BERTONCINI / LEHN
Tiziana Bertoncini • violin
Thomas Lehn • analogue
synthesizer
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Horsky Park
ensemble]h[iatus/Peter Jakober
Pounding Ponc
TMM 2002 / Audiology II
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updated on December 18, 2017
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Reviews
Tiziana
Bertoncini / Thomas Lehn – CD Horsky Park
EN
| FR | DE | SE
| HU
At
around the ten-minute mark of Galaverna,
the opening half-hour-epic
of Horsky Park, something extraordinary
suddenly occurs: Using a tiny
island of silence as her home ground, violinist Tiziana Bertoncini
first paints a few emaciated brushstrokes of cool, Webern-like sparsity
on the all but empty canvas of the piece, then throws herself into an
extended harmonic cycle which sounds as though it had been lifted
straight from a Bach partita. Even Thomas Lehn, who'd until then
countered each and every of her figures with an equally witted
response, seems dumbfounded by the audacity of the move, remaining
silent for the entire duration of the solo, which increasingly turns
into an objet trouvé, an acoustic anachronism within a sonic space
spanned up by electronic crackle, subsonic swells and pingponging
rhythmical synth patterns. For a full one and a half minutes,
Bertoncini's web grows tighter and tighter, her fingers flying across
the fretboard as the speed of her arpeggios is attaining dizzying
levels. Then, as if awaking from a deep slumber, Lehn re-enters the
arena, fighting fire with fire and extinguishing his partners
increasingly frantic spins with a ferocious blast of analog noise. It
isn't the first time their ardent personalities are coming to a
passionate collision on Horsky Park
and it won't be the last either.
And yet, it may well be the most striking one, turning the logic of the
encounter upside down and suggesting that this, their first album after
an almost ten-year long release gap, is one of grand gestures and big
postures.
It is true that sentiments can occasionally run high with the duo and Horsy Park has undeniably turned
into a work which doesn't just offer a
clear sense of dramaturgy, but of drama as well – if the movies left
you cold of lately, this album could turn into the cinematic revelation
you've been waiting for. But it leaves just as much space for subtlety
and the quietude between the notes, for moments of delicacy, refinement
and even tenderness. At times, Lehn will dive into the darkest depths
of his synthesizer, pitching tones down towards the borders of
perception and restricting his operations to sculpting and bending
their waveform. In others, he is creating translucent atmospheres made
up of short-wave pulse-emissions, almost weaving together the emperor's
new symphonies from all but intangible materials. Bertoncini, on the
other hand, isn't just capable of strikingly mediating between the 21st
century and the romantic era, of translating emotions into abstractions
and back again. Sometimes, a single sustained note will be enough for
her to significantly change the mood and impact of a particular scene,
to support Lehn in his processings or to question, confuse and
counterpoint him. Although their conflicts are almost certain to leave
the most lasting memories on the first few listens, what makes their
interaction so addictive for their audience are the instances which
initially seem sidethoughts - but which keep haunting one long after
the piece has ended.
If, then, Horsky Park, as
many have already reported and to which this
author will readily testify as well, is a record which almost addictive
qualities, then not so much so because it is immediately pleasing, but
because it keeps disturbing its audience. There doesn't seem to be a
clear-cut modus operandi, let alone a goal, a development, denouement
or a "meaning". Even the companion piece to Galaverna - moss agate
- performed in an action-packed environment of twenty-four containers
at the Art Ort festival - never amounts to fully fledged concept art.
And yet, one can distinctly sense that these two experienced performers
are not just working from "the moment", but building long suspense
archs instead, sometimes replying to each other or reworking their
motives from a couple of minute's distance. On more than just one
occasion, it isn't quite clear who is doing what – one of the strongest
passages involves Bertoncini mimicking Lehn, who in turn seems to be
mimicking an aeroplane. Which may be down to two important qualities of
their duo: On the one hand, a congenial fusion of characters, as part
of which Lehn is drip-fed from a infusion of Italian blood, while
Bertoncini's red-hot wounds are cooled with Swiss ice packs. On the
other an approach as part of which each protagonist isn't merely
interacting with the other, but with himself as well – Lehn,
especially, has a preference for entering into call and response games
with his analogs, spreading his themes out across the stereo image and
then creating constantly shifting feedback loops.
