Christoph Sietzen - Silence

Christoph Sietzen

A moody “silence” album with the famous Largo from Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, Albéniz ' irresistible Asturias, Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel and more in arrangement for marimba.“He took up position at a marimba and coaxed from it sounds of rapturous fragility.”  (New York Times) “…this most questing of younger percussionists.“ (Grammophone) These are only a few examples that show how Christoph Sietzen has been praised by the media as an outstanding talent – a refreshingly natural musician notable for his technical mastery and powerful stage presence. Christoph Sietzen has just been awarded an Opus Klassik as the "Young Artist of the Year" for his first album with Sony Classical, "Incantations". For his new album, Sietzen recorded fascinating works by Bach, Albéniz , Piazzolla, Glass, Francisco Tárrega and Arvo Pärt. In this highly personal selection, Sietzen chose works in which he encounters silence. The album begins with “Opening” from Glassworks by minimal-music-composer Philip Glass, which draws its special strength from slight changes and has much to do with silence for Sietzen. Asturias by Isaac Albéniz and Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega are both essential to this album as well, conveying something tangible and immediate. Sietzen finds it particularly enticing to contrast the movements Sarabande, Bourrée and Gigue from the E minor Lute Suite by Johann Sebastian Bach, with the other works on this album rather than playing them in succession as a self-contained form. A quite different and catchier world of sound is found in Romántico and Verano porteño by Astor Piazzolla. Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel is the only piece on this recording in which Sietzen plays other instruments besides the marimba and also the only piece for which he did not adopt the text of the original edition one-to-one – a practice he considered very important in the other works. The album comes to an end with the famous second movement, Largo, from Bach’s F minor Harpsichord Concerto which is beautiful in its simplicity, the ornamented melody seeming to sway in two directions like a pendulum. With "Silence", Luxembourgish-Austrian percussionist shows once again his "awesome technique, unrelenting intensity, tremendous power, breath-taking speed, idiosyncratic presence and a profound musicality" (Pizzicato Magazine).TRACKLISTPhilip Glass (*1937)1.     Opening from Glassworks                                                                            Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)2.     Asturias (Leyenda)                     Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 9963.     Sarabande     Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)4.     Recuerdos de la Alhambra    Johann Sebastian BachLute Suite in E minor, BWV 9965.     Bourrée    Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)6.     Verano Porteño from Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas                                         Arranged for Marimba by Pius Cheung                                 Johann Sebastian BachLute Suite in E minor, BWV 9967.     Gigue  Arvo Pärt (*1935)8.      Spiegel im Spiegel                                                                                                             Arranged for Marimba, Percussion and Violoncello by Christoph Sietzenwith Clemens Hagen                                                                                                       Astor PiazzollaCinco Piezas para Guitarra     9. Romántico                                                                                                              Johann Sebastian BachHarpsichord Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056                                                                           10. II. Largo Arranged for two Marimbas and Orchestra by Bogdan Bacanuwith Bogdan Bacanu and Academy of Ancient Music

Price: $22.98