Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
BIS

Kurtag: Kafka Fragments / Melzer, Stark

$21.99

Details

Composer
KURTAG, GYORGY
Artist
Melzer, Stark
Format
SACD
Label
BIS
Released
Oct 09, 2015
Catalog #
BIS-2175
UPC
7318599921754

About

One of the truly grand old men on the music scene today, György Kurtág composed his Kafka-Fragmente in the mid-1980s, and these forty settings of text fragments by Franz Kafka remain one of his most often-performed works. Although the cycle contains no single narrative thread and tells no coherent ‘tale’ it has become quite common to present it in staged versions – perhaps because of the hypnotic images that emerge in the texts, as well as in the music. Many of the movements are extremely brief; in the present recording 11 of the movements are less than half a minute long, and the shortest (Es zupfte mich jemand am Kleid / Someone tugged at my clothes) lasts only 13 seconds. However, to quote the insightful liner notes by the musicologist Philippe Albéra: ’Within these miniature spaces, expressivity – as if through a process of crystallization – is pushed to its utmost limits.’ Collected by the composer, the texts have been extracted from Kafka’s letters, diaries and notebooks; shards that together form a mosaic at times sardonic, absurd, lyrical or humourous. Kurtág’s ability to convey a wide range of situations and emotions transforms each fragment into a vision of dreamlike intensity, where the real becomes surreal, and Albéra finds a symbol of the spirit of Kurtág’s music in the 16th fragment, Kein Rückkehr, and Kafka’s aphorism: ‘From a certain point on, there is no going back. That is the point to reach.’ The often highly virtuosic and demanding score is here interpreted by the soprano Caroline Meltzer and the violinist Nurit Stark, both performers with a strong commitment to contemporary music who collaborated with composers such as Aribert Reimann, Sofia Gubaidulina and Viktor Suslin.

Reviews:

Caroline Melzer and Nurit Stark yield nothing to previous performers in penetrating the depth and breadth of emotion that Kurtag conveys, and it helps that this is the best recorded version available, allowing their wide range of tone, colour and dynamics to be heard to full effect.

– BBC Music Magazine

The 40 separate fragments are divided into four groups…linked less by a definable concept than an intuitive sense of what constitutes unity within the author's bleak and fractured world-view. It is in this latter respect that Caroline Melzer and Nurit Stark make so gripping an impression - characterising the many fragmentary shards with an explosive intimacy…a likely first choice for those new to this enigmatic and intriguing work.

