Guardian: Top 10 Classical Recordings of 2023
Was ist mit Worten und was ist mit Singen
This album is an incomplete overview of vocal works by composers born in the 1950s or 1960s who immersed themselves in a European scene that was turning toward a more self-confident aesthetic pluralism based on the loosening and fragmentation of the prevailing musical hegemonies.
In their own unique ways, all of the composers represented here succeed in combining the natural lyrical character of the voice with the mid-century rejection of the historical burden of that very lyricism, whether through the dismantling of language and its meaning or through the “neutralizing” strategy of treating the voice instrumentally. It seems as if the voice here sings across time. From one moment to the next, it shifts from echoes of Renaissance polyphony to a glimpse into the future with sounds from another world; at times it evokes the intimacy of a whisper in the ear, then bursts forth with all the drama of a passionate bel canto appeal. That is precisely what I find exciting. The voice is fully embodied, integrated into its actual history and at the same time connected to its possible legacy.
If there are common themes between these pieces, they have to do with instability and uncertainty. If a text carries any meaning at all, it probably grapples with the big questions. Who am I? What is this life? What is death? This existential questioning is often reflected in restless musical material that seems to tremble or throb as it finds a way forward: pitches slip away or nestle in the spaces between, rhythms jerk and jump or circle around themselves in obsessive loops of repetition, and sometimes the sound simply gives up the ghost.
As I said, this is an incomplete overview. It shows a certain approach to composing vocal works, even if the approaches are pleasantly different. As a portrait of a performer, it is also incomplete, perhaps even somewhat arbitrary. Some pieces are permanent fixtures in my repertoire; others I performed for the first time in the studio. The entire album was supposed to be recorded in 2019, but in the end, the project was only completed after more than three years. As a document of my work, it perhaps captures something of this long, slow journey toward artistic maturity. It is often a rather lonely path, but the moments when you walk in step alongside a companion are always a welcome adventure. Somehow, an expression is always a conversation, even if it's just a dialogue with you, the imaginary listener.
Juliet Fraser