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Performance Gidon Kremer
Sweet Final Breath, premiere in nonet version
Gidon Kremer and Kremerata present in Wagner House, Riga, the premiere of the nonet version of Sweet Final Breath, Dare Thou Linger Eternal. May 22nd, 2021.
R E V I E W S & C O M M E N T S
Performing related
'' I Thought I Saw Your Face is his first solo album, and its ten works include five commissioned especially by Morrison. Among these are Brett Dean’s Stone, scored for seven celli and typical of Dean’s exquisitely delicate, mesmerising writing for strings. Nocturne, by American/Australian composer Mary Mageau is imbued with a deep, languid melancholy. Also included is Morrison’s own tribute to his old teacher, Elegy In Memoriam János Starker for ten celli and tubular bells, a beautiful, quietly turbulent work.
Other highlights include Tutto di Piango (I Cry All Day) from Caccini Monodies by Danish composer Simon Christensen, scored for cello, zither and live electronics. As Morrison observes in his notes, this album has “not been designed as an album of salon delights,” and its “emotionally-dark character” is particularly appropriate for this most bizarre and confronting time, “in parallel with a world struggling to find balance.”
Morrison is a marvellous player; his rich tone is precise, intense and very well-suited to this sonically exploratory repertoire of contemplative agitation. The recording is resonant and spacious, ensuring that every nuance of timbre is splendidly audible.''
(Lisa MacKinney Dec 2020, Limelight Magazine)
“A really beautiful interpretation... Love it! It's a nice balance of bringing personality to a piece through a performance yet holding on to all its structural elements.”
Paul Stanhope (composer) on "Dawn Lament"
"Your recording of it has made it very special to me. Indeed, the performance is heart-rending. Thank you."
Peter Sculthorpe (composer) on "Love Song"
Composing related
" I so enjoyed hearing your quartet just now…. It's most impressive and you handle the larger forms therein like an old hand. The second movement has some especially moving moments, really beautiful." (Brett Dean)