Cheap Luigi Nono: Fragmente; Hay que caminar (Music) (Luigi Nono, Arditti String Quartet) Price

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Customer Reviews of Luigi Nono: Fragmente; Hay que caminar

beyond heroism and tragedy, a deeper level of subversion
Nono's only string quartet, "Fragments and Silence," ushered in Nono's "late period," when he moved toward a more subdued form of subversion, forcing listeners to listen intently, taking nothing for granted. As performed by the Arditti Quartet, the piece is startling -- sounds you have never heard before. Fragmented sounds regularly negated by silence, negated in turn by new sounds, reforming, turning, creating something new out of nothing, out of chaos...

In turning away from more overt politics, Nono can be seen as retreating, but he saw the works of his late period as more deeply radical, challenging the basic perceptions and assumptions of the commodified society. He effected a rapprochement with Boulez -- I wonder to what extent he realized that his '80s work moves toward the aesthetic position of his Darmstadt collaborators of the '50s who he had previously denounced for their apolitical stance?

"Hay que caminar" for two violins is also available on the recently re-released DG 20/21 Echo disc, performed by Gidon Kremer and Tatiana Gridenko. I prefer this original recording -- as I said in my review of the DG disc: "The Arditti/Alberman version has more silence, more extreme dynamics, and conveys a sense of being utterly, existentially lost. You might say it emphasizes that there is "no path," while [the Kremer/Gridenko version] emphasizes that nonetheless "we must walk."

I previously reviewed the original Montaigne release of this disc (7/21/01, and again 6/10/02), and it has exactly the same content -- all that has changed is that this is a cardboard "eco-friendly" package instead of a plastic jewel box.

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Nono's quartet--music from the shadows
Luigi Nono's string quartet, 'Fragment-Stille, an Diotima', has gained something of a reputation in the 20-odd years since it was first performed by the LaSalle Quartet. One of the most extraordinary works in the history of the string quartet, it consists of over 50 short fragments (mostly at very low dynamic levels) separated by silences. Unified only by the occasional repetition of short motives, and by the constant use of a destabilising, unearthly tritone-heavy harmony, this work gives off the aura of pages from a diary in which the composer had inscribed his most intimate thoughts. It is a very difficult work to bring off--I have attended performances where it made no sense at all--but in this recently reissued recording the Arditti Quartet produce an exceptional performance. The key to this work is (in my opinion) managing to make the many silences increase the musical tension rather than reduce it, and this performance has no rival in doing so.

The other, shorter, work on the disc, "Hay que caminar" sognando, is a rather less successful here. Based on the same harmonic structure as the quartet, but scored only for two violins, it is even harder to bring off, in part due to the lack of any bass instrument to anchor the harmony. In addition, Arditti and Alberman do not match the rival--much faster and more nervous-- recording from Kremer and Grindenko in intensity.

A very strong recommendation for the quartet, then, but I can't rate this as the best "Hay que caminar" available.