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| The tale of the Sleeping Beauty set somewhere between science fiction and biting social criticism. In her texts Elfriede Jelinek explores the states of sleep, of apparent death, of semi-consciousness, or of being barely awake – and in doing so investigates Austrian everyday life in all its uniqueness, including all the petty power games and battles of the sexes. Jelinek's grim texts, recited by Anne Bennent, Hanna Schygulla and an artificially generated voice, are combined with Olga Neuwirth's throbbing computer sounds: she composes around the texts, or addresses them directly, drowns them out, or stays in the background. "Beyond the words, the music perhaps communicates that which is unspeakable, the smooth enchantment that doesn't spare us clichés and irony; it comes back like a memory, stays with us never to leave. It adapts itself to the words, and one senses its continued presence through slow and fast undulations." (Olga Neuwirth) Dreamy, eerie – and simply brilliant! |
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| Recommendation |
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Against spontaneity and con-sistency: Poppe manages the feat of being both a systematic and a revolutionary composer, one who plays by the rules and beats them at the same time.  |
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| The master of nasal sounds: Matthias Arter has freed the oboe from the clutches of ordinary classical music and catapulted it into the 21st century. |
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| Polyharmony, Tone Cluster and Counter Rhythm: the three movements of Henry Cowell’s piano concer-to of 1928 (very nearly) reveal the essence of his oeuvre. |
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