Return of Gomikawa Fumio

Japanoise supergroup comprised of legends Kohei Gomi (Pain Jerk) and Fumio Kosakai and Toshiji Mikawa (Incapacitants). This is virulent and strikingly dynamic noise, without being grating. It follows no rhythm and there is a sense of improvisation, mastery and sonic diversity. The title is perhaps deceptive as there is sadly no other release from these three together. Perhaps 'the return' refers to unrecorded live shows. Released as a CD on the Japanese noise/experimental label Alchemy Records in 2002. 

1. Mixed Human Franken Jam
2. Howling Wolves Scream For More
3. Satan's Tail, Santa's Head
4. Amps For Nonsense

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Othmar Schoeck - Lieder

"'I still have a strong desire to sing his songs, even though every performance outside of Switzerland seems to meet with misunderstanding or a condescending failure of appreciation ('Helvetism', 'Provincialism').' This declaration by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau strikes to the heart of a problem. touching on a particularly sore point. Throughout his lifetime Othmar Schoeck suffered from a diminution in stature to that of an imitator — relegated to the rank of a footnote to such earlier giants as Schumann. Brahms and Wolf. His critics looked down on him as someone who had largely failed to recognize the signs of his time or, at least, had failed to play an active pad in it. Instead, they regarded him as having his view directed backwards to the past. as being stuck in the Romantic world of 19th-century song. 

"In Fischer-Dieskau's words, the singer must 'invest more in his assignment than he can hope to effect in its external presentation'. Singing Schoeck presupposes extensive experience with Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. but simultaneously it requires a clear understanding of early 20th-century music, with its melancholy, fin-de-siecle awareness of loss and alienation in a new world. 

"Keller's poem 'Ein Tagewerk I' ('A Day's Work I') focuses on this sense of loss: 'Jedoch mein Lied — es rang sich nicht zu Tee' ('But my song — it did not come to light'). The time is past when one could find one's song in the Romantic forests! Meyer's Reisefantasie longs for a return to the Middle Ages of castles and fortresses. For stalwart chivalry and a potent backdrop to life, instead of a weary zeitgeist that weighed down Meyer's feeling of aliveness to the point of depression. Many aspects of Schoeck reveal a spiritual affinity with this poet; or was it purely coincidental that he ended his Eichendorff cycle op. 20 with 'Nachruf' ('Obituary'), whose central strophe reads: 'Was wollen wir nun singen / hier in der Emsamkeit, / wenn alle von uns gingen, / die unser Lied ertreutl?' ('What is now the point of singing here and in solitude, when all have departed from us who took pleasure in our song?'). 

"No other interpreter could compare with Fischer-Dieskau in his ability to recapture the Romantic worlds of Eichendorff and Mörike and, simultaneously, to express the awareness of the loss of these worlds that resonates in Schoeck's lieder. Romanticism, insofar as it appears in these works as carefree happiness, is never taken by Fischer-Dieskau at face value; rather it is approached with a differentiated declamation that questions Romanticism's contradictory nature: an approach inclined to passionate outbursts, to the engagement of his whole artistic personality, to recreating emotional upheaval and blissful assuagement. The sound of his voice here takes on an unaccustomed brightness and softness, in combination with a suggestive lightness of articulation. There is nothing superficial to distract the attention — on the contrary, this is internalized singing, so to speak, that concentrates on the finest nuances of colour, on text-responsive diction, on carefully controlled vocal and verbal gestures. The sense is always perceptible behind the vocal timbre, a feeling not only for beauty or melancholy but also for its underlying poetic foundation." (Werner Pfister, tr. Richard Evidon. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Margrit Weber, Karl Engel

