Konstantia Gourzi: Music For Piano And String Quartet Lorenda Ramou & Ensemble Coriolis

• 1 Eine kleine Geschichte, Op. 25 03:04
• 2 P-Ilion, 9 Fragmente einer Ewigkeit, Op. 33/2 10:28
• 3 Aiolos Wind, Op. 41 06:53
• 4 Israel, Op. 19 11:56
• 5 Noch fürcht' ich, Op. 8 06:50
• 6 Vibrato 1, Op. 38/1 03:34
• 7 Klavierstücke I-V, Op. 24 04:26
• 8 Vibrato 2, Op. 38/2 04:27
• Total Runtime 51:38

Info for Konstantia Gourzi: Music For Piano And String Quartet

Das ECM-Debüt für die in Athen geborene und in München lebende Komponistin Konstantia Gourzi: „Welche historischen Stimmen mischen sich in die gegenwärtige Klangsprache einer Komponistin, deren kulturelle Wurzeln im Geburtsland der Rhetorik liegen, die aber auswandert, um in die kompositorische Lehre des europäischen Konstruktivismus zu gehen?“, fragt Ingrid Allwardt im Booklet-Text. „Welche wortlosen Gesänge als Anklänge verronnener Zeit fädeln sich in die klangliche Gegenwart ihrer instrumentalen Lieder?“ Music for piano and string quartet liefert die Antworten. Mit Ausnahme des frühen „noch fürcht‘ ich“, 1993 komponiert, sind alle Werke des Albums jüngeren Datums. Es enthält einige Klavierminiaturen, Stücke, die Lachenmann, Kurtág, Raue, Abbado, Barenboim und Rexroth gewidmet sind, zwei Streichquartette sowie Werke für Streichquartett und Klavier. Die Pianistin Lorenda Ramou und das Ensemble Coriolis liefern engagierte Darbietungen. Das Album wurde 2012 in der Münchner Himmelfahrtskirche aufgenommen und von Manfred Eicher produziert.

Lorenda Ramou, Klavier

Ensemble Coriolis:
Heather Cottrell, Violine
Susanna Pietsch, Violine
Klaus-Peter Werani, Violine
Hanno Simons, Violoncello

Recorded July 2012 at Himmelfahrtskirche, Munich
Engineered by Stephan Schellmann
Produced by Manfred Eicher

Lorenda Ramou
graduated from the Athens National Conservatory under Tonis Georgiou (piano) and Yiannis Avgerinos (harmony), the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt (first prize in piano) and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (Diploma in Piano Pedagogy and Certificat d’Aptitude in 1993). She pursued her studies at City University, London (Master in Music with distinction in 1994). She was granted scholarships from the French Government, the Academy of Athens and the British Council. She has especially studied contemporary piano repertoire under Claude Helffer, Marie-Françoise Bucquet and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. She was selected to participate in the first Academy of the XXth Century in 1995 (Cité de la Musique, Paris) under the direction of David Robertson and Pierre Boulez. She has been, for several years, a member of the Hellenic Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Theodore Antoniou and has collaborated with the composers Maurice Ohana, George Crumb and Mauricio Kagel. She has given solo recitals and chamber music concerts in France, England, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Sweden and the United States.

Lorenda Ramou has recently recorded the first complete performance of Nikos Skalkottas’s ballet music for piano for BIS, highly praised by the international press. She has also recorded two CDs with chamber music works by Yiannis Ioannidis and works for piano and electronics by Dimitris Andrikopoulos and Manolis Manousakis. She is the editor of the Critical Edition of Dimitris Dragatakis’s complete solo piano music, to be published by Philippos Nakas Music House.

In her solo recitals Lorenda Ramou often combines classical with contemporary repertoire and music theatre works. She has given many first performances of pieces written especially for her. Together with the bassoonist Stefanie Liedtke she founded the contemporary music ensemble Palmós in 1997. Supported by Greek and Dutch cultural institutions, Palmós has performed in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Tonhalle, Düsseldorf, the Athens Megaron and the Dutch Embassy Auditorium in Washington, among other places. Lorenda Ramou teaches music and piano at St Catherine’s British Embassy School of Athens and also directs the school’s instrumental department.

Booklet for Konstantia Gourzi: Music For Piano And String Quartet