Prometheus
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Luigi Nono, Franz Liszt, Alexander Scriabin, Ludwig van Beethoven
Label: Sony Classical
Magazine Review Date: 1/1995
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 75
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: SK53978
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Introduction (La tempesta) |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Poco adagio |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Adagio |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Pastorale. Allegro |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Andantino adagio |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
(Die) Geschöpfe des Prometheus, '(The) Creatures of Prometheus', Movement: Finale. Allegretto |
Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer |
Prometheus |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Claudio Abbado, Conductor Franz Liszt, Composer |
Prometheus, '(Le) poeme du feu' |
Alexander Scriabin, Composer
Alexander Scriabin, Composer Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Berlin Singakademie Claudio Abbado, Conductor Martha Argerich, Piano |
Promoteo, Movement: 3 voci, 'Ascolta! Cogli quest'anima (wds. after) |
Luigi Nono, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Christhard Gössling, Euphonium Christhard Gössling, Tuba Claudio Abbado, Conductor Freiburg Soloists Choir Ingrid Ade-Jesemann, Soprano Luigi Nono, Composer Manfred Preis, Bass clarinet Mathias Schadock, Speaker Michael Hasel, Bass flute Monika Bair-Ivenz, Soprano Peter Hall, Tenor Susanne Otto, Contralto (Female alto) Ulrike Krumbiegel, Speaker |
Promoteo, Movement: Isola seconda, 'Doch uns ist gegeben' (wds. Höld |
Luigi Nono, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Christhard Gössling, Euphonium Christhard Gössling, Tuba Claudio Abbado, Conductor Freiburg Soloists Choir Ingrid Ade-Jesemann, Soprano Luigi Nono, Composer Manfred Preis, Bass clarinet Mathias Schadock, Speaker Michael Hasel, Bass flute Monika Bair-Ivenz, Soprano Peter Hall, Tenor Susanne Otto, Contralto (Female alto) Ulrike Krumbiegel, Speaker |
Author:
An ingenious and instructive programme. Prometheus's theft of fire from Zeus and the cruelty of his punishment are all but absent from Beethoven's ballet (excepting, that is, for a highly imposing Introduction), where the dramatic accent is placed firmly on the god-like creations that necessitated the theft in the first place. Even Melpomene's outburst of violence (track 3) sounds disarmingly Schubertian, while the ensuing dances and finale are among the most diverting in the whole of Beethoven's orchestral output. And to be honest, I couldn't begin to imagine a more beautifully shaped performance than Abbado's, where relative tensions are artfully judged, instrumental solos given with real style and the whole is captured in a warm, luminous recording. However Liszt's glowering outburst one of his most daring symphonic poems cuts a rather less impressive profile. ''Earnest but rather formal'', I scribbled, meaning that for all its passing beauties (a finely drawn cello line at 4'58'' being one), as well as obvious vitality and first-rate orchestral playing Abbado's Liszt is more an informed commentary than a genuine 'performance'—lean, sinewy and consistent, yes, but too cool-headed by far. The sound again has impressive presence (all four performances were taped live at the Philharmonie during May 1993) yet the disc's real tour de force—both sonically and musically—is Scriabin's Promethean effusion, his Poem of Fire.
The very opening chord tells all, a tensely held pensive and frightening augury and a fitting prelude to everything that follows, be it the eerie four-note motto (so persistently even amusingly suggestive of the words ''I can see you''), titillating trills or hotly flushing orchestration (from 5'15''). Abbado serves as master of ceremonies, Argerich as a crazed high priestess, her delirious, delicate and unpredictable solo weaving through the orchestra like a bubbling stream of consciousness. That is how it should sound—over-wrought, overpowering, utterly unhinged and yet calculated even to the smallest detail. Abbado had already proved his Scriabinesque credentials with a compelling Poem of Ecstasy (DG, 9/86—nla), but this, if anything, is even finer.
The stylistic leap from Scriabin's tantalizing chromatics to Nono's non-gravitational sound-scape with its solo voices, synthesized sounds and woodwind-blown choruses—is tantamount to leaving the earth's orbit, and one's earthly body with it. Here we meet Prometheus head-on, lynched on an aural anxiety-loop where vague distortions are as many ripples on a sickly sea of sound. One leaves this two-tier sequence (excerpted from a ''Suite 1992''), curious as to what the rest of the work might sound like. Heard next to it, Liszt's Prometheus seems a very comfortable fellow, a bourgeois 'spare-time' sufferer, nodding his head in mock dismay while reaching for anotherbon-bon. Does that sound unfair? Perhaps. And yet the idea would never have occurred to me had I not heard Liszt's work in this fascinating even shocking context. In short, this is a hugely stimulating, thoughtfully planned production—and the fact that at least two of the performances are strongly competitive makes it all the more desirable.'
The very opening chord tells all, a tensely held pensive and frightening augury and a fitting prelude to everything that follows, be it the eerie four-note motto (so persistently even amusingly suggestive of the words ''I can see you''), titillating trills or hotly flushing orchestration (from 5'15''). Abbado serves as master of ceremonies, Argerich as a crazed high priestess, her delirious, delicate and unpredictable solo weaving through the orchestra like a bubbling stream of consciousness. That is how it should sound—over-wrought, overpowering, utterly unhinged and yet calculated even to the smallest detail. Abbado had already proved his Scriabinesque credentials with a compelling Poem of Ecstasy (DG, 9/86—nla), but this, if anything, is even finer.
The stylistic leap from Scriabin's tantalizing chromatics to Nono's non-gravitational sound-scape with its solo voices, synthesized sounds and woodwind-blown choruses—is tantamount to leaving the earth's orbit, and one's earthly body with it. Here we meet Prometheus head-on, lynched on an aural anxiety-loop where vague distortions are as many ripples on a sickly sea of sound. One leaves this two-tier sequence (excerpted from a ''Suite 1992''), curious as to what the rest of the work might sound like. Heard next to it, Liszt's Prometheus seems a very comfortable fellow, a bourgeois 'spare-time' sufferer, nodding his head in mock dismay while reaching for another
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