1. Ein Tagewerk I, Op. 55 No. 23/I
2. Ein Tagewerk I, Op. 55 No. 23/II
3. Frühgesicht, Op. 55 No. 17
4. Reisefantasie, Op. 60 No. 3
5. Das Ende Des Festes, Op. 60 No. 15
6. Nachruf, Op. 20 No. 14
7. Jugendgedenken, Op. 24b No. 10
8. Peregrina II, Op. 17 No. 4
9. Auf Ein Kind, Op. 20 No. 1
10. Dämmrung Senkte Sich, Op. 19a No. 2
11. Ach, Wie Schön, Op. 33 No. 1
12. Nachklang, Op. 19b No. 1
13. Höre Den Rat, Op. 19b No. 5
14. Venezianisches Epigramm, Op. 19b No. 13
15. Jetzt Rede Du, Op. 60 No. 28
16. Auskunft, Op. 8 No. 3
17. Aus Zwei Tälern, Op. 8 No. 2
18. Kennst Du Das Auch?, Op. 24b No. 4
19. Ravenna I, Op. 24b No. 9
20. Das Ziel, Op. 24b No. 8
21. Keine Rast, Op. 24b No. 7
22. Kindheit, Op. 31 No. 2
23. Im Kreuzgang Von Santo Stefano, Op. 31 No. 3
24. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: I. Nachtgefühl
25. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: II. Magie Der Farben
26. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: III. Verwelkende Rosen
27. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: IV. Abends
28. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: V. Mittag Im September
29. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: VI. Blauer Schmetterling
30. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: VII. Pfeifen
31. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: VIII. Sommernacht
32. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: IX. Für Ninon
33. Liederzyklus, Op. 44: X. Vergänglichkeit

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Richard Strauss - Ariadne auf Naxos

"In 1942 Richard Strauss, then approaching his eightieth birthday, recalled that the original intention behind 'Ariadne auf Naxos' was as a grateful offering to the theatre director Max Reinhardt (1873-1943). It was to form an epilogue to a comedy by Molière, 'Le bourgeois gentilhomme'. The original concept had been a half-hour long opera for a small chamber orchestra. This was later expanded to the play, which Hofmannsthal had reduced from five acts to two, followed by a ballet concluding with a commedia dell'arte. The resulting premiere took place at the Kleines Haus of the Hoftheater in Stuttgart on 25th October 1912 under the composer. The reception was decidedly mixed, with the audience obviously unhappy with the excess of spoken dialogue in the Molière play to which Strauss had added incidental music, and with only a single act of total music. The performance of this version was both costly and ineffective in that a double cast of actors and singers was involved. 

"In July 1916 composer and librettist decided to recast Ariadne by prefacing the revised version with a Prologue of some forty minutes which explained the circumstances in which an eighteenth-century opera sena came to be performed simultaneously with its comic interlude. They also omitted the spoken play altogether, and removed the character of Monsieur Jourdain, transferring the setting from Paris to Vienna. The resulting work is an opera of considerable sophisticated lyrical charm, Strauss continuing to write in his Mozartian manner that he had first used so successfully in 'Der Rosenkavalier' in 1911. Furthermore, in the Prologue the composer displays some of his idea about music and drama that would come to culmination in 'Capriccio' in 1942. 

"[...] This recording of 'Ariadne auf Naxos' was the first to be made in the studio (an earlier one, made live in Vienna in June 1944, commemorated the composer's eightieth birthday). This studio one, made in London only five years after Strauss's death in 1949, is significant in that most of the artists had been active during the composer's later years and some had even met Strauss in the last ten years of his life. Thus it has a particular historic feel. Masterminded by EMI recording producer and impresario Walter Legge (1906-1979) it contained some of the finest singers of the day and used Legge's own orchestra, the Philharmonia. The Gramophone magazine, when first reviewing the recording in October 1955, thought 'the opera is perfectly cast, magnificently performed, and very well recorded'. The orchestra was praised for its brilliance, while the singers were also judiciously commented upon. 'Schwarzkopf brings the dark tone that is needed for Ariadne's sorrows, and all the rapture called for at the end'. As the Composer Irmgard Seefried was thought to display great variety of tone, the Zerbinetta of Rita Streich displayed no technical difficulties whatsoever, and the Bacchus of Rudolf Schock sang 'with heroic tone and sufficient nuance to make one believe in the youthful god'. Of Karajan: 'his genius has never been more apparent in the [Bacchus-Ariadne] scene'." (Malcolm Walker. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Irmgard Seefried, Rudolf Schock