Throughout, there's a fine line between reticence and holding back
one's power, between talking straight and in metaphors. Importantly,
however, there never seems to be a case of meta-art. The Bach-sequence
mentioned in the first paragraph isn't so much a quote as it is an
organic response to the challenges at hand, as much a part of the duo's
vocabulary as a series of rhythmical pluckings or a chain of glistening
crackle. So, too, is the opening sequence, which has an almost
Mahler'ean grandeur to it, resembling the opening bars of the latter's
first symphony in their otherwordly elation. Apparently, Bertoncini and
Lehn are equipped with a pair of uniquely different ears, answering
rough blocks of sound with lyrical melodies or a moment of rhythmical
propulsion with static harmony.
The most surprising feat, then, is that the music never sounds
disjointed, but in fact perfectly coherent and natural. Which may
explain the ongoing allure of the album: If there's a system at work
here, it isn't revealing itself easily.
Tobias Fischer | Tokafi
Horsky
Park is the title of the
rather fine new album by Thomas Lehn and Tiziana Bertoncini, one of yet
another new batch of discs on the seemingly infatigueable Another
Timbre label. Lehn’s music I know very well, his work on analogue synth
is, in my opinion unrivalled. Bertoncini however, an Italian violinist
is a new name to me, though about of googling around informs me that
she has been working in various ways with Lehn for almost a decade now.
This is the fortieth AT release ‘proper’, but Lehn also appeared on one
my favourites from the label, the Obdo duo with Frédéric Blondy. This
one follows hot on the heels, but, as we might expect from Lehn, who is
one of the most versatile and yet still consistent improvisers working
today, this CD is quite different.
There are two tracks, an opening
piece named Galaverna that lasts half an hour and is a straight improv
recording, and then Moss Agate, clocking in at thirteen minutes and
apparently recorded during a “dance-installation-media festival” in
Germany, the two musicians performed in separate “open containers” that
faced each other, with Bertoncini’s sounds fed into an input on Lehn’s
synth, and as other events took place in other nearby “containers” so
some external sounds creep in. The CD begins quietly and cautiously,
but quite soon the amplified violin can be heard confidently thrusting
sounds at us, rasping bow strokes and firm, almost violent sounding
wrenches across the strings. Around and between these attacks Lehn very
cleverly drops a wide variety of sounds, from soft purrs and whines to
sudden aggressive splashes and one or two thoroughly angry explosions.
The violin reminds me of Luigi Nono’s composition so often, in places I
hear Fragmente-Stille’s tormented struggles with language present, but
it is probably the sense of harsh, vibrant musicality that pushes me
that way the most, reminding me often of Nono’s more troubled,
upsetting music.
Galaverna is a work
of some
power. It isn’t clear if the recording was made in front of an audience
or not, but if it was then anyone in attendance probably witnessed
something quite spectacular as the music here really bursts from the
stereo with real urgency, and live this would have been amplified
further. Lehn is excellent on this first track. His range, and also his
choices in what sounds to choose and when is so impressive. Violin
wrenches will fill the foreground for a few seconds, but when they cut
away they invariably leave a synth sound completely at aesthetic odds
with the bowed sound, a deliberate ploy to push the music into more
uncharted territory perhaps, and often in this recording there are
moments when Lehn’s sounds will suddenly rise from behind something and
take you completely by surprise. Galaverna isn’t quiet music, the
sounds we hear literally burst from the speakers but it also sounds
controlled enough and responsive enough to make the amount of
consideration given to each sound one of its strongest points.
