Camerata Zurich, Igor Karsko & Maia Brami
Release Date: 03 December 2021
Label: ECM Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028948564323
Genres: Classical Orchestral
Description
'On An Overgrown Path', Leos Janacek's 15 pieces-spanning piano cycle, is here presented in a reshaped guise, arranged for string orchestra and interpreted by the Camerata Zurich under lead violinist Igor Karsko's direction.
This is the premiere recording of the orchestral adaption.
In this programme, Janacek's cycle is bookended by Josef Suk's Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale St. Wenceslas and AntonÃn Dvorak's Notturno – pieces that are thematically connected to the folkloric elements found in Janacek's composition.
French writer Maja Brami wrote poems to accompany the new arrangement of On An Overgrown Path, and their recorded versions, spoken by the writer herself, are included on the album, contextualizing the cycle with inventive analogies to Janacek's life.
Much of the cycle 'On An Overgrown Path' - previously captured in its original design on the ECM New Series release 'A Recollection' by Andras Schiff - had originally been conceived for harmonium, a popular domestic instrument in Janacek's days, and was only later rearranged for piano, the instrument the remaining pieces were written for.
Ultimately divided into two volumes - referred to as 'books', - the first, comprising ten pieces, was published in 1911, and the second posthumously in 1942.
Moving seamlessly between subtle harmonic shifts, generous folkloric gestures and more sombre scenes from Janacek's past, the cycle's nuances are respectfully translated to strings on the recording, and the alternatingly light and dark themes that flare up across the 15 pieces turn into a compelling chiaroscuro.
Tracklisting
Vijay Iyer; Wadada Leo Smith
Anouar Brahem; Anja Lechner; Django Bates; Dave Holland
Patrick Demenga; Latvian State Academic Choir; Youth Choir Kamer; Riga Cathedral Boys Choir; Andres
Nicolas Masson; Colin Vallon; Patrice Moret; Lionel Friedli
Various artists
Yuval Cohen Quartet
Thomas Stronen; Craig Taborn; Chris Potter; Sinikka Langeland; Jorge Rossy
Stephan Micus
Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Lukasz Borowicz
Antal Dorati; Minneapolis SO; Philharmonia Hungarica
Frans Bruggen, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Olga Pasiecznik, Roel
Lorenzo Coppola, {oh!} Orchestra, Martyna Pastuszka
Violina Petrychenko; Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra
Anaelle Tourret, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Vasily Petrenko
Various artists
Alexander Lonquich; Munchener Kammerorchester; Daniel Giglberger
