Music / kor

Arche


Reviews (5)


The guardian

d. 1. Nov. 2018

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Andrew Clements (musikanmelder)

d. 1. Nov. 2018

"The Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg's long delayed and wildly over-budget concert hall, officially opened in January last year ... The major premiere of the celebrations followed two days later, when Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Philharmonic introduced Jörg Widmann's evening-long oratorio, Arche ... The title, "Ark", comes from the striking appearance of the new hall itself, which Widmann saw as an "ark of culture", overlooking the water in Hamburg. The music is designed as an exploration of the changing relationship between man and God ... ranging chronologically from the Old Testament up to Nietzsche and Hans Andersen. The scheme of five large-scale movements seems to begin as a biblical pageant before transforming itself into a requiem mass: the first three parts, introduced by child narrators, deal with the creation of the world, the flood and the beginnings of love and evil, after which come a Dies Irae and a Dona Nobis Pacem".


MusicWeb international

2018 December

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Dominy Clements

2018 December

"We've previously come across Jörg Widmann both as a clarinettist and composer via the ECM label ... Arche came about as a commission for new music to inaugurate the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, this live recording being a souvenir of that event. Widmann drew inspiration from the shape of the building itself when tackling his score ... Arche might on first impression at times seem a bit stern and Teutonic, in part due to the German libretto, but as an eclectic mix of dark and light and with some stunning effects soon turns out to be more approachable than you might think ... and Kent Nagano is just the man to bring out every nuance ... Jörg Widmann's Arche is one of those large-scale works that can take a bit of getting used to, but has enough moments of familiarity to draw you in even on a first hearing, and with growing comprehension reveals ever more the longer you live with it. The recording is excellent".


Diapason

2018 décembre

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Pierre Rigaudière

2018 décembre


Fono Forum

2018 Dezember

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Dirk Wieschollek

2018 Dezember

"In fünf riesenhaften Sätzen reflektiert Widmann die Schöpfungsgeschichte als Geschichte des Menschen mit all ihren existenziellen Abgründen und Widersprüchen ... Marlis Petersen und Thomas E. Bauer dürfen singen, was das Zeug hält, und versorgen die reichhaltigen musikdramatischen Allusionen ausgesprochen textverständlich mit der nötigen Emotionalität. Sehr charmant auch die Kinder-Evangelisten, die die biblischen Erzählungen öfter mal ironisch aufbrechen!".


The gramophone

2018 December

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Peter Quantrill

2018 December

"With Arche, Jörg Widmann has (at the age of 45) delivered the kind of history-of-everything evening-length oratorio that, in retrospect, seems an inevitable point of arrival for his music ... The audio-only record lacks nothing for flair, energy and commitment to Widmann's world of convinced irony. Well-drilled choral forces cut through orchestral textures as queasily luscious as a mango on the turn ... Is Arche a new Mask of Time? Or a Petite Macabre? Time will tell".