Search - York Holler, Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne, Cologne Philharmonic :: Höller: Der Meister und Margarita

INTERESTING PIECE,DIFFICULT TO CALL IT AN OPERA!

F. FUNES | WHITE PLAINS,NEW YORK | 08/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"We're being confronted here with one of the most interesting pieces that music theatre has produced before the end of the just gone XXth century.Holler's work sounds more like a theatrical piece with sung parts rather than an opera,opposite
the conceptions of other composers on the same matter like Sergei Slonimskii and Rainer Kunad,who's rendition I also find excellent!
Most of the vocal lines are written in a declamatory style,with certain inclinations that bring to mind the Alban Berg of LULU.Other structures,going back to the renaissance up to the crafty use of electronic music (specially in Margarita's flight over Moscow's rooftops)and even to the classic rock tune "Sympathy for the Devil",penned by no other than Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,in the Satanic Ball that takes place in the third scene of act one show us that York H?ller's efforts as a composer and as a librettist finally paid off,leaving us a magnificent work that won't disappoint the listener.Also,the text manages to keep the essence of the excentric,bizarre,sometimes humourous,some other ones spine-chilling original novel by Mikhail Bulgakov.Lothar Zagrozek,a true specialist in this type of repertoire displays his usual conducting skills.Baritones Richard Salter and Franz Mazura,veterans also in this kind of works do their best,most specifically Salter,who has also dealt with tough roles like Rihm's JAKOB LENZ,Trojahn's ENRICO IV and Aribert Reimann's "K" in his opera DAS SCHLOSS/THE CASTLE,among others."