous balm to my ears. The two youngest composers demonstrate that at least some American music produced today challenges my expectations and proposes new possibilities for form, timbre, and harmony.
– American Record Guide
Cheung: Dystemporal
Borowski: Fagottkonzert, Wandlung, Klavierkonzert & Chergui
This specially-priced set offers a portrait of the young German composer Johannes Boris Borowski. It focuses on a genre that is rarely found in contemporary music: the concerto. Although the instrumental style of playing may suggest a classical orientation, Borowski breaks with the concerto tradition in new and unexpected ways. One concerto and one ensemble piece are contained on each of the discs in this set which features top interpreters of the international contemporary music scene.
