Morton Feldman: Violin And Orchestra

Description

It is hard to say what kind of piece Feldman's Violin and Or¬chestra really is; it is certainly not a concerto for violin and orchestra, even though the solo violin part is at least as demanding as those by virtuosi such as Pietro Locatelli and Niccolò Paganini or composers such as Brahms, Schönberg, Stravinsky and Berg. Feldman's piece has no "brilliant" passages, no trace of acrobatics. In fact, the soloist should sit in the orchestra, not stand in front of it…The violin rarely ever emerges in a "soloistic" way and is never accompanied at all; its music seems much more to be subdued by the orchestra, before it re-emerges, in highest register, like music from a distant star, like an echo sounding from unlimited spaces - or else engendering echoes from the orchestra itself.

In this landmark Feldman recording, Carolin Widmann moves inside the glowing colour-field of sound with great delicacy and feeling, exploring the subtle orchestral texture, crafted together with conductor Emilio Pomàrico and the players of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Personnel: Carolin Widmann (violin), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Emilio Pomàrico (conductor)