Moss Agate is quite
different. If
Galaverna sounds aggressively
forthright and energetic then the second
track seems to tone much of this down, shifting to small pops and
crashes, mostly from Bertoncini with Lehn laying a seemingly harmless
and faintly watery composition down behind the violin. This piece is a
nice counterpoint to the opening track, but it also has a slightly more
spacious feel to it as sounds bounce about and reflect from one of the
‘containers’ to another. This element doesn’t always work for me and
isn’t an improvement over the straight improv of the opening track,
primarily because it feels like some of the raw edge of the music has
been flattened a little, but its a small quibble when everything else
is so addictively listenable here.
Horsky
Park is an intense affair.
Both musicians push at each other, challenging either with the sheer
force and surprise of a sound or often the complete reverse. The
interplay between the duo is both fascinating and engaging however and
listening to this CD it was these elements, the tussles, the surprises,
the understanding of how it all fits together on a mutual level that
kept bringing me back. If Horsky Park
were a book, someone would have
written somewhere that it just couldn’t be put down before its ending.
Really great stuff, my favourite improvised album of this year so far.”
Richard Pinnell | The
Watchful Ear
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Tiziana Bertoncini is a young
violinist specializing in contemporary art music, improvisation and
interdisciplinary events, whose musical activity is still poorly
documented on disc. Thomas Lehn needs no introduction in my opinion,
his projects and collaborations within the European and American
improvised music scenes are as well-known as his rudimentary ‘old
school’ approach to music. There are practically two different musical
worlds meeting on this disc: a young Italian artiste and an old German
geek German (or extraterrestrial being, I still have my doubts).
A surprising and intriguing
encounter, then, which manages to overcome and integrate these two
different worlds, creating a new one which is equally rich and
creative. On Horsky Park
interest resides primarily in the
concept of equilibrium: intensities, timbres, silence, analogue and
acoustic, microtonality and tonality. There are countless
alternations, numerous pauses, sensational eruptions, and various
intentions and energies. Alternately or simultaneously, the violin
becomes harsh, aggressive, serious, light, brital, sensitive, silent or
noisy, and Thomas Lehn has to balance these different modes of playing
with interruptions that are sometimes uncouth or dirty, sometimes pure
and synthetic, decorative, rhythmic or melodic and so on, unless I have
inverted everything. The balance is very well managed between
synthesiser and violin, which oppose and confront each other whilst in
the process of becoming assimilated (sometimes with a certain
apprehension).
The strange fact, however, is
that the element that gives this duo its strength is also what
constitutes its weakness, especially on the first piece
Galaverna. I’ll explain: as soon as Lehn and Bertoncini
achieve a balance, they do little with it; it’s constantly being
broken, fractured and interrupted in the search for a new dynamic –
which is sometimes frustrating and often removes the intensity of each
moment of equilibrium. But seen from an overall perspective, this game
of multiple short dynamics and intensities forms a sort of rhythmic
energy which reinvigorates and gives a kind of consistency to the
improvisations. Moreover, this multiplicity of dynamic
interruptions is hugely reinforced by the extreme diversity of the two
instruments and two musicians: Lehn with his unique timbre and
energy (like an extraterrestrial on acid playing Pacman), and the
idioms of composed music and the sonic research of Bertoncini, together
create a singular and original universe, which is both new and
refreshing.
Each came equipped with their
instrumental baggage, and past music, with their research and its
findings, and Horsky Park
manages to preserve all of these histories
while creating from them something new that arises from their
encounter, a third universe in which connections which may seem
improbable can be interwoven without difficulty. Two pieces which
are rich in sonorities and dynamics, focusing on an interaction that is
marked by urgency and spontaneous reactions; two pieces full of desire
and vitality.”
Julien Heraud | Improv-Sphere
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As becomes quickly apparent,
Italian violinist Tiziana Bertoncini is classically trained. Her
pool of gestural contours are rooted in string practices that date back
centuries, which makes her capacity for reverse-engineering the
technical knowhow engrained inside her fingers and muscular memory all
the more refreshing – technique throwing her violin to the lions, not
exploited to replicate the music she already knows how to play.