1.1. Prolog: Ouverture
1.2. Prolog: 'Mein Herr Haushofmeister!'
1.3. Prolog: 'Lieber Freund! Verschaffen Sie Mir Die Geigen'
1.4. Prolog: 'Erst Nach Der Oper Kommen Wir Daran'
1.5. Prolog: 'Meine Partner! Meine Erprobten Freunde!'
1.6. Prolog: 'Ihnen Allen Habe Ich Eine Plötzliche Anordnung
1.7. Prolog: 'Ich Weiß Nicht Wo Mir Der Kopf Steht'
1.8. Prolog: 'Kindskopf! Merkt Auf, Wir Spielen Mit In Dem Stück Ariadne Auf Naxos'
1.9. Prolog: 'Ein Augenblick Ist Wenig - Ein Blick Ist Viel'
1.10. Prolog: 'Auf Ihre Plätze, Meine Damen Und Herrn!'
1.11. Ouverture
1.12. 'Schläft Sie!'
1.13. 'Ach! Wo War Ich?'
1.14. 'Ein Schönes War, Heiß Theseus - Ariadne'
1.15. 'Ach, So Versuchet Doch Ein Kleines Lied!'
1.16. 'Es Gibt Ein Reich, Wo Alles Rein Ist'
1.17. 'Die Dame Gibt Trüben Sinn'
1.18. 'Großmächtige Prinzessin, Wer Verstünde Nicht'

2.1. 'Noch Glaub' Ich Dem Einen Ganz Mich Gehörend'
2.2. 'Hübsch Gepredigt! Aber Trauber Ohren!'
2.3. 'Ein Schönes Wunder!'
2.4. 'Circe, Circe, Kannst Du Mich Hören?'
2.5. 'Du Schönes Wesen!'
2.6. 'Bin Ich Ein Gott, Schuf Mich Ein Gott'
2.7. 'Gibt Es Kein Hinüber?'
2.8. Capriccio: 'Morgen Mittag Um Elf!'
2.9. Capriccio: 'Ihre Liebe Schlägt Mir Entgegen'
2.10. Capriccio: 'Das Spiegelbild Der Verliebten Madelaine'

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Carl Heinrich Graun - Montezuma

"Together with Johann Adolf Hasse, Carl Heinrich Graun is the chief representative of Italian opera in Germany in the 18th century. Through his musical genius and the favor of King Frederick II, which was based on a lasting friendship, Carl Heinrich Graun became chief of the circle of Berlin composers which, around the middle of the 18th century, developed a special Italianized but polyphonically saturated style. To this belonged, among others, J.G. Graun, F. Benda, C.P.E. Bach, F.W. Marpurg, Kirnberger and, not least, Frederick the Great. In C.H. Graun's opera Demofoonte (1746) alone, for example, there are three arias composed by Frederick II. All Graun's textual drafts were supervised by the King; to a great extent they emanated from him himself.

"The Story accords with the historical fate of the last ruler of the Aztecs, Montezuma II (1502-1520). Who, following mythical prophecies, saw the arrival of the Spaniards under Cortés as the return of the divine Toltec King Quetzalcoatl. So without resistance he let himself be captured, and was killed during an Aztec revolt against the Spaniards.
 
"The text is by Frederick ll, who wrote it in French prose. For the requirements of opera this pattern was put into Italian verse by the Berlin court poet P. Tagliazucchi.

"Montezuma is one of Graun's last operas. Here a shortening of the recitative and the employment of the modern cavatina creates a tightening of the form, a more compulsive dramatic treatment. The Seven Years' War (1756-63) put an end to further attempts at reform in the field of opera. Montezuma can be seen as Frederick's countersignature to his own face, which made him into a martial war-prince. The good, peaceful Montezuma as victim of an intolerant, conquest-craving time, the heathen prince proves to be the more humane ruler, in comparison with the civilized Christian Spaniards. For the enlightened Frederick II this model is the ironic
balance to his own Ideals.

"Montezuma shows Frederick II in a field of tensions; thus the artistically-minded idealistic prince became the royal practical politician, if justice is to be seen to be done to life's reality, Montezuma must die.

"Montezuma is more than just a work of Baroque opera. This opera can allude to the history of its own nation, shown by Germany re-united in an especially sensitive area, that of Prussia's struggle for German hegemony. Thus the opera Montezuma in many respects points to history, it directs our ear to the destiny of America and the destiny of Prussia, to the German's view, 200 years ago, of America, and American history as the mirror of its own.

