Review: Violeta Dinescu – “Trajektorie”: Subdued Ball Nods on CD | nmz

To give it the mysterious mythological character of the recorders and those of the remaining pieces (“In lingua ignota.” From 2015 called “Trajektorie I-eleventhFrom 2018), Dinescu also revised her humorous piano ballad “My Eyes Returned to All Seven Spheres…” and replaced the piano with an accordion. The result is a unifyingly themed composition with works for accordion, voice, and recorders—but not all of the pieces are as cohesive and cohesive as “Immaginabile.”

In her work Dinescu often looks back at her Romanian past or at least several hundred years from the perspective of a contemporary composer. Her music, often sports-based, thrives on the freedom it affords the performer. Dinescu’s notations keep them open at times such that musicians have to improvise over and over again. The pieces on “Trajektorie” also have a liveliness and naturalness that goes with their old primitive nature.

In “In lingua ignota” this character is created by a simple melody and text that seems to be written in the ancient language. Dinescu adapted Hildegard von Bingen’s “Language of Fantasy” (about 1,000 invented words) of the same name. Unfortunately, the booklet provides no information about the full text of the passage for accordion and voice (ad libitum). The mini “Lingua Ignota” has instrumental lengths too, even if some passages with the interplay of accordion (Marko Kassl) and the changing voice of soprano Irene Kurka create a captivating and evocative atmosphere.

At least in the atmosphere, but in a more mature, dramatic form is the already described version of “Immaginabile”. This also relates to the “first track-eleventhFor Accordion and Recorder(s): With a sense of grand form, Kassl and Rosa develop and orchestrate ritual-like material throughout all eleven sections.

The text “My eyes have returned to all seven spheres …” is an excerpt from Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” in Italian and in German translation. Tenor Marcus Schaeffer gives his voice a crazy, sometimes ironic tone. The accompaniment provides contrast. In this recording with the accordion, the bulging accents sound more subtle, the lines more personal, and the whole thing more menacing and menacing than on the piano. Even in the original version with piano, the piece is not a cabaret number, the comic aspect (“And this advice to despise the world / I think it is good, and he who seeks another / can really be called right and able.”) is better conveyed by the more piano sound Realistic, sometimes shimmering, sometimes jumping.

Even if the slightly modified chimes wear out during its 71-minute playing time, “Trajektorie” gives a glimpse into the haunted side of Violeta Dinescu’s work, which sends the soul hither and thither on flights of fancy.

Violetta Deniscu. a path
in lingua ignota. Homage to Hildegard von Bingen (2015); Imaginable (1993); track ieleventh (2018); My eyes returned to all seven spheres… (2017).

• Gudula Rosa (recorder);
• Marco Castle (accordion);
• Irene Korca (soprano);
• Marcus Schaefer (tenor)

Dreyer Guido, 2021