Strongly informed by the Romantic operatic impulse, Giselher Klebe's music is vividly dramatic and intensely passionate, in both his stage works and his instrumental music. This 2004 release from Marco Polo is the second volume of Klebe's piano music, and prominently features his ominous Poèma drammatico for two pianos and orchestra. The performance by pianists Silke-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, directed by Peter Ruzicka, is powerful and menacing. A sense of ...
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Strongly informed by the Romantic operatic impulse, Giselher Klebe's music is vividly dramatic and intensely passionate, in both his stage works and his instrumental music. This 2004 release from Marco Polo is the second volume of Klebe's piano music, and prominently features his ominous Poèma drammatico for two pianos and orchestra. The performance by pianists Silke-Thora Matthies and Christian Köhn with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, directed by Peter Ruzicka, is powerful and menacing. A sense of theatrical violence and high tragedy is conveyed through this double concerto's numerous Verdi quotations -- from Otello, Simone Boccanegra, Macbeth, and other operas -- which are especially effective in the dissonant harmonic context. Matthies and Köhn also perform together in the clashing piano duets, Soggetto cavato, Opp. 122 and 129, and divide their labors in the remaining works. Of these pieces, the most striking may be Zornige Lieder ohne Worte, in which Matthies unleashes a flood...
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