musica viva vol. 46 – Johannes Kalitzke / Luc Ferrari

On November 10, 2023, Johannes Kalitzke presented himself in a double role as conductor and composer (“the one makes you want the other”) in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz with the world premiere of his Zeitkapsel – Totentanz for large orchestra (“Time Capsule – Dance of Death for large orchestra”), commissioned by musica viva, as well as with Luc Ferrari’s Histoire du Plaisir et de la Désolation, a sonic search for “new sensuality”. Both compositions can be experienced in this CD live recording of the musica viva concert.

Johannes Kalitzke (born 1959) is a renowned German conductor and composer. Zeitkapsel – Totentanz for large orchestra was commissioned by Bavarian Radio’s musica viva in 2022-2023. The world premiere took place on November 10, 2023 in Munich. Sebastian Schottke was responsible for the sound direction. Representing time capsules in the material sense, the orchestral piece contains musical artifacts from different times and cultures that were rediscovered at a later date and that characterise the sonic context of the piece, above all the first ever acoustic recording in history: a recording of sound waves on wax paper from 1860. Fragments of it can be heard at the end of the piece, like a revelation.

Histoire du Plaisir et de la Désolation for orchestra by Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was written in 1979-1981 as a Radio France commission for the Orchestre National de France, and was premiered in Paris in 1982 by that orchestra under the direction of Michael Luig. Orchestral music is not necessarily what one associates with the name Luc Ferrari. The composer, who died young, became known primarily as an exponent of musique concrète, opening up new creative paths in his use of tape technology. His sonic quest leads from the promising opening movement Harmonie du diable to the double-edged nature of pleasure (Plaisir-Désir), only to fail brilliantly with the “rupture of all logic” in the final Ronde de la désolation.

Johannes Kalitzke (* 1959)
Zeitkapsel – Totentanz für großes Orchester
(“Time Capsule – Dance of Death for large orchestra”)

Luc Ferrari (1929 – 2005)
Histoire du Plaisir et de la Désolation
(“A Story of Pleasure and Desolation”)

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Johannes Kalitzke conductor

BR-KLASSIK CD 900646
Total Time: 64’10 min.