Jean-Christophe Spinosi: Miroirs
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Dmitri Shostakovich, Johann Christoph Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Nicolas Bacri
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Magazine Review Date: 04/2014
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 53
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 481 0648
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Adagio for Strings |
Samuel Barber, Composer
Ensemble Matheus Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor Samuel Barber, Composer |
Ach, das ich Wassers g'nug hätte |
Johann Christoph Bach, Composer
Ensemble Matheus Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor Johann Christoph Bach, Composer Malena Ernman, Mezzo soprano |
Chamber Symphony (arr of String Quartet No 8) |
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer
Dmitri Shostakovich, Composer Ensemble Matheus Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor |
Lamento, 'Ach dass ich Wassers genig hätte' |
Nicolas Bacri, Composer
Ensemble Matheus Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor Malena Ernman, Mezzo soprano Nicolas Bacri, Composer |
Cantata No. 170, 'Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seele, Movement: Aria: Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Ensemble Matheus Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Malena Ernman, Mezzo soprano |
Author: David Patrick Stearns
With all of the penetrating recordings of Rudolf Barshai’s transcription of the Eighth String Quartet (written in the aftermath of 1945 and intended as a memorial to himself as well), this recording’s main appeal is the way the piece is sequenced, framed by lamentations from distant places and eras that have a previously unsuspected near-family resemblance.
Barber’s Adagio for strings begins the disc with a high-intensity reading that never capitalises on the music’s potential prettiness. On each side of Shostakovich is the JC Bach aria Ach dass ich Wassers genug hätte, while Nicolas Bacri’s newly composed Lamento uses the same text and generally expands emotionally on the latter piece. The disc’s atmosphere of sombre ritual is underscored by its postlude, ‘Wie jammern mich doch die verkehrten Herzen’ from JS Bach’s Cantata No 170.
Malena Ernman’s somewhat androgynous mezzo-soprano makes three vocal appearances, all of them in a spirit of unbearable sorrow, amid a thoroughly convincing emotional arc, especially for those who can’t get enough of similarly brooding discs, such as Górecki’s Symphony No 3. Personally, I found myself longing for some of Spinosi’s more chipper Vivaldi. Sorry.
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