Search - Daudin :: Xenakis: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1

Great beginning to a Xenakis orchestral cycle

Dizaner | Perth, Western Australia | 07/22/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Iannis Xenakis died in February this year (2001), and has left behind an enourmous amount of music (not all of it top-notch), much of which has so far never been recorded (and Xenakis isn't really a favourite for symphony programmers either) so this important new disc is most welcome. It forms volume one of a Xenakis orchestral cycle, and it augurs well. Those new to Xenakis's orchestral work should still begin with the recent Col Legno release which contains the first [1955] and best (according to Xenakis) performance of the seminal "Metastasis". That disc is an essential part of anyone's Xenakis discography anyway and this, I think, will become one too. Arturo Tamayo is an experienced conductor of new music (he studied under Boulez) and is also responible for the recording of Richard Barrett's outstanding orchestral work "Vanity" on the NMC label (anyone interested in Xenakis should also investigate this Barrett disc). Likewise the Luxembourg Philharmonic acquit themselves well, seeming relatively at ease with this difficult music, but never lacking passion or precision.The first piece, "Ais", is a dramatic work for Baritone (singing a lot of falsetto), percussion, and orchestra. The texts (given in the booklet) are from the Iliad, Odyssey, and from a fragment of Sappho's poetry. It is disturbing and uncomfortable, but exhilirating nonetheless. The baritone Spyros Sakkas, a long time collaborator with Xenakis, is secure and definitive in this difficult music.The other four works, all for largish orchestras, explore and interrogate the sound-world in Xenakian fashion. There is no real way or need for me to explain the works - they speak for themselves. The finest work here, though, is "Empreintes", which creates a truly awe-inspriring sonoric landscape filled with dense, microtonal string textures and brass interjections.With more of Xenakis's orchestral work becoming available on CD we are able to get a clearer and more rounded picture of his music and development. Listen, for example, to the conclusion of "Empreintes" and the end of "Phlegra" (both written in 1975) to hear how Xenakis explores similar ideas in different ways and in different mediums.The only let down is Nouritza Matossian's (English) liner notes. Like Paul Griffiths, she writes an excellent book, but vague, pointless and unhelpful liner notes. The French or German notes are by separate authors, and the French notes look good (though I am not at all fluent in French).A Timpani catalogue on the back page informs us that Vol 2 (to be released in September 2001) will include "Synaphai", "Jonchaies", "Lichens" and "Shaar". So look out for that too. Hopefully there will be more volumes to come.Xenakis's reputation as embodying the worst kind of arrogant, avant-garde extremism often strikes me as ridiculous, and I think often puts people off from hearing his music. To me he was and is an original, powerful and sincere voice of the late twentieth century, and we have yet to meet him on his own terms. This series from Timpani can help us achieve that."