Louis Andriessen – Theatre Of The World (2017)
Louis Andriessen – Theatre Of The World (2017)
CD One 1 Scene 1 11:12 2 Scene 2 9:40 3 Scene 3 11:47 4 Scene 4 10:32 5 Scene 5 7:29 CD Two 1 Scene 6 12:15 2 Scene 7 6:30 3 Scene 8 9:34 4 Scene 9 14:42 5 Epilogue 6:50 Lindsay Kesselman - soprano Cristina Zavalloni - mezzo-soprano Marcel Beekman - tenor Leigh Melrose, Mattijs Van De Woerd - baritone Steven van Watermeulen - voice actor Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Reinbert de Leeuw - conductor
Nonesuch releases Louis Andriessen's "grotesque stagework" Theatre of the World—recorded live during the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2016 world premiere performances with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw and director Pierre Audi—on September 29, 2017. The nine-scene multi-media work, which was commissioned by the Philharmonic with generous support from the Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund, features a libretto by Helmut Krausser. Theatre of the World is a far-ranging exploration of the German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher (1601–1680). Kircher, the author of thirty books, "made a determined effort to summarize all of contemporary knowledge, and link it to Christian theology," according to John Henken's program note. The Los Angeles Times says: "Brilliant and deep, Andriessen's music compels from start to finish." Theatre of the World, Andriessen's eighth Nonesuch recording, is available to pre-order at iTunes and in the Nonesuch Store.
Leigh Melrose performs the role of Kircher; Lindsay Kesselman is a boy who leads Kircher and his patron, Pope Innocenzo XI (sung by Marcel Beekman), on a journey. Steven van Watermeulen is Janssonius, Kircher's Amsterdam publisher; Mattijs van de Woerd is Carnifex, the hangman; and Cristina Zavalloni is Sor Juana. The Los Angeles Times calls her "ravenously ecstatic … the real vocal soul of the opera."
Louis Andriessen, according to London's Guardian, is "not only the leading Dutch composer of our time, but one of the most important figures in European music in the last half century, whose influence has spread far beyond that of his own works." His music has explored politics, time, velocity, matter, and mortality in five works for large ensemble: De Staat (Nonesuch, 1991), De Tijd (Nonesuch, 1993), De Snelheid, De Materie (Nonesuch, 1996), and Trilogy of the Last Day. In addition to Theatre of the World, his stage works include the La Commedia (Nonesuch, 2014), Writing to Vermeer (Nonesuch, 2006), and Rosa: The Death of a Composer (Nonesuch, 2000), as well as the monodrama Anaïs Nin. Nonesuch also released an album with his De Stijl and M is for Man, Music, Mozart in 1994. Andriessen's recent awards include the Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music, the Caecilia Prize, and the Grawemeyer Award. ---nonesuch.com
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