Duo-CD "Rilke Anthology I"
It's often been noted that the "greatest" classical song cycles are those that studiously avoid setting the "greatest" poetry, so Joachim Gies is certainly setting himself a challenge in choosing to work with Rainer Maria Rilke (extracts from his "Neue Gedichte" and "Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil" and "Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge"). Fortunately, in choosing mezzo-soprano Ute Döring, the Berlin-based saxophonist couldn't have found a more accomplished singer to interpret his delicate scores.
With writing as dense as Rilke's, it is essential that his texts be printed in the original German in the booklet (they are), preferably alongside their translations (they aren't). Translating Rilke is quite a job itself - read Robert Bly's astute observations on the subject in his "Selected Poems of Rilke" (Harper & Row, 1979) - finding a musical context which allows breathing space for both the texts' internal rhythm and their semantic complexity is another matter altogether. Curiously - paradoxically, even - the richer sound palette of the "Malte Laurids Brigge" six-movement suite works better in this respect (Gies and Döring are here supported by the sampling skills of Michael Walz) than the five poems set in "Reflections".
Perhaps it's a question of the density of prose as opposed to the (apparent) simplicity of poetry, but both Rilke's multi-levelled text and Gies' arsenal of extended techniques seem to resonate more sympathetically in Walz's electronics. Improvisation / free jazz this most definitely is not, and its being released on Leo may unfortunately mean it will be unfairly dismissed by "jazz" journalists rather than appreciated by a wider contemporary music public, but wherever it ends up, it is most worthy of your attention.
by Dan Warburton
TERMINE
