Novita' Ecm : Paolo Fresu , Alexander Lonquich, Ketil Bjornstad & Svante Henryson, Colin Vallon

Paolo Fresu, A Filetta Corsican Voices & Daniele di Bonaventura

Mistico Mediterraneo

Sketches of Corsica: the radiant lyric trumpet of Paolo Fresu glides across the massed voices of A Filetta, the singers who are both trailblazers and keepers of tradition in the realm of Corsican polyphony. The ancient and the experimental blend seamlessly in these compositions, several of them written by ensemble founder Jean-Claude Acquaviva, who has directed the singing group for more than 30 years. A powerful showing here also for Italian bandoneon innovator Daniele do Bonaventura, who contributes new music, solos imaginatively, duets with Fresu, and envelops voices and trumpet with an almost orchestral sense of form.

Paolo Fresu trumpet, flugelhorn
Daniele di Bonaventura bandoneon
A Filetta
Jean-Claude Acquaviva seconda
Paul Giansily terza
Jean-Luc Geronimi seconda
José Filippi bassu
Jean Sicurani bassu
Maxime Vuillamier bassu
Ceccè Acquaviva bassu

Tracklist

Rex tremendae - Liberata - Da tè à mè -Le lac - Dies irae - Gloria - Corale - La folie du Cardinal - U sipolcru - Scherzi veranili - Figliolu d’ella - Gradualis - Sanctus

Alexander Lonquich – Robert Schumann/Heinz Holligier

“Schumann is the composer who has almost always been at the true centre of my thoughts” says Heinz Holliger, and the brilliant performance by Alexander Lonquich illuminates deep connections between the sound-worlds and imaginations of two great composers separated by one and half centuries. In this remarkable recital, Lonquich offers new insights in his account of the 1838 first edition of Kreisleriana op. 16, and then plunges deep into Holliger’s contemporary invocation of Schumann, the “radicalized romanticism” of the 1999 piano cycle “Partita”.

Opera :

Robert Schumann
Kreisleriana op. 16 (First Edition, 1838)
Dedicated to Frédéric Chopin

I Äußerst bewegt - II Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch – Intermezzo I. Sehr lebhaft – Erstes Tempo – Intermezzo II. Etwas bewegter – Langsamer (erstes Tempo) - III Sehr aufgeregt – Etwas langsamer – Erstes Tempo - IV Sehr langsam – Bewegter – Erstes Tempo - V Sehr lebhaft - VI Sehr langsam – Etwas bewegter – Erstes Tempo - VII Sehr rasch – Noch schneller – Etwas langsamer - VIII Schnell und spielend

Heinz Holliger
Partita (1999)
Dedicated to András Schiff

I Praeludium ("Innere Stimme") - II Fuga - III Barcarola - IV Sphynxen für Sch. (Intermezzo I) - V Petit "Csárdás obstiné" - VI Sphynxen für Sch. (Intermezzo II) - VII Ciacona monoritmica

Ketil Bjornstad & Svante Henryson – Night Song

Ketil Bjørnstad returns to the piano/cello duo, instrumentation which defined two of his best-loved albums, “The River” and “Epigraphs” with David Darling, back in 1996 and 1998. This new collaboration with Svante Henryson, however, tells a different story. As cellist, Henryson currently works in duos and trios with distinguished classical musicians including pianists Roland Pöntinen and Bengt Forsberg, clarinettist Martin Fröst, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and baritone Mikael Samuelson. ECM listeners, however, first heard him as a member of Jon Balke’s Magnetic North Orchestra on “Kyanos” (2001). In jazz contexts, he has also played in diverse formations with Tord Gustavsen, Marilyn Mazur, Nils Petter Molvaer, Arild Andersen and others. In rock and pop, he has collaborated with artists from Yngwie Malmsteen to Elvis Costello. In brief, he is an artistic polymath, rather like composer/improviser/author Bjørnstad himself. The music they create together - atmospheric, dark-hued, of melancholic temperament - is similarly beyond category.

Ketil Bjørnstad piano
Svante Henryson violoncello

Night Song (Evening Version) - Visitor - Fall - Edge - Reticence - Schubert Said - Adoro - Share - Melting Ice - Serene - The Other - Own - Sheen - Chain - Tar - Night Song (Morning Version)

Colin Vallon – Rruga

“Rruga”, meaning ‘path’, ‘road’ or ‘journey’ in Albanian, is the evocative title of the ECM debut by the trio of pianist Colin Vallon, bassist Patrice Moret and drummer Samuel Rohrer. After shared musical experiences on the Swiss jazz scene, they began their trio journey five years ago, and have grown into one of Europe’s most promising bands, shaping a rugged and individual music, inspired by songs and singers, and by the music of the Caucasus region as well as by the jazz tradition. Challenging conventions of the modern jazz piano trio, the instrumentalists meet on equal terms as the music is created, arranged and developed collectively.

Colin Vallon piano
Patrice Moret double-bass
Samuel Rohrer drums

Telepathy - Rruga - Home - Polygonia - Eyjafjallajökull - Meral - Iskar - Noreia - Rruga, var. - Fjord - Epilog