Rzewski & Bach: Variations
Label: Paladino
Catalogue No.: pmr 0037
Recording date: 11-13 Dezember 2011
Sound Engineer, editing: Georg Burdicek, Tonzauber
Piano technician: Karl Brandl
Recording venue: Franz-Liszt-Zentrum, Raiding/Austria
Release: December 2012
When I encountered “The People United Will Never Be Defeated” in the mid nineties for the first time (it was a recording by Ursula Oppens), I was immediately fascinated by the extremely demanding score and Rzewskis huge variety of musical styles. Later I read more and more about the historical and political background (the original theme, “El Pueblo Unido”, is a anti-fascist, revolutionary song by Sergio Ortega, composed in Chile 1973), learnt the piece in about three months and recorded it finally in December 2011. The second work on the CD, Bachs Aria Variata is another piece I wanted to play for a long time, some Bach fragments in the optional Cadenza(Improvisation) in Rzewskis Variations connect the very different works…
Here you find some listening samples via Itunes.