Elliott Carter's What Next?
Posted by: DJH on 26 November 2003
Good to see that this is now available on ECM - is anyone who has heard it able to comment on the performance / recording?
Posted on: 27 November 2003 by herm
Nope. So why don't you do the grunt work, David? I'm rather curious about this piece. Late Carter is pretty good.
Herman
Herman
Posted on: 27 November 2003 by DJH
Herm; will do, and I'll let you know what I think. There is another late Carter disc about to be released which I will probably also be unable to avoid buying - I may even get the DVD 
Posted on: 28 November 2003 by David Hobbs-Mallyon
Any recommendations for where to start with Carter. I have the Concerto for Orchestra/Knussen disc, but find it fairly hard work.
David
David
Posted on: 28 November 2003 by Todd A
I kicked off my holiday shopping season today (which hopefully also ended today) by buying the new release of Elliot Carter’s opera What Next? I’ve been waiting for a few years for this to arrive, and I’m peeved that it took ECM over three years to release this recording. At least it was worth the wait.
The very brief opera of only 40 minutes involves a group of six people who are in an auto accident on the way to the wedding of two of the passengers and how they all respond to the event. The opera opens with a cacophonous percussion outburst signifying the accident and then proceeds to have all of the characters responding to the event. All of them convey their responses individually even though, at times, more than one character is singing. The dialogue is nonsensical at times, and that’s the point. After all, how do people react to a bad accident or other traumatic event? It all depends.
The music is clearly Carter’s. There are numerous small themes that appear but never develop and are never repeated. Different sections of the chamber orchestra play entirely independent pieces of music, and sometimes solo instruments play short themes against a complex background. Throughout the piece there are little bursts of beauty, the winds, especially, adding their lovely voices. About midway through there is a brief interlude that sounds as though it could have come straight out of the early Second Viennese School; it is beautiful and decadent and deceptively quiet.
The sound is top-notch and Peter Eotvos once again reveals himself to be among the great conductors of modern music. After hearing this and the recent release of what surely must be the greatest recording of Bluebeard’s Castle, I nominate him as conductor of the year.
The accompanying Asko Concerto is one of Carter’s most accessible pieces. It is brief and light and charming. Once again the instruments play seemingly unrelated pieces of music with interesting solo turns, and little, unrepeated themes appear as disappear almost randomly. Here is proof positive that “modern” music can be whimsical.
This disc is obviously a must-buy for all fans of Carter. Other curious music lovers would benefit from hearing it, too. And since this opera is so short, I decided to buy Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore as a filler. That will be the big piece for tomorrow. . .
"The universe is change, life is opinion." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
The very brief opera of only 40 minutes involves a group of six people who are in an auto accident on the way to the wedding of two of the passengers and how they all respond to the event. The opera opens with a cacophonous percussion outburst signifying the accident and then proceeds to have all of the characters responding to the event. All of them convey their responses individually even though, at times, more than one character is singing. The dialogue is nonsensical at times, and that’s the point. After all, how do people react to a bad accident or other traumatic event? It all depends.
The music is clearly Carter’s. There are numerous small themes that appear but never develop and are never repeated. Different sections of the chamber orchestra play entirely independent pieces of music, and sometimes solo instruments play short themes against a complex background. Throughout the piece there are little bursts of beauty, the winds, especially, adding their lovely voices. About midway through there is a brief interlude that sounds as though it could have come straight out of the early Second Viennese School; it is beautiful and decadent and deceptively quiet.
The sound is top-notch and Peter Eotvos once again reveals himself to be among the great conductors of modern music. After hearing this and the recent release of what surely must be the greatest recording of Bluebeard’s Castle, I nominate him as conductor of the year.
The accompanying Asko Concerto is one of Carter’s most accessible pieces. It is brief and light and charming. Once again the instruments play seemingly unrelated pieces of music with interesting solo turns, and little, unrepeated themes appear as disappear almost randomly. Here is proof positive that “modern” music can be whimsical.
This disc is obviously a must-buy for all fans of Carter. Other curious music lovers would benefit from hearing it, too. And since this opera is so short, I decided to buy Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore as a filler. That will be the big piece for tomorrow. . .
"The universe is change, life is opinion." Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Posted on: 28 November 2003 by DJH
quote:
Any recommendations for where to start with Carter.
The string quartets are quintessential Carter, and are the obvious place to start. I don't think that either the Juilliard or Arditti sets (of the first four quartets) are currently available, but they seem to turn up on ebay every so often. I don't know the Arditti, but the Juilliard set is excellent. Apart from this, the piano music is very accessible - I have the Winston Choi set on ED.
quote:
Originally posted by Todd Arola:
And since this opera is so short, I decided to buy Luigi Nono’s _Al gran sole carico d’amore_ as a filler. That will be the big piece for tomorrow. .
Interesting - I managed to find a copy of Nono's Prometeo recently, and recommend this if you can find it.
Thanks for the write up on What Next? - I'll be trying to track a copy of this down.
[This message was edited by DJH on FRIDAY 28 November 2003 at 23:49.]
[This message was edited by DJH on FRIDAY 28 November 2003 at 23:53.]
Posted on: 08 December 2003 by David Hobbs-Mallyon
Well I've received a copy of the Arditti's doing Quartets 1 and 4. Initial impressions are that I'm going to have to stick at it. From the liner notes, I was expecting 4 to be a bit easier of the ear, but 1 seemed to be more accessible. Also went back to the Concerto for Orchestra, still found that pretty tough.
I don't have this problem with Birtwistle....
David
I don't have this problem with Birtwistle....
David