– Gramophone

Tracklist 40 tracks

  1. 1 Part I: No. 1. Die Guten gehen im gleichen Schritt… (The good march in step…) 01:04
    Track
    1
    Title
    Part I: No. 1. Die Guten gehen im gleichen Schritt… (The good march in step…)
    Duration
    01:04
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  2. 2 Part I: No. 2. Wie ein Weg im Herbst (Like a pathway in autumn) 00:36
    Track
    2
    Title
    Part I: No. 2. Wie ein Weg im Herbst (Like a pathway in autumn)
    Duration
    00:36
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  3. 3 Part I: No. 3. Verstecke (Hiding-places) 00:26
    Track
    3
    Title
    Part I: No. 3. Verstecke (Hiding-places)
    Duration
    00:26
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  4. 4 Part I: No. 4. Ruhelos (Restless) 00:22
    Track
    4
    Title
    Part I: No. 4. Ruhelos (Restless)
    Duration
    00:22
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  5. 5 Part I: No. 5. Berceuse I 01:01
    Track
    5
    Title
    Part I: No. 5. Berceuse I
    Duration
    01:01
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  6. 6 Part I: No. 6. Nimmermehr (Nevermore) (Excommunicatio) 01:18
    Track
    6
    Title
    Part I: No. 6. Nimmermehr (Nevermore) (Excommunicatio)
    Duration
    01:18
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  7. 7 Part I: No. 7, Wenn er mich immer fragt ("But he just won't stop asking me.") 00:23
    Track
    7
    Title
    Part I: No. 7, Wenn er mich immer fragt ("But he just won't stop asking me.")
    Duration
    00:23
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  8. 8 Part I: No. 8. Es zupfte mich jemand am Kleid (Someone tugged at my clothes) 00:13
    Track
    8
    Title
    Part I: No. 8. Es zupfte mich jemand am Kleid (Someone tugged at my clothes)
    Duration
    00:13
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  9. 9 Part I: No. 9. Die weissnaherinnen (The seamsresses) 00:21
    Track
    9
    Title
    Part I: No. 9. Die weissnaherinnen (The seamsresses)
    Duration
    00:21
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  10. 10 Part I: No. 10. Szene am Bahnhof (Scene at the station) 00:17
    Track
    10
    Title
    Part I: No. 10. Szene am Bahnhof (Scene at the station)
    Duration
    00:17
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  11. 11 Part I: No. 11. Sonntag, den 19. Juli 1910 (Sunday, 19th July 1910) (Berceuse II, Hommage a Jeney) 01:10
    Track
    11
    Title
    Part I: No. 11. Sonntag, den 19. Juli 1910 (Sunday, 19th July 1910) (Berceuse II, Hommage a Jeney)
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  12. 12 Part I: No. 12. Meine Ohrmuschel… (My ear…) 00:15
    Track
    12
    Title
    Part I: No. 12. Meine Ohrmuschel… (My ear…)
    Duration
    00:15
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  13. 13 Part I: No. 13. Einmal brach ich mir das Bein (Chassidischer Tanz) (Once I broke my leg (Chassidic Dance)) 00:37
    Track
    13
    Title
    Part I: No. 13. Einmal brach ich mir das Bein (Chassidischer Tanz) (Once I broke my leg (Chassidic Dance))
    Duration
    00:37
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  14. 14 Part I: No. 14. Umpanzert (Enarmoured) 00:23
    Track
    14
    Title
    Part I: No. 14. Umpanzert (Enarmoured)
    Duration
    00:23
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  15. 15 Part I: No. 15. 2 Spazierstocke (Authentisch-plagal) (2 walking-sticks (Authentic-plagal)) 00:46
    Track
    15
    Title
    Part I: No. 15. 2 Spazierstocke (Authentisch-plagal) (2 walking-sticks (Authentic-plagal))
    Duration
    00:46
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  16. 16 Part I: No. 16. Keine Ruckkehr (No going back) 01:04
    Track
    16
    Title
    Part I: No. 16. Keine Ruckkehr (No going back)
    Duration
    01:04
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  17. 17 Part I: No. 17. Stolz (1910/15. November, zehn Uhr) (Pride (15th November 1910, 10 o'clock)) 00:43
    Track
    17
    Title
    Part I: No. 17. Stolz (1910/15. November, zehn Uhr) (Pride (15th November 1910, 10 o'clock))
    Duration
    00:43
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  18. 18 Part I: No. 18. Traumend hing die Blume (The flower hung dreamily) (Hommage a Schumann) 02:21
    Track
    18
    Title
    Part I: No. 18. Traumend hing die Blume (The flower hung dreamily) (Hommage a Schumann)
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  19. 19 Part I: No. 19. Nichts dergleichen (Nothing of the kind) 01:10
    Track
    19
    Title
    Part I: No. 19. Nichts dergleichen (Nothing of the kind)
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  20. 20 Part II: Der wahre Weg (The true path) (Hommage-message a Pierre Boulez) 07:22
    Track
    20
    Title
    Part II: Der wahre Weg (The true path) (Hommage-message a Pierre Boulez)
