With Antigone-Legend (1982), Rzewski took a decided step in another direction from the virtuoso piano works which had defined the public aspects of his career up until that point. This setting of the Bertold Brecht poem for soprano and piano is far more resolutely modernist in the traditional sense than works like The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, with few if any overt melodic or rhythmic references, though, happily, he hadn't abandoned his habit of having at least one passage where the pianist is asked to slap the ...
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With Antigone-Legend (1982), Rzewski took a decided step in another direction from the virtuoso piano works which had defined the public aspects of his career up until that point. This setting of the Bertold Brecht poem for soprano and piano is far more resolutely modernist in the traditional sense than works like The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, with few if any overt melodic or rhythmic references, though, happily, he hadn't abandoned his habit of having at least one passage where the pianist is asked to slap the piano frame. Both are present, especially in the piano portion, but they are subtle and layered into a fabric that owes far more to serialist technique than to folk or work songs. The vocals, performed by Carol Plantamura, are written in a style that alternates from sprechtsang to casual meanderings to rather histrionic emoting, all tied very closely to the piano score with no element of improvisation as found in other Rzewski pieces. Brecht's texts, originally written in a quasi-imaginary form of old German, have been translated into a fairly conversational kind of English, giving the work a more relaxed feel than it otherwise might have, but it still remains somewhat thorny for the listener to navigate. Listeners who are only familiar with Rzewski's more populist compositions may find the going too tough for comfort. Those with a penchant for 20th century art songs, on the other hand, may find this lengthy, oral tone poem to be a solid work, offering more imaginative vocal and piano writing than is often found in more academically oriented pieces. ~ Brian Olewnick, Rovi
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Add this copy of Rzewski: Jefferson / Antigone-Legend to cart. $18.46, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1997 by Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI).
