program:
Klaus Huber (1924-2017)
Vocal Works
CD 1
Total playing time: 59:58
Oratio Mechtildis (1957) 26:23
Chamber symphony for chamber orchestra with alto voice
Texts: Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207–1282)
Ossia version for Katharina Rikus
Live recording
[01] 1. Andante molte espressivo – Poco allegro 06:16
[02] 2. Molto tranquillo 06:04
[03] 3. Poco sostenuto - Agitato - Largo 09:18
[04] Interlude: »Velum« 01:20
[05] 4. Epilogue 03:25
Katharina Rikus, contralto
Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
Brad Lubman, conductor
[06] Repentance - be in the light... (1997) version 2 33:23
Diptych for choir, mezzo-soprano, speaker and small orchestra
Texts: Elias Canetti (1905–1994), Max Frisch (1911–1991),
Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938) and Kurt Marti (1921–2017)
For Katharina Rikus
Live recording of the world premiere
Katharina Rikus, mezzo-soprano
Christoph Werkhausen, speaker
Hungarian Radio Choir Budapest
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Lucas Vis, conductor
CD 2
Total playing time: 61:38
the little song (1955) 21:17
Two times seven duets for alto voice and viola
Texts: Regula Countess von Sparr (1935–2019)
First part
[01] I Who are you? 01:43
[02] II I had a small, silent dream 01:28
[03] III I hold my hands up 01:42
[04] IV A little blossom? 01:07
[05] V My soul sings … (alto voice solo) 01:34
[06] VI Ruins – 01:00
[07] VII I ran... 00:48
Second part
[08] I With open, alert eyes 01:18
[09] II And again it sounds softly in me 01:02
[10] IIIa Once upon a time you were mine (alto voice solo) 01:30
[11] IIIb I can't cry (viola solo) 01:46
[12] IV Don't look back... 00:44
[13] V But we stepped onto the bridge... 01:37
[14] VI And now go to both sides... 01:34
[15] VII Little song, swing over … 02:24
Katharina Rikus, contralto
Mariana Doughty, viola
[16] A touch of ill-time (1972 / 76 / 87) 19:19
Version for voice and accordion
Texts: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) and Max Bense (1910–1990)
Katharina Rikus, mezzo-soprano
Hugo Noth, accordion
[17] nous!? – La raison du coeur … (2008) for alto voice 03:55
In memory of Jacques Derrida
Texts: Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
Solo version for Katharina Rikus
Live recording of the world premiere
Katharina Rikus, contralto
Intarsia (2009) for fortepiano, string quartet and alto voice 16:33
Texts: Kurt Marti (1921-2017)
For Katharina Rikus
Live recording of the world premiere
[18] I. Intarsioso 04:54
[19] II. Pianto – Specchio di Memorie 06:26
[20] III. Unita 05:13
Katharina Rikus, contralto
Jean-Jacques Dünki, fortepiano
Arditti Quartet (Irvine Arditti, 1st violin ∙ Ashot Sarkissjan, 2nd violin · Ralf Ehlers, viola ∙ Lucas Fels, cello)
World premiere recordings
NEOS Music GmbH · Klaus Huber: Vocal Works
Press:
175 / November 2022
Klaus Huber's work is oriented towards spiritual questions. His compositions are an example of social and political commitment. Commentaries on works such as the one on “Repentance – be in the light…” mention the fear of humanity’s self-destruction through the atomic bomb, the idea of reversal (metanoia), as formulated by the theologian Johann Baptist Metz, the lament over the loss of transcendence and "Not only to tacitly accept a single ideology (after the alleged death of all ideologies), but to align all our living conditions with it." Huber calls this the “totalitarian ideology of the so-called free market economy.”
However, nothing yellows as easily as the non-musical subject. Perhaps that the social utopias of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have become outdated and have lost their former aura in view of the catastrophic current world situation. Because it is no longer as easy as it was a few years ago to listen critically to the political statements of Elias Canetti, Max Frisch, Ossip Mandelstam, Kurt Marti and others, which were once visionary and today at best seem overture-like. Which should not obscure the outstanding qualities of this double album, which, in an exemplary presentation (selection of works, introductory text, interpretation), places the alto voice of Katharina Rikus, the composer's daughter, at the center of the action as a very credible vox humana. She is involved as a soloist in all of the pieces, some of them premieres, from the charming early duets for alto and viola “Das kleine Lied” (1955) to “Intarsioso”, one of Klaus Huber's last compositions, which follows the basic idea, Inserting motif particles from Mozart's late piano concerto in B major KV 595 into the musical context like inlays.
Manfred Karallus
October 2022
Old Masters
In recent years, things have become rather quiet around Klaus Huber. Perhaps this production with little-known vocal works, some of which are recorded for the first time, can bring the Swiss composer, who died in 2017, back to a present that Huber's music needs more than ever. They present Huber as a composer who understood like no other how to bring together spirituality, social criticism, humanism and the highest artistic standards. […] This release gets a very personal touch from the fact that all the solo parts are played with Katharina Rikus Huber's daughter. Her mezzo is pleasantly changeable.
Dirk Wieschollek