"It makes sense to perform the opera Montezuma again, because the music-dramatic language of pre-revolutionary
Europe is not familiar to us, it shows us the facts from a new angle. It conveys the scruples that many European princes also had in their relations with the peoples of the New World. And it conveys how disparate these cultures were, that of the peaceful heathen Montezuma and that of the enlightened Frederick II of Prussia, the Great, condemned to warfare, who had once commented 'It must be hoped that another enlightened century will come in which loyalty and faith will be awarded their due glory.'" (Matthias Schwarzer, tr. Lionel Salter. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Deutsche Kammerakademie, Johannes Goritzki

1.1. Sinfonia: Allegro - Andante - Allegro
1.2. Atto I, Scena I: 'Si, Mio Tezeuco, Il Messico È Felice'
1.3. Atto I, Scena I: 'Somiglia Il Buon Monarca'
1.4. Atto I, Scena I: 'Io Ti Domando, Amico'
1.5. Atto I, Scena I: 'Non Saprei Curare Il Vanto'
1.6. Atto I, Scena II: 'Ecco, Signor, Ch'io Torno Fedele'
1.7. Atto I, Scena III: 'È Ver Quanto Narrai Incredibil Rassembra'
1.8. Atto I, Scena III: 'Vegga, Che Alfin Gl'impone'
1.9. Atto I, Scena IV: 'Regina, A Che Si Mesta'
1.10. Atto I, Scena IV: 'Godi L'amabile Presente Instante'
1.11. Atto I, Scena V: 'Leggiadra Eupaforice'
1.12. Atto I, Scena V: 'Ah Immaginar Non Puoi'
1.13. Atto I, Scena VI: 'Ah! Signor, Che Deluso Àn Que Stranieri'
1.14. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Imperatore, Il Valoroso E Forte Duce'
1.15. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Vedrai Fra Queste Mura'
1.16. Atto I, Scena VIII: 'Qual Fierezza À Costui'
1.17. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Or Tu Vedi, Erissena'
1.18. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Non Àn Calma Le Mie Pene'
1.19. Atto II, Scena I: Introduzione
1.20. Atto II, Scena I: 'Eccoci Alfine, Grazie Al Cielo'
1.21. Atto II, Scena II: 'Vinite Intrepidi Stranieri Eroi'
1.22. Atto II, Scena II: 'Vieni, Illustre Stranier'
1.23. Atto II, Scena III: 'Passaggero, Che Tenta La Sorte Sovra Un Legno'
1.24. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Qual Fatal Sicurezza!'
1.25. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Erra Quel Nobil Core'
1.26. Atto II, Scena V: 'Si, Del Soggiorno Imperial'
1.27. Atto II, Scena V: Sinfonia Guerriera. Allegro

2.1. Atto II, Scena VI: 'D'onde Vengon Quei Tuoni?'
2.2. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Ecco La Tua Riconoscenza!'
2.3. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Benche Superbo E Vano, Renditi Al Vincitor'
2.4. Atto II, Scena VII: 'No, Che Un Nume Non Sei'
2.5. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Del Mio Destin Tiranno Tutto L'orrore'
2.6. Atto II, Scena VIII: 'M'ingannate, Occhi Miei?'
2.7. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Deh, Lascia Un Prence Omai'
2.8. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Barbaro, Barbaro'
2.9. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Secondin Gli Dei Si Giusto Disegno'
2.10. Atto II, Scena IX: 'L'onor Del Soglio Offende'
2.11. Atto III, Scena I: 'Qual Orribil Destino'
2.12. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ah, D'inflessibil Sorte'
2.13. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ma Qual Rumore Mi Risuona All'orecchio'
2.14. Atto III, Scena I: 'Ah Sol Per Te, Ben Mio'
2.15. Atto III, Scena II: 'Ah Scoperti, O Regina'
2.16. Atto III, Scena III: 'Ahime! Tutto, O Regina, Che Barbaro Destin'
2.17. Atto III, Scena IV: 'Empio, Cadrai Trafitto'
2.18. Atto III, Scena V: 'Signor, Qui Moctezuma Ti Traggo E La Regina'
2.19. Atto III, Scena V: 'Si, Per La Rea Congiura'
2.20. Atto III, Scena V: 'T'inganni, Egli Non Fu'
2.21. Atto III, Scena V: 'Si, Corona I Tuoi Trofei'
2.22. Atto III, Scena V: 'Ah, Mio Sposo Adorato'
2.23. Atto III, Scena V: 'Deh, Qual Rabbia Ostinata!'
2.24. Atto III, Scena V: 'Oh Cielo! Ahi Giorno Orribile'

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