Travel diary: Munich with the Ensemble intercontemporain

In this first tour of the season for the OSR, the orchestra gave a look towards the future, performing in Bayerische Rundfunk's musica viva series, one of the best known events for contemporary music. Jonathan Nott was reunited with the Ensemble intercontemporain (which he directed from 2000-2003) for Rebecca Saunders' Wound, warmly received by the audience. The conductor then led two works by Dieter Ammann, Boost and Glut; recently recorded for a future album with the Schweizer Fonogram label. The composer was present in the hall and came up to greet the Orchestra at the end of the concert. The two works were interspersed with Pierre Boulez' sublime Messagesquisse for solo cello and 6 cellos, performed by soloist and principal cello, Léonard Frey-Maibach.

Couldn't make it to Munich? The concert will be aired on 11th October at 8.05p.m on BR Klassik (available on streaming). For further information click here.

The Süddeutschezeitung gives an idea of what to expect:

"one was in another world after the intermission with the two pieces by Dieter Amman, each half as long. It was immediately catchy and yet by no means eclectic or postmodern. Rather, in "Boost" and in "Glut" (2014-16), the 60-year-old Swiss composer continued the tradition of the classical-romantic symphony with 21st-century means. Much sounded narrative as in a tone poem, the richness of colour was immense, but the three parameters of any music, i.e. rhythm, melody and harmony, also came fully into their own. How the individual groups reacted to each other was refined, effectful and artfully composed."

Süddeutschezeitung, 30.09.2022, "Strenges Exerzitium" by Klaus Kalchschmid.
Read the original article (in German) here.

The OSR is looking forward to playing abroad again this season, to promote French-speaking Switzerland: its next tour in November will take it to the Czech Republic (with the Grand Théâtre de Genève), Italy, Slovenia and Hungary.

Translation : OSR