June 21: ECM New Series Releases Delian Quartett's New Album Im wachen Traume

ECM New Series Releases

Delian Quartett
Im wachen Traume

Schumann / Reimann, Byrd / Pierini, Purcell 

Delian Quartett
Adrian Pinzaru, violin; Andreas Moscho, violin; Lara Albesano, viola; Hendrik Blumenroth violoncello 

Claudia Barainsky, soprano
Mikhail Timoshenko, baritone

Matthias Lingenfelder, viola
Andreas Arndt, violoncello

ECM New Series 2743
CD: 0289 4875875 3
Release Date: June 21, 2024

Press downloads available upon request.

Named after a lyric from the first piece in Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben song cycle, the Delian Quartett’s programme of Im wachen Traume combines said cycle – in a new arrangement for soprano and string quartet by the late Aribert Reimann – with music by Renaissance composer William Byrd and Baroque composer Henry Purcell. Most of the works appears in world premiere recordings here. The earlier English repertory bookends the album, framing Frauenliebe und Leben in a thematic embrace and, as the quartet’s violinist Andreas Moscho puts it, “in dazzling harmonies, that colour the musical span from the bliss of the moment to the end of things”.

Much has been said about Frauenliebe und Leben, from 1840 based on the poetry cycle by Adelbert von Chamisso, and many interpretations and versions of it uttered. This remodelling, however, conceived specifically for the Delian Quartett and soprano Claudia Barainsky, opens up truly new perspectives that seem to have been lying dormant within the original score all along. By transferring the piano part to four voices, Reimann dresses the cycle in an entirely new guise – one that builds on the sustained quality of the strings and utilizes both the art of reduction, to a concentrated and minimalist end, and embellishment, in form of vibratos, pizzicati and harmonic flourishes, for the purpose of emotional emphasis of both music and lyrics.

“Music and poetry have ever been acknowledg’d Sisters, which walking hand in hand, support each other; As Poetry is the harmony of Words, so Musick is that of Notes; and as Poetry is a Rise above Prose and Oratory, so is Musick the exaltation of Poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but sure they are most excellent when they are join’d…” Henry Purcell wrote this in 1650 – in a way, predicting the significant role poetry would play in Romantic music almost two centuries later.

Claudia Barainsky, one of the foremost interpreters of Reimann’s music, is a striking presence throughout the programme and especially expressive in the Schumann cycle, delivering the story of an enamoured woman, from her first meeting with her love, through marriage, to his death and after, with conviction and a keen sense for the text’s emotional delivery. The piano’s uniquely independent voice-leading from the original score is expanded upon in this arrangement for string quartet, with inspired translation choices made regarding range, drone-passages and how repetitive piano motifs here are cleverly spread across the two violins, viola and cello. 

Andreas Moscho introduces the project in his performer’s note: “Two powers continue to overcome the changes of our fast-paced world. They have inspired human existence since forever: death, which limits us, and love, which carries us beyond our end. They also echo in the history of music. Under their influence, composers of all eras have bequeathed us with their most stirring moments. Some of them are brought together on his album. It traverses the space between light and shadow, between sorrow and joy, laying out new paths along the way: None of the works selected here were originally conceived for string quartet. In all of them, however, the string quartet seems to return home.”

All Byrd and Purcell pieces appear in arrangements by Italian composer Stefano Pierini, except for the Purcell instrumentals, “Pavane” and “Chaconne”, which are rendered in their original shape. More than mere reiterations, these Renaissance and Baroque reinterpretations inspire spirited performances by the quartet and soprano. Joining the ensemble on Byrd’s “Lullaby, my sweet little baby” and the programme-concluding Purcell piece “Hear my prayer, O Lord” is baritone Mikhail Timoshenko. Additional viola and violoncello parts on the last piece are contributed by Matthias Lingenfelder and Andreas Arndt.

As with Schumann, the synergy of poem and music comes to play here as well, in Byrd’s “Jhon come kiss me now”, which, in the version of Pierini, is based on the 1792 poem by Scottish lyricist Robert Burns. Word and song are entwined throughout Im wachen Traume, and the Delian Quartett’s impassioned performances together with Claudia Barainsky confirm Purcell when he suggests that they are indeed “most excellent when they are join’d”. 

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Since its inception in 2007 the Delian Quartett has gained widespread international attention, performing on major stages and festivals in Europe and alongside various important figures in the classical world. The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has praised the quartet’s “wonderful sonority and striking plasticity of structures”. Previous recordings, among them performances of Schumann and Haydn, have been met with acclaim and garnered award nominations. One of the Delian Quartett’s main emphases is the expansion of its repertory to include the works of contemporary composers, such as Alberto Colla, Per Arne Glorvigen, Gabriel Iranyi, Christian Jost, Uljas Pulkkis and the in this album included Stefano Pierini and Aribert Reimann. Most of them have written music specifically for the ensemble.

The late German pianist and composer Aribert Reimann (4 March 1936 – 13 March 2024), known especially for his literary operas, was specialized in the contemporary Lied (art song) – he was a professor of the contemporary Lied in Hamburg and Berlin. Among his most well-known works are the operas Ein Traumspiel, Lear (based on Shakespeare’s play) and Medea. As recounted in this album’s liner note, Reimann conceived his arrangement of Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben after having dreamt about a version of the cycle performed by strings. This was in 2018 – he completed the score within two months of the dream.

Claudia Barainsky studied at the Hochschule der Künste in her home city of Berlin with Ingrid Figur, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Aribert Reimann and is internationally regarded as one of the most versatile singers of her time due to her wide-ranging repertory. She made her debut with the title role in Aribert Reimann's Melusine and was awarded the German Theater Prize "DER FAUST" for her outstanding interpretation and portrayal of the title role in Aribert Reimann's German premiere of Medea at the Frankfurt Opera. Barainsky has worked with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors – chamber music being her speciality.