Customer Reviews

Liebermann: Orchestral and Vocal Works

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This issue of mostly orchestral music by Swiss-German composer Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999, and best remembered as the long-time Intendant of the Hamburg Opera and later the Paris Opéra) is nostalgic for me because of the Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra that ends the disc. I well remember bopping around to its dance beat probably thirty-five years ago in a previous recording (and I cannot for the life of me remember who the performers were). I remember being charmed, as I am again now, with the whole notion of a sort of concerto grosso for big band and symphony orchestra that uses pretty advanced harmonies and compositional technique. The combination of Liebermann's skilful use of dance beats (there are sections labeled 'Jump,' 'Boogie-Woogie,' 'Blues' and 'Mambo') with a big band playing full out interspersed with almost impressionistic sections for classical orchestra was just too delicious for words. It sounds a little dated now, partly because the Third Stream notion of mixing jazz and symphonic music has come and gone, but it's still invigorating, and I bet you won't be able to keep from getting up and boogie-ing. There is some pretty impressive free-tonal quasi-improvisatory playing, particularly from the brass, too.

"Furioso for Orchestra" has much the same kind of energy; imagine a twelve-tone Michael Torke. "Symphonie 'Les Échanges'" is a percussion piece (actually arranged by Siegfried Zink from the composer's original score for taped machine sounds) that, because of my background in Scottish folk music, sounds an awful lot, in spots, like what I remember of the intricate, snappy competition drumming heard at Highland Games. It, too, is invigorating and rhythmically clever. The percussion ensemble plays splendidly. The "Geigy Festival Overture" is a good deal less advanced harmonically than the other symphonic pieces mentioned, largely because it quotes, straight, a number of Swiss folksongs. In its twelve minutes it describes the quintessentially Swiss-German Festival of Fasnacht (Carnival) with its pre-dawn pipes and drums.

The only loser (and I hate to say it) on this disc is a cantata for solo soprano and orchestra called "Medea-Monolog." It is set to a poem in German in which Medea declaims, shrieks and moans in an erotic and hortatory frenzy about her love for the Argonaut Jason. Perhaps the reason I didn't like it is that it is the only piece here that doesn't show any of Liebermann's terrific sense of humor (and how often can you say THAT about a twelve-tone composer?) and gets far to hysterical for my taste.

Overall, though, I can recommend this disc for rhythmically alert playing, the invigorating music and, for me, the trip down Memory Lane triggered by the Jazz Band Concerto.

And of course, as we've come to expect, the Naxos production values from engineering to booklet notes are superb.

Scott Morrison

Thou outdated, the idea postulated by Swiss composer
Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999)of combining elements of
popular music within a symphonic media, is still very
interesting. He does it in a manner so well, that the
idea that one is actually listening to a concerto grosso,
(a small group of instruments playing against the background of
a larger one) somewhat leaves one's mind. The other works are also
interesting. The "Geigy Festival Concerto" and the Medea Monolog
are here in world premiere recording. "Les Echages" appears here
as a work for solo percussion but it was originally written for
electronic sounds. The recording is great, all works are wonderfully
performed by the Bremen Philharmonic, NDR Big Band, and the
Darmstadt Concert Choir. Great music, and a great recording.....

I thoroughly enjoyed everything on this disc. Concerto for Jazz Band was exciting, and the phonics outstanding, even on my Sansa Clip + I kept looking around for the sound of an instrument, mistaking it for the real thing, the feeling of space was so pronounced. This is my first try with Liebermann. Looking forward to more from him. Naxos continues to shine with great sounding CDs.

Rolf Liebermann (1910-1999) composed `Furioso' in 1947, and it did establish itself as something of a `hit' with several recordings to it. It is based on two contrasting tone-rows and I suppose its attraction is mainly the fact that it doesn't take itself at all too seriously. It is indeed wild and sensual, but for a peace with the title `furioso' somewhat too limpid and languid to be the scintillating outburst of energy one might have expected.

Throughout the disc, Liebermann's music displays a huge range of influences, melded together in what is essentially a personal take on twelve-tone technique - he does little to avoid tonal foundations and the music is sometimes even melodic and with a very welcome touch of humor. Well, not always - the Medea-Monolog is an extended operatic scena for soprano and orchestra, an unimaginative, gray work of little merit or interest whatsoever. The Geigy Festival Concerto is, well, mildly festive in a prudish way; basically it is a concerto for drums with piano based on Swiss folk tunes (and famous British and Irish tunes in the third section). I suppose it is meant as humorous and diverting, and I found it approximately as funny as an 18th century comedy (the laughs are slightly forced, in other words); rather empty, then, though by all means worth a listen.

Les Echanges is a tape piece based on the sounds of business machines (it was written for the Banking Pavilion at the 1964 Swiss National Exhibition) - but the version here is an arrangement for percussion ensemble. It is an interesting little piece, for which I would much rather have wanted to hear the original (if it exists). The concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra is a concerto grosso and one of several of Liebermann's works trying to meld classical music and jazz, and while not very memorable, it isn't entirely unsuccessful as a musical work (I don't think it would convince a jazz enthusiast, however). In fact, he doesn't really try to meld the styles apart from in the finale, keeping the sections very much apart. Interestingly the music material is the same throughout; it is the rhythms that change from movement to movement, and the effect is, while not really anything that sticks in the mind, not entirely uninteresting either.

The performances are generally good, without being scintillating. More power and brilliance could be imagined, especially in the Furioso. If one contribution stands out, it must be Rachel Tovey's soprano solos in the Medea Monolog; unfortunately it is not enough to make me want to return to that piece. Sound quality is fair throughout. In the end, this is a modestly interesting release from Naxos, and I am grateful that they do delve into this kind of repertoire. Still, I cannot say that the one at hand is an unqualified success.