Description
The works of violinist and composer Nicolaus Richter de Vroe (*1955) have been and are regularly performed by the most renowned organisers and festivals of new music. The musician began his training at the Special School for Music in Dresden, now known as the Sachsisches Landesgymnasium fur Musik Carl Maria von Weber. After studying the violin at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he performed with various chamber music, improvisation, and experimental ensembles. In 1980, he joined the Staatskapelle Berlin and completed his composition studies with Friedrich Goldmann and Georg Katzer at the Academy of Arts of the German Democratic Republic. In 1982, he founded the Ensemble for New Music Berlin (East), which quickly became an important platform for contemporary music in the GDR. From the mid-1980s onwards, Richter de Vroe performed his own works and appeared as a performer at all ARD radio stations, as well as at international festivals. In 1988 he joined the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and, one year later, founded the XSEMBLE Munich - an ensemble characterised by experimental programming and stylistic openness. In 1996, he co-founded the Munich Society for New Music, dedicated to promoting contemporary music. Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Richter de Vroe has been a regular guest at Goethe Institutes worldwide since 1994, delivering lectures and giving portrait concerts and presentations of his work. In 2008 he was admitted to the Saxon Academy of Arts. Richter de Vroe's composition TETRA IV for four soloists and orchestra was commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2002. The world premiere, which is recorded on this CD, features Isao Nakamura (percussion), Irvine Arditti (violin), Mike Svoboda (trombone), Isabeella Beumer (voice) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Rundel, and took place on November 15, 2002 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. - Although the large orchestra is joined by four soloists, the work is not a concerto or concerto grosso. The solo parts are so distinct that it would be challenging to have them compete in a concert setting. They also appear successively, each characterising a longer section of the work with their own style, and they can only be heard performing together towards the end. The vocalist's solo is based on a poem by the experimental Russian poet Daniil Kharms. Richter de Vroe's artistic affinity with Kharms' thinking is expressed in the title TETRA IV - the Russian word "Tetra", in which only the last letter is written in Cyrillic, means "notebook" - as well as in the composer's experimental approach to the text. Shibuya Movements for orchestra was also commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk in 1991/92. This CD features a recording of the world premiere on May 15, 1992 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Cristobal Halffter, performed in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz. Euforia for orchestra was composed in 2009, and its world premiere on October 31, 2009 by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons also took place in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz.