The last thing needed in this context would be a second layer of
instrumental pyrotechnics. MIMEO and Konk Pack keyboardist Thomas
Lehn sticks to his analogue synthesiser and about ten minutes into the
half-hour opening piece “Galaverna”, the duo confront that stylistic
elephant in the room: the structure snaps as Bertoncini's figurations
chance on some explicitly neo-Baroque arpeggios and Lehn reboots the
momentum with voluble, purring glissando shapes. But I wouldn't
want to give the impression that Horsky
Park is only about stylistic
disjoints. In fact Bertoncini sounds happiest when manipulating
her technical dexterity to make the violin unstable – messing with
transitory, flaky notes in the unpredictable upper register and
scooping sound-masses from her violin's midriff by pressing the bow
down 'too' hard. Lehn responds with sounds that are purposefully
synthetic and nothing to do with the instrumental grain: not so much a
duo of instruments, as of traditions and cultures honestly played out.
Philip Clark | The
Wire
What first stands out about Horsky
Park is how stellar both Tiziana
Bertoncini's and Thomas Lehn's playing is. Their performances on violin
and analog synthesizer, respectively, are so notable that each could
stand alone as a solo affair. Yet on Horsky
Park, the listener is
confronted by a duo, a setting wherein virtuosity is neither necessary
nor necessarily admissible. Despite the pitfalls that individuality
presents in group improvisation, Horsky
Park in whole is as laudable as
Bertoncini's and Lehn's 'solo' contributions, if not more.
Recorded at Festival Pulsi, Triennale Bovisa last July ("galaverna")
and the festival Art Ort in 2006 ("moss
agate"), Horsky Park
is the
documentation of two sonically and technically distinct pieces that are
nonetheless thematically akin. In both "galaverna" and "moss agate",
Bertoncini's violin asserts an aural leading role, often evolving in
directions that allude to composed/notated idioms. With Bertoncini's
direction, Lehn's synthesizer frequently interjects in a reactionary
role, engaging in call-response motifs and direct re-appropriation of
Bertoncini's sounds. But contrary to the subservient possibilities of
this dominance, there is a balance between the two instruments that
suggests a heftier engagement on Lehn's part than intimated by an aural
glance. Indeed, Lehn's manipulations in "moss agate" provide much of
the separation between the two sets.
The chronological first track "moss
agate" is characterized by Lehn's
reinterpretation of Bertoncini's violin, hijacking the audio signal
from the violin, "rout[ing it] into the synthesizer's external input to
achieve a cross-effecting realtime sound processing." Lehn's technique
is used to great effect, generating an eerie cyclic structure that
perfectly complements Bertoncini's percussive approach and the festival
ambiance captured in the recording.
Contrasted by the Lachenmann-esque plucking of "moss agate",
Bertoncini's playing on "galaverna"
employs longer durations and
melodic contours. Still stylistically indebted to notated music,
Bertoncini's playing instead resembles Berio's Sequenza VIII, a
refreshing departure from the sorts of string playing often found in
improvised music. Supporting and subverting these violin manifolds is
Lehn, who, while often dormant, deftly prods with his synthesizer.
Sometimes inserting near humorous tonality, sometimes bursting with
violent shouts, Lehn's instrument is rich in character on "galaverna".
But it's the equal-tempered fullness of their instruments that
equilibrates Horsky Park,
allowing two big personalities to
co-habitate. And, as marvelous as each performance is, what might be
most striking about this album is the duo's commensurate coexistence in
sets four years apart, both temporally and aurally.
Matthew Horne | Tiny Mix Tapes
Tiziana Bertoncini is a violinist
with an education in classical music followed by an immersion in
improvisation and multi-disciplinary sound art. Thomas Lehn is a piano
student and sound engineer turned analogue synth specialist. Given
their backgrounds, the music on Horsky
Park is unsurprisingly cerebral,
but it is never never drily academic. Their well established working
relationship is documented in the pair of recordings bought together
here, from Heidelberg in 2006 and Milan in 2010.
