Search - Karlheinz Stockhausen :: Stockhausen: Michaels Reise Solisten-Version fur einen Trompeter, 9 Mitspieler und Klangregisseur

Melodic music made by Stockhausen

Dr. Adorján Kovács | Frankfurt am Main | 01/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michaels Reise originally was composed for large orchestra and could be called a trumpet concerto. In the version on this CD, it is a chamber piece. Rehearsals and recording were done together with the composer, the quality of both the performance and the sound are fantastic. It is maybe the most accessible of all Stockhausen compositions. Beautiful melodies (or, as Stockhausen calls them, formulas) can be heard. They are exchanged between the leading trumpet and other instruments. Especially moving is a duet between trumpet and the synthesizer sounding like a double-bass. The journey (Reise) is an instrumental one: melody fragments are treated more jazzy (for North America) or in an eastern way (for Japan). So it is a very vivid and, why not, entertaining music on a high level of composition technique. Thanks to Stockhausen, it has nothing to do with new romantics or new simplicity or repetitive music which can be heard all over. It is a refreshing and cleansing experience after all that acoustic air pollution."

Beautiful

somes7 | 02/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"well, first i have to say that i like the version for orchestra much better than this version, although the musicians are (like in all of the works that are recorded under stockhausen's supervision) outstanding. markus stockhausen's trumpet is unforgettable and so are paasver's and stephen's perfomances. being part of stockhausen's LICHT - ZYKLUS, it is one of his most accessible works. wonderful, almost (and stockhausen may forgive me for this) post-impressionistic sounds with a duet of markus stockhausen and suzanne stephens that will leave you speechless because of its sheer beauty. yes, contemporary music can be that beautiful! but if you are interested in the larger version of the piece (and in stockhausen's other works): since ten years he publishes all his works on cd himself. (believe it or not) and you can order them directly from him. for a catalogue write to: STOCKHAUSEN VERLAG, KETTENBERG 15, 51515 KUERTEN, GERMANY (the prices range from 20 to 60 dollars)"