    Duration
    07:22
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  21. 21 Part III: No. 1. Haben? Sein? (To have? To be?) 00:43
    Track
    21
    Title
    Part III: No. 1. Haben? Sein? (To have? To be?)
    Duration
    00:43
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  22. 22 Part III: No. 2. Der Coitus als Bestrafung (Coitus as punishment) (Canticulum Mariae Magdalenae) 00:29
    Track
    22
    Title
    Part III: No. 2. Der Coitus als Bestrafung (Coitus as punishment) (Canticulum Mariae Magdalenae)
    Duration
    00:29
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  23. 23 Part III: No. 3. Meine Festung (My fortress) 00:52
    Track
    23
    Title
    Part III: No. 3. Meine Festung (My fortress)
    Duration
    00:52
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  24. 24 Part III: No. 4. Schmutzig bin ich, Milena… (I am dirty, Milena…) 01:50
    Track
    24
    Title
    Part III: No. 4. Schmutzig bin ich, Milena… (I am dirty, Milena…)
    Duration
    01:50
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  25. 25 Part III: No. 5. Elendes Leben (Miserable life) (Double) 00:17
    Track
    25
    Title
    Part III: No. 5. Elendes Leben (Miserable life) (Double)
    Duration
    00:17
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  26. 26 Part III: No. 6. Der begrenzte Kreis (The closed circle) 00:33
    Track
    26
    Title
    Part III: No. 6. Der begrenzte Kreis (The closed circle)
    Duration
    00:33
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  27. 27 Part III: No. 7. Ziel, Weg, Zogern (Destination, path, hesitation) 00:43
    Track
    27
    Title
    Part III: No. 7. Ziel, Weg, Zogern (Destination, path, hesitation)
    Duration
    00:43
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  28. 28 Part III: No. 8. So fest (As tightly) 00:52
    Track
    28
    Title
    Part III: No. 8. So fest (As tightly)
    Duration
    00:52
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  29. 29 Part III: No. 9. Verstecke (Hiding-places) (Double) 01:26
    Track
    29
    Title
    Part III: No. 9. Verstecke (Hiding-places) (Double)
    Duration
    01:26
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  30. 30 Part III: No. 10. Penetrant Judisch (Offensively Jewish) 00:20
    Track
    30
    Title
    Part III: No. 10. Penetrant Judisch (Offensively Jewish)
    Duration
    00:20
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  31. 31 Part III: No. 11. Staunend sahen wir das grosse Pferd (Amazed, we saw the great horse) 01:59
    Track
    31
    Title
    Part III: No. 11. Staunend sahen wir das grosse Pferd (Amazed, we saw the great horse)
    Duration
    01:59
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  32. 32 Part III: No. 12. Szene in de Elektrischen, 1910 (Scene on a tram, 1910) 03:56
    Track
    32
    Title
    Part III: No. 12. Szene in de Elektrischen, 1910 (Scene on a tram, 1910)
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  33. 33 Part IV: No. 1. Zu spat (22. Oktober 1913) (Too late (22nd October 1913) 03:44
    Track
    33
    Title
    Part IV: No. 1. Zu spat (22. Oktober 1913) (Too late (22nd October 1913)
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  34. 34 Part IV: No. 2. Eine lange Geschichte (A long story) 01:03
    Track
    34
    Title
    Part IV: No. 2. Eine lange Geschichte (A long story)
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  35. 35 Part IV: No. 3. In memoriam Robert Klein 00:41
    Track
    35
    Title
    Part IV: No. 3. In memoriam Robert Klein
    Duration
    00:41
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  36. 36 Part IV: No. 4. Aus einem alten Notizbuch (From an old notebook) 01:19
    Track
    36
    Title
    Part IV: No. 4. Aus einem alten Notizbuch (From an old notebook)
    Duration
    01:19
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  37. 37 Part IV: No. 5. Leoparden (Leopards) 02:13
    Track
    37
    Title
    Part IV: No. 5. Leoparden (Leopards)
    Duration
    02:13
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  38. 38 Part IV: No. 6. In memoriam Joannis Pilinszky 02:46
    Track
    38
    Title
    Part IV: No. 6. In memoriam Joannis Pilinszky
    Duration
    02:46
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  39. 39 Part IV: No. 7. Wiederum, wiederum (Again, again) 01:42
    Track
    39
    Title
    Part IV: No. 7. Wiederum, wiederum (Again, again)
    Duration
    01:42
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark
  40. 40 Part IV: No. 8. Es blendete uns die Mondnacht (The moonlit night dazzled us) 06:11
    Track
    40
    Title
    Part IV: No. 8. Es blendete uns die Mondnacht (The moonlit night dazzled us)
    Duration
    06:11
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Caroline Melzer, Nurit Stark