In the earlier, lengthier
exchange, Lehn at first restricts his lines to a narrow sonic palette
of raw electrical output illuminated by intermittent flourishes,
occasionally producing a richly vibrant sound something like a
harpsichord. Bertoncini decorates these surges and ripples of gritty
electricity with some abrasive gestures from the classical violinist’s
repertoire. In a later passage these roles are reversed, the violin
resorting to high, scraped notes as the synthesizer takes off in a
series of rapid, airy flutters. The performance is illuminated
throughout by dramatic gestures sparingly deployed. In a particularly
arresting moment from the end game Lehn emits a light electronic spray
like brushed drums. The later recording comes from an event held at an
art fair, at which the duo played suspended in opposing metal
containers, with Bertoncini’s violin fed directly into Lehn’s
synthesizer. Noise from simultaneous performances in other containers
intrude into their music. While this may sound, on paper, an
insufferably pretentious setup, the recording doesn’t suffer from it.
The continuous background oscillation of Lehn’s synthesizer foregrounds
Bertoncini’s dry pizzicato while what I assume to be sonic bleed from
noises off provides an unexpectedly apposite rhythmic backing;
Bertoncini and Lehn work the room and enter into the unique spirit of
the event. Bertoncini’s playing subsequently becomes more aggressive,
allowing Lehn the freedom for more irruptive gestures. But the piece
settles again before the end, with subtly rounded synth tones and
Bertoncini’s bowing creating a dense, swarming effect.”
Tim Owen | The Jazz Man
top
I wonder if Tiziana Bertoncini
(violin) is the daughter of Mario Bertonincini, the pianist who plays
modern classical music. Here she teams up with Thomas Lehn (analogue
synthesizer), in two recordings. The first is from 2006 and the second
is from 2010. The latter has some complex linking together of the
violin output to the synthesizer. It lasts thirteen minutes, while the
'unprocessed' one is about thirty minutes. Two entirely different
instruments of course, with totally different techniques to play them,
tonal qualities and it is curious to hear them together. I must admit
this really works well. Especially in the long piece 'Galaverna' there
is some great tension going on between the bursting electronic/electric
connections of Lehn and the intense playing of Bertonincini. Bouncing
in all directions, soft versus loud, noise versus traditional classical
approach, its all passing with seemingly great ease.
Frans de Waard | Vital Weekly #781 | May 2011
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Reviews
Tiziana
Bertoncini / Thomas Lehn – CD Horsky
Park
EN
| FR | DE | SE
| HU
Tiziana Bertoncini est une jeune violoniste spécialisée dans la musique
savante contemporaine, l'improvisation et les rencontres
interdisciplinaires, dont l'activité musicale est encore peu documentée
en enregistrements. Thomas Lehn n'a pas besoin d'introduction à mon
avis, ses projets et ses collaborations au sein de la musique
improvisée européenne et américaine sont aussi connus que son approche
rudimentaire et old school de la musique. Ce sont presque deux mondes
qui se rencontrent sur ce disque: une jeune artiste italienne et un
vieux geek allemand (ou extraterrestre, j'ai toujours des doutes).
Une rencontre surprenante et intrigante donc, car elle a réellement su
dépasser et intégrer ces univers pour en former un nouveau, également
riche et créatif. Sur Horsky Park,
l'intérêt repose en grande partie
sur la notion d'équilibre: des intensités, des timbres, du silence, de
l'analogique et de l'acoustique, de la microtonalité et de la tonalité.
Il y a de nombreuses alternances, de nombreuses pauses, des ruptures
fracassantes, des intentions et des énergies variées. Tour à tour ou
simultanément, le violon se fait rauque, agressif, grave, léger, brut,
sensible, silencieux ou bruyant; et à Thomas Lehn donc d'équilibrer ces
modes de jeux avec des interruptions parfois rustres et sales, ou pures
et synthétiques, décoratrices, rythmiques ou mélodiques, etc. à moins
que je n'ai tout inversé. L'équilibre est très bien géré entre le
synthétiseur et le violon qui s'opposent autant qu'ils se confrontent
tout en s'assimilant (comme avec appréhension parfois).
