Guardian piece on Xenakis / hcmf

[John Skelton]

Christopher Fox on Xenakis in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011...?newsfeed=true

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Visceral masterpieces, as potent as the day they were written, the Arditti/Pace concert of the chamber works has been a mouth-watering must-see event that I've been eagerly anticipating for the past three months. I hope the Beeb's mics will be there for everyone who can't be!

Thanks for this link, JS

[John Skelton]

It's an amazing programme this year, ferney - I'm deeply envious. Have a great time .

To give myself a pre-tantiliser I'm listening to Arne Deforce / Ensemble musikFabrik's CD of Xenakis' Complete 'Cello Works.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I hope the Beeb's mics will be there for everyone who can't be!

They weren't!

A pity: this concert more than lived up to my hopes and it would've been good to discuss it on these Boards. I would also have loved to hear again Ian Pace's unbelievable performance of Evryvali - "unbelievable" in that I was there and I still don't believe that what he did was possible! Not only was the work rattled off in a good three minutes less than Claude Helffer's comparitively sedate recording, but the weighting and voicing of each chord was individually coloured - and there were about ten a second! The instrument was left steaming and visibly quaking on stage during the next piece: a tremendous performance of ST/4 that brought out the wit as well as the power of the work.

The other works were magnificently performed, too, with the possible exception of Tetora which sounded under-powered to me, and suffered from some dodgy intonation. It was as if the Ardittis were galvanized by Pace's performance (which was the second item) into hurling themselves into the remaining works.

In some parallel universe, the Beeb sent their cameras so that everyone could share the high jinks of Irvine Arditti's struggles with the Huddersfield Music Stands (ominously labelled "Huddersfield Polytechnic Music Department"!) one of which refused to stay in position, and the Quartets' chair-scraping pantomime, all of which added to the joy of one of the highlights of a fantastic Festival.

Best Wishes.

[Serial_Apologist]

What a missed opportunity, dammit!

Evryvali

... must have been exalted.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[heliocentric]

Christopher Fox on Xenakis in today's Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011...?newsfeed=true

"uniquely ancient and modern". Yes.

[NolanRita]

Thanks for sharing, I truly enjoyed it as something totally new, unique and striking.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks for sharing, I truly enjoyed it as something totally new, unique and striking.

... and a very warm welcome to these Boards, NolanRita.