Giya Kancheli: Trauerfarbenes Land; À la Duduki [Import]

Giya Kancheli (Composer), Dennis Russell Davies (Conductor), ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Radio Symphonieorchester Wien (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphonieorchester Wien
• Conductor: Dennis Russell Davies
• Composer: Giya Kancheli
• Audio CD (January 25, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ecm Import
• ASIN: B00002458L
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,391 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Robust and refreshing., April 9, 2000

By 

Dirk Hugo (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giya Kancheli: Trauerfarbenes Land; À la Duduki (Audio CD)

Very few composers approach the notion of contrast with the grace and compassion of Giya Kancheli. Music fans with a greater affinity for the contemporary scene, who are usually put off by the jarring bombast of most classical surges (particularly the older stuff that almost everyone feels obliged to rave on about) could well find this album refreshing. It takes a few listens to get used to the exceptionally wide dynamics, where the faintest whisper of the strings transforms into an unrestrained orchestral blast without warning - Kancheli's music is often best familiarised before fully appreciated, but that applies to most good things in life.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsory listening, February 22, 2003

By 

hairysteve, composer and music lover (Northampton, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giya Kancheli: Trauerfarbenes Land; À la Duduki (Audio CD)

Okay, I don't actually own this CD, but I've given this 5 stars because I've played "A la Duduki" with my local youth orchestra, and it's just one of those pieces that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. I played "A la Duduki" and have been hooked on Kancheli's unique sound ever since. Though his long chords may be too outstretched for some listeners (two in "A la Duduki" are 14 seconds long!), Kancheli's harmonically and melodically sparse music WILL bring enjoyment to those willing to listen.

Some reviewers on other recordings of Kancheli have criticised his use of sudden outbursts of sound, frequent in "A la Duduki" -they have said that he uses this technique to often to make it effective over time. Perhaps this is the case, but I will be incredibly surprised if the shorter outbursts don't make you jump and smile. For me, this is the whole point, Kancheli wants us to enjoy his music, and if he raises a smile, has he not succeeded?

This is amazing, ethereal, haunting, beautiful music, and everybody should hear it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Expect the unexpected., September 16, 2010

By 

Sentinel (Essex) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Giya Kancheli: Trauerfarbenes Land; À la Duduki (Audio CD)

This is not music for the faint-hearted, but neither is it dull. The two pieces here are spread on large musical canvasses which portray some very powerful mood swings, with transitions from soft, elegiac passages which are suddenly broken into with climaxes which appear almost from out of nowhere (think of a freak monster wave arising out of an almost becalmed sea), and subside almost as rapidly. Brass and percussion in fortissimo are used to drive these 'cliff-hanger' events, and the sensation is one of upheaval and displacement, of the previous rather plaintive, austere and spacious melodic theme. Coupled with ECM's usual high quality production job, this is music you won't forget in a hurry and, after the first shock or two, you strangely don't wish to forget. Gramophone rates this an 'exceptional release of some extraordinarily powerful music'. Are you up for the challenge?