Fait étrange cependant, c'est que ce qui fait la force de ce duo, tout
particulièrement sur Galaverna, en constitue aussi la faiblesse. Je
m'explique: dès que Lehn et Bertoncini trouvent un équilibre, ils n'en
font que peu de choses, il est sans cesse rompu, brisé et fracturé pour
partir à la recherche d'une nouvelle dynamique, ce qui est parfois
frustrant, et ne manque pas, souvent, d'ôter de l'intensité à chaque
forme d'équilibre. Mais ce jeu de dynamiques et d'intensités courtes et
multiples, d'un point de vue plus global, forme aussi, petit à petit,
une sorte de rythme et d'énergie qui redonne de la vigueur et de la
consistance à ces improvisations. De plus, cette multiplicité de
fractures dynamiques est énormément renforcée par la diversité des
origines et des instruments des deux musiciens; Lehn, avec son timbre
et son énergie si particuliers (proche d'un extraterrestre sous acide
qui jouerait à Pacman), les idiomes issus de la tradition écrite ou non
et les recherches sonores de Bertoncini, tout ceci forme un univers
très singulier et original, neuf et rafraîchissant.
Chacun est venu muni de son bagage instrumental, de son passé musical,
de ses recherches et de ses trouvailles, et Horsky Park a su conserver
toutes ces histoires pour en former une troisième issue de leur
rencontre, un troisième univers où des connections improbables peuvent
se tisser sans difficulté. Deux pièces riches en trouvailles sonores et
dynamiques, centrées sur une interactivité marquée par l'urgence et la
réactivité spontanée, deux pièces pleines de désirs et de vitalité.
Julien Heraud | Improv-Sphere
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Echappés de l’ensemble]h[iatus :
au violon, Tiziana Bertoncini. Au synthétiseur analogique, Thomas Lehn.
Trouvés en Horsky Park.
C'est un endroit aménagé en deux temps. Honneur à la pièce la plus
récente : Galaverna, enregistrée à Milan l’année dernière, agence
délicatesses et frénésies vindicatives. L’archet frémit sous les
insistances analogiques avant de surprendre Lehn par sa faculté de
réaction franche et même d’indépendance.
Sur Moss Agate, pièce qui date de
2006, les cordes sont cette fois pincées. Bertoncini se fait plus
discrète en conséquence, mais s’essaye à des gestes parallèles pour
coller à l’atmosphère d'angoisses que Lehn développe sur deux tons. A
force, les cordes s’agacent, insistent à leur tour puis découpent des
notes qui seront transformées en machines.
Ainsi Tiziana Bertoncini a, auprès de Thomas Lehn, perdu en devenir ce
qu’elle a gagné en indépendance. L’exposition des deux tableaux qui
attestent cette évolution est heureuse et manifeste.
Guillaume Belhomme | Le Son du Grisli
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Reviews
Tiziana
Bertoncini / Thomas Lehn – CD Horsky
Park
EN
| FR | DE | SE
| HU
Tiziana Bertoncini, Geigerin im
Niemandsland der Comprovisation, und Thomas Lehn, umtriebiger Hansdampf
am Analogsynthesizer, kennen sich aus dem ensemble]h[iatus. Seit 2002
spielen sie auch im Duo zusammen. Horsky
Park (at40) besteht zum
größeren Teil aus 'galaverna'
('Raureif'). Entgegen dem krampfhaften
Eskapismus des klassischen Eiapopeia, wird da Vivaldi so in die
Gegenwart gebeamt, wie es eigentlich normal wäre. Biedermeierei, die
ja, gut futuristisch, die Schönheit aufheulender Autos durchaus
genießt, mag das, als ob man 100% Gegenwart nicht ertragen könnte, als
unschön abtun. Unsereins freut sich gerade am Reiz des Diskrepanten, am
Kannibalisieren dessen, das ewig unveränderlich konserviert sein soll.
