Kurtag, Gyorgy (1926) - Kafka-Fragmente : Isabelle Faust(Vn)Anna Prohaska(S) - Import CD

Credits:

Bach Family

Description:

A disc to watch out for! Isabelle Faust & Anna Prohaska: The Kafka Fractures, a collaboration of two world-renowned performers, Isabelle Faust (violin) and Anna Prohaska (soprano). The work is "The Kafka Fragments," composed by the Hungarian composer Kurtág, born in Romania in 1926, on 40 fragmentary texts by Franz Kafka (1883-1924) (selected by Kurtág himself), with an unusual arrangement for violin and soprano (completed in 1987). The "Kafka Fragments" were composed for violin and soprano duo on 40 fragments of Kafka's diaries, letters, and posthumous manuscripts, which Kurtag selected and composed in four parts (I: 19 pieces, II: 1 piece, III: 12 pieces, and IV: 8 pieces). 1985-1987). There is no narrative plot throughout. Each text varies from a single word, "Ruhelost," to a cry of loneliness, to a lover (or a specific person), to a tender look at a child, and so on. The texts are all relatively short, with the longest being about 80 words, but the songs range in length from less than 30 seconds to over 6 minutes.Each text is a short, but very condensed world, as it is a chapter. Kurtag has musicalized the monologues and thoughts written by Kafka with violin and voice in a form that could not be more lean. Looking at some specific pieces, for example, in the first piece "The Good Man Walks in Step...," the violin begins with a rhythmic "de re de re" sound reminiscent of walking, and the voice sings the text in parallel on the fifth degree. Track 21, "There is nothing 'to have,' only 'to be. The soprano sings the text as if in a monologue while the violin moves violently up and down as if stirring the chest in the solitary text, "In the last breath, I long for (choking) death. The finale (track 40) says, "It was a dazzling moonlit night. The text begins with the words, "It was a dazzling moonlit night, and birds were singing in the trees." The violins are as delicate as the moon, and the soprano is beautifully evocative of the birds' calls. The music is notated in stave form, but there is no clear beat. The vocal music requires expression that goes beyond the concept of "song," from whispering to speaking and even shouting. The violins also require a variety of techniques to express the cries and feelings in the short text, from singing tones to barking glissandos, dry clusters, ear-splitting high notes, and even a passage with a scordatura.Both the vocal and violin parts demand the pursuit of the limits of expressive possibilities. (1/2) King International

Tracklisting:

1.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Die Guten gehn im gleichen Schritt
2.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Wie ein Weg im Herbst
3.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Verstecke
4.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Ruhelos
5.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Berceuse I
6.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Nimmermehr (Excommunicatio)
7.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Wenn er mich immer fragt
8.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Es zupfte mich jemand am Kleid
9.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Die Weissnaherinnen
10.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Szene am Bahnhof
11.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Sonntag, den 19. Juli 1910 (Berceuse II). Hommage a Jeney
12.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Meine Ohrmuschel...
13.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Einmal brach ich mir das Bein. Chassidischer Tanz
14.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Umpanzert
15.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Zwei Spazierstocke. Authentisch-plagal
16.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Keine Ruckkehr
17.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Stolz (1910 / 15. November, zehn Uhr.)
18.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Traumend hing die Blume. Hommage a Schumann
19.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil I: Nichts dergleichen
20.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil II: Der wahre Weg. Hommage-message a Pierre Boulez
21.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Haben? Sein?
22.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Der Coitus als Bestrafung. Canticulum Mariae Magdalenae
23.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Meine Festung
24.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Schmutzig bin ich, Milena...
25.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Elendes Leben (Double)
26.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Der begrenzte Kreis
27.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Ziel, Weg, Zogern
28.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: So fest
29.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Verstecke (Double)
30.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Penetrant judisch
31.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Staunend sahen wir das grosse Pferd
32.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil III: Szene in der Elektrischen
33.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil IV: Zu spat (22. Oktober 1913)
34.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil IV: Eine lange Geschichte
35.Kafka-Fragmente, for soprano & violin, Op. 24~Teil IV: In memoriam Robert Klein