Cheap Nono: La lontanaza; Hay que caminar (Music) (Luigi Nono, Gidon Kremer, Tatjana Gridenko) Price

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Customer Reviews of Nono: La lontanaza; Hay que caminar

the last of late Nono
This disc is a reissue in DG's 20/201 Echo series, with recordings of Nono's last two finished works from December of 1990, first released in 1992. Nono died in May 1990, and "La lontananza" had been written for and with Gidon Kremer in 1988 and 1989. Nono taped Kremer playing a variety of pre-arranged sounds on violin, and then electronically altered them -- the final piece results from Kremer playing solo, responding to taped sequences. As 8 tapes are triggered, Kremer walks among 8 music stands and plays the scores in whatever order he chooses. The taped altered material does not provide the basis for a clearly enunciated duet, and the result, as you might imagine, is quite indeterminate -- Cage-like, if it wasn't for Nono's powerful sensibility. Interestingly, Sofia Gubaidulina operates the tapes -- this did not lead to a sideline in studio engineering work as far as I know. This is not among Nono's best works, in my opinion, but then I don't much care for Cage or Feldman either -- perhaps if you do you'll find it more compelling than I. Irvine Arditti subsequently recorded "La lontananza," which probably makes it the only Kremer/Arditti duet on record, but I haven't heard his rendition.

The second work, "Hay que caminar sondando" is a violin duet performed by Kremer and Tatiana Grindenko. It conveys a sense of confusion, puzzlement, and sadness at not being able to "find the path." This piece was written for Irvine Arditti and David Alberman, who recorded the orginal version in July of 1990 (which can be found on the Naive Montaigne label with Nono's 1980 string quartet "Framente-Stille, An Diotima" -- see my review). The original version is nearly 28 minutes long, while the Kremer version lasts "only" 20 minutes. 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 this version emphasizes that nonetheless "we must walk." Personally, I prefer the original version to this one.

This is an excellent addition to DG's 20/21 series, which includes a growing number of classic recordings of the late 20th century avant-garde. The packaging is high quality -- relevant, of course, only if you suffer from commodity fetishism.

What Nono was exploring in his late period seems to have been the result of a crisis of faith -- not religious faith, but humanist faith. The work was experimental, and not always successful (I see "Prometeo" as a flawed masterpiece -- see my review), but always fascinating. For more on Nono, see my reviews collected in the list "Luigi Nono's Soundworld."

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The original and best recording of Lontanaza
Towards the end of his life, the marxist Italian composer Luigi Nono changed musical course from his big agitprop canvases to largely quiet, intimate explorations of sound. These two works--his last two--probably take this exploration as far as any.

In La Lontanaza Nostalgica Utopica Futura, Nono prepared eight tapes of electronically distorted violin sound, percussive noises and suchlike. These tapes--each with a distinctly different sound to them--are played back as accompaniment to the violin soloist during the performance, but with a live performer responding to the sound of the violinist by choosing which tape(s) should be heard at any one moment. This might seem cold and artificial, but in this performance, with the hyper-intense Gidon Kremer playing violin and the Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina preparing the tapes, the result is anything but. Sensibly, the performers do not attempt to utilise the whole of the taped material--one of the many flaws which makes Irvine Arditti's rival recording a tedious experience in comparison--but concentrate on maintaining a tension and intimacy over just under forty minutes of playing. The result is quite exceptional, and finally won me over to a work I had long denigrated as one of Nono's weakest.

"Hay que caminar", sognando, for two violins, is the other work on this disc. Once again it is a mostly quiet, intimate exploration of sound--though this time without any taped component. Related to Nono's earlier string quartet by musical material and the use of Verdi's 'scala enigmata'--a scale different going up and down, and rich in tritonal harmony, this is a rather less important work than Lontanaza, but still well worth hearing. The performance on this disc (by Kremer and Tatiana Grindenko) is much faster, clearer and more intense than the rival recording with Irvine Arditti and David Alberman, and in my opinion is greatly to be preferred.