Thomas Zehetmair & Ruth Killiuss
Release Date: 21 March 2011
Label: ECM Records
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 028947638278
Genres: Classical Chamber Music
Description
In their first recording as a duo, violinist Thomas Zehetmair and violist Ruth Killius take the listener on a stunning tour of modern music, playing works by Bartók, Holliger, Scelsi, Martinu, Skalkottas, Rainer Killius, Johannes Nied and Peter Maxwell Davies. "The instruments dazzle, dance and declaim, play games with one another," remarks Paul Griffiths in the liner notes.
The husband and wife team who comprise half of the multi-award winning Zehetmair Quartet have been playing this material as part of their recital work for several years already, with great success. These pieces formed the core of their performance at ECM's 40th anniversary festival in Mannheim - a concert singled out by critics as a highlight of the event - and they perform music from Manto and Madrigal in London in early April.
On this recording, the relationships between the pieces and between the instruments are explored in compositions that range from Scelsi's dissonant and microtonal journey toward the mystic core of music making, with Killius as singer as well as viola soloist to duo pieces that incorporate elements, archaic or playful, from regional folk music. There is very early Bartók here, and music of Schoenberg's sole Greek pupil Skalkottas. There are three sketches by Heinz Holliger, written especially for Zehetmair and Killius, playful madrigals by Martinu, and an encore provided by the performers' friend Johannes Nied.
Thomas Zehetmair, virtuoso violinist, conductor, and musical director of the Northen Sinfonia, has recorded Holliger's Violin Concerto for ECM and his solo discs of Ysaÿe and Paginini won great critical acclaim. He and Ruth Killius co-founded the Zehetmair Quartet in 1994. Their Schumann Quartets album was Gramophone's Record of the Year in 2003 and the recent disc of Hindemith and Bartók was awarded the Diapason d'Or de l'Année.
Personnel: Thomas Zehetmair (violin), Ruth Killius (viola, solo on 2-4)
Tracklisting
Various artists
Yuval Cohen Quartet
Thomas Stronen; Craig Taborn; Chris Potter; Sinikka Langeland; Jorge Rossy
Stephan Micus
Rainer Bruninghaus
Paul Bley
Mathias Eick; Kristjan Randalu; Ole Morten Vagan; Hans Hulbaekmo
Julia Hulsmann Quartet
Saskia Coolen, Rainer Zipperling, Patrick Ayrton
New European Ensemble, Christopher Bouwman, Tito Munoz
The Noise String Quartet, Veronique Serret, Mirabai Peart, James Eccles, Oliver Miller
Martin Rummel, Philippe Raskin
Zemlinsky Quartet
Joana Luisa Nogueira Amorim & Fernando Miguel Jaloto
Tom Mckinney, Simon Passmore, Victoria String Quartet
Roctet