Die beraureifte Geige, die einerseits bewusst das Wintergezitter aus
den Vier Jahreszeiten anklingen lässt, andererseits aber fast gegen
ihre Bestimmung als toughe Zeitgenossin ungeahnte Krallen ausfährt, und
die Lehnsche Knatter- und Zwitscherbox sind zwangsläufig ein seltsames
Pärchen. Aber statt dem alten 'Die Schöne und das Biest' inszenieren
sie ein modernistisches Spiel – 'Das Biest und der Geist in der
Maschine'. Das wird noch deutlicher bei 'moss agate'. Entstanden als
Performance vis-a-vis in zwei Containern, wurde dabei der Geigenklang
auch in Real-Time-Proccessing zerklangwolft. Dabei hat Bertoncini
bereits allen romantischen und harmonischen Muff abgestreift. Sprödes
Pizzikato, schrille Striche, sportliche Bogenschläge verwandeln die
schnörkelige Geige in eine kakophone Klangmaschine, ein Intonarumori.
Statt Canaletto Russolo. Lehn interagiert als industrialer Widerpart,
mit scheinbar dampfbetriebener Mechanik, dann als ultramoderne Blackbox
und als Transformator. So - oder so ähnlich - hält man auf dem Markt
der Trödler den Gedanken wach, dass Museen nur an Allerseelen geöffnet
sein sollten.
Rigobert Dittmann | Bad Alchemy | BA 70/11
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Reviews
Tiziana
Bertoncini / Thomas Lehn – CD Horsky
Park
EN
| FR | DE | SE
| HU
Thomas Lehns analoga synth är
fylld av gnistregn, han själv kokar över av lust att spela, jag vet
ingen som är så omöjlig att hejda som han. Därför är de flesta av hans
album öppna och spelglada, trots ovillkorlig experimentlusta och
obönhörliga impronerver.
Sedan nio år tillbaka samarbetar
han med violinisten Tiziana Bertoncini. Hon är lika kraftfull i ton och
utspel som vilken gammal jazzlirare som helst. Det är fullt ös och mer
än heltäckande teknik.
Skivan har två spår. Den
halvtimmeslånga "Galaverna" är
inspelad i en utställningshall i Milano
2010. Musiken bor i ett stort rum med högt till tak. Lehn fyller med
med sina syntböljor och Bertoncini surfar på topparna, skär genom ytan
med sin fantastiska teknik. Det är inte tråkigt en sekund. Snarare ett
magpirrande äventyr att följa de två. Och sällan har två ljudbilder så
gärna gift sig med varandra som här, då violin och synth möts.
Andra stycket, "Moss Agate",
är
kortare och hämtat från en live performance i Heidelberg 2006, där
spelarna inte delade rum direkt utan huserade i var sin container.
Föreställningen innehöll, vad jag förstår, mycket mer än enbart en duo
mellan Bertoncini och Lehn.
Det präglar musiken. Försiktiga
slag mot violinens klangkropp flaggar först ensamma i ett ödsligt
ljudlandskap, där Lehns synt skär som om det vore starkt ljus i ett
stort mörker. Vissa ljud hörs långt borta, andra kryper nära. Det är
först efter fyra-fem minuter som de finner varandra och Bertoncini
blandar vassa stårkdrag med ettrigt pizzicatospel och musikerna riktigt
får tag i varandra.
Vid det laget verkar de båda ha
glömt av den installatoriska omgivningen för sitt täta samspel. Litet
leker Lehn med rumsligheten genom retfullt ekospel, där några
musikaliska formler upprepas. Bertoncini bär musiken över det
anekdotiska med sitt distinkta spel, där ekoformerna finner en form att
förändras i. Med henne förs musiken obönhörligt framåt mot en brant
kulmen och upplösning i några kristallinska toner. Det känns att ha
ropat i skogen och plötsligt befinna sig på en äng.
Thomas Millroth | Sound of Music