Cheap Giacinto Scelsi: Natura Renovatur (Music) (Giacinto Scelsi, Hans Zender, Annette Bik, Andreas Lindenbaum) Price

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Customer Reviews of Giacinto Scelsi: Natura Renovatur

First off, the Fourth String Quartet, generally accepted as one of Scelsi's finest works. Here the Klangforum are in direct competition with the Arditti Quartet's complete set of quartets (an essential Scelsi disc if there ever was one). They choose a very different interpretation than the Ardittis, taking fourteen minutes rather than ten and concentrating on creating a big sound, rather than generating the febrile nervous energy of the Ardittis. I personally have a preference for the Klangforum's way with this work, but other Scelsi fans have differed from me on this.

Elohim, that follows, is a short and rather bizarre work for a small string orchestra. More thematic than the quartet, and less based on wailing microtones, it is one of Scelsi's most impressive miniatures, and a very atypical work--the glissando-based sections almost feel like a precursor of Xenakis' string quartet Tetras.

I can't say the same for the Duo for Violin and Cello, which I find one of the least interesting of Scelsi's mature works. The floating harmonies that work so well in the string quartets become too bare and uninteresting when only two instruments play here, and the work feels a lot longer than the 15 minutes it lasts.

Anaganim, though, is a much finer piece. An extended transcription of the last movement of Scelsi's second quartet, its fullness of sound adds to the magnificence of the original work, and this is a very impressive performance.

Maknongan is the lone work from the 1970s here. Written for unspecified bass instrument, its intense ritualistic atmosphere makes for one of the finest of Scelsi's late works. Uli Fussenegger's performance for solo double bass--sounding amplified in this performance--is one of the best I've heard.

Finally, Natura Renovatur is a near-literal transcription for string orchestra of the Fourth Quartet that opened the program. It has to be said that the transcription adds almost nothing to the original work, so the decision to include both on an hour-long disc seems questionable at best--even despite the excellent performance here.

Overall, somewhat mixed results. If Klangforum Wien had rounded out the disc by adding a performance of Ohoi--Scelsi's other work for small string orchestra--the disc would have been much more recommendable. Something off a missed opportunity, then, despite the good performances.