Kokoschka's DollOur most recent CD, Kokoschka's Doll, is a recording of our latest commission from John Casken, featuring Sir John Tomlinson and Rozanna Madylus. Telling the story of the tempestuous affair of Oskar Kokoschka and Alma Mahler, the score weaves poetic and epistolary texts by Kokoschka into a musical fabric that references fin-de-siècle Vienna (including the music of Wagner and Alma Mahler) while being of our own time. Kokoschka's Doll is complemented by a sequence of music and text, featuring the work of Gustav and Alma Mahler, Wagner and Zemlinsky, under the title The Art of Love: Alma Mahler's Life and Music.For more details see here. Projects |
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Kokoschka's Doll Counterpoise Sir John Tomlinson and Rozanna Madylus with Counterpoise Champs Hill CHRCD150 Playing Time: 81 mins £10 |
| Kokoschka's Doll - John Casken | ||
| ensemble, bass, mezzo-soprano, text by John Casken and Barry Millington, drawing on Oskar Kokoschka's letters and autobiography | ||
| 1 | Laue Sommernacht (Alma Mahler, arr. David Matthews) 2:13 | Play Clip |
| 2 | Licht in der Nacht (Alma Mahler, arr. David Matthews) 3:36 | Play Clip |
| 3 | Erntelied (Alma Mahler, arr. David and Colin Matthews) | Play Clip |
| 4 | Einsamer Gang (Alma Mahler) 3:13 | Play Clip |
| 5 | Selige Stunde (Alexander Zemlinsky) 1:47 | Play Clip |
| 6 | Adagietto (Symphony no. 5, extract) (Gustav Mahler, arr. Iain Farrington) 3:57 | Play Clip |
| 7 | Liebst du um Schönheit (Gustav Mahler, arr. David Matthews) 2:16 | Play Clip |
| 8 | Wo die schönen Trompeten (Gustav Mahler, arr. David Matthews) 7:17 | Play Clip |
| 9 | Trio movement (Anton Webern) 1:02 | Play Clip |
| 10 | Transformation (David Matthews) 1:20 | Play Clip |
| 11 | Träume (Richard Wagner, arr. David Matthews) 4:31 | Play Clip |
| 12 | Isolde's Liebestod (Richard Wagner/Franz Liszt) 7:14 | Play Clip |
| 13 | Kokoschka's Doll (John Casken) 38:29 | Play Clip |
| all tracks except 5 and 12 are premiere recordings | ||
Deadly PleasuresThe acclaimed ensemble Counterpoise brings its groundbreaking repertoire to CD for the first time with two of its most successful commissions for spoken narrator and ensemble. In John Casken's Deadly Pleasures, Donald Maxwell tells the story of nights of passion and subsequent forfeits at Cleopatra's court, while in David Matthews' Actaeon, Eleanor Bron narrates Ovid's tale of Diana and Actaeon in Ted Hughes' vibrant translation. Britten's jazz-inflected Cabaret Suite and the Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, played on the soprano saxophone, complete the programme. |
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Deadly Pleasures Counterpoise with narration by Eleanor Bron and Donald Maxwell Deux-Elles DXL 1151 Playing Time: 66 mins £10 |
| Deadly Pleasures - John Casken | ||
| ensemble, narrator, text by D.M. Thomas after Pushkin | ||
| 1 | Cleopatra's Challenge; Flavius, the Old Soldier; Kriton, the Youthful Musician; A Nameless Man 29:59 |
Play Clip |
| Six Metamorphoses after Ovid - Benjamin Britten | ||
| soprano saxophone | ||
| 2 | Pan 2:43 | |
| 3 | Phaeton 1:22 | |
| 4 | Niobe 2:48 | |
| 5 | Bacchus 1:57 | |
| 6 | Narcissus 3:43 | |
| 7 | Arethusa 3:07 |
Play Clip |
| Actaeon - David Matthews | ||
| ensemble, narrator, text by Ted Hughes after Ovid | ||
| 8 | Actaeon encounters Diana; Metamorphosis; The Hunt; Epilogue 14:14 |
Play Clip |
| Cabaret Suite - Benjamin Britten, arr. Iain Farrington | ||
| ensemble | ||
| 9 | The Spider and the Fly 3:28 | Play Clip |
| 10 | Funeral Blues 2:40 | Play Clip |
| 11 | Boogie-woogie 2:27 | Play Clip |
| 12 | When you're Feeling Like Expressing your Affection 1:21 | Play Clip |
