Castle Classics Larcher, Thomas (Austrian B.1963)

T Larcher: IXXU - Rosamunde Quartet; Andrea Lauren Brown, soprano; Christoph Poppen, violin; Thomas Demenga, violoncello; Thomas Larcher, piano

Label - ECM

Cat. No. - 4763156

Including Ixxu - String quartet (1998-2004); My illness is the medicine I need; Mumien for cello & piano (2001/02); Cold Farmer - String quartet

Significant first recordings of new works by Thomas Larcher (born in Austria in 1963), increasingly regarded as an important voice in contemporary European music. Cornerstones of the album are the two big string quartets, Ixxu and Cold Farmer, played with great intensity by the Rosamunde Quartet. The Munich-based quartet has built up a considerable following with varied ECM discs ranging from Haydn to Saluzzi, via Shostakovich, Mansurian and Silvestrov. The demands of Larcher's music, recorded with his participation, have brought forth exceptional performances. Christoph Poppen - heard as a violinist on ECM for the first time since the best-selling Morimur of 2001 - performs My Illness Is The Medicine I Need (2001) with Larcher, Thomas Demenga on cello, and gifted American soprano Andrea Lauren Brown making her ECM debut. Mumien is played by Larcher and Demenga.

Thomas Larcher is one of Europe's most engaged proselytisers for new music, highly regarded as a pianist and a festival organizer known for imaginative programming. His earliest ECM recordings featured him as insightful interpreter, his Schoenberg/Schubert set of Klavierstücke (1998) drawing wide praise. He has also been heard performing Heinz Holliger, Isang Yun, Webern, Milhaud, Berio, Dallapiccola and more. His first CD as composer, Naunz (4617182), was a Gramophone Editor's Choice
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T Larcher: Naunz - Thomas Larcher, piano; Thomas Demenga, violoncello; Erich Höbarth, violin

Label - ECM

Cat. No. - 4617182

Including Naunz (1989) / Vier Seiten (1998) / Noodivihik (1992) / Klavierstück 1986 / Kraken (1994-1997) / Antennen-Requiem für H. (1999)

The first ECM album to feature Austrian pianist Larcher's taut and powerful compositions. He's previously been heard as an outstanding interpreter on his disc of Schoenberg/Schubert "Klavierstücke", on Michelle Markaski's "Elogio per un'ombra", and on Heinz Holliger's "Lieder ohne Worter".
Price: £13.50 (Including VAT at 15%)

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