As one of the most versatile and best-known contemporary German composers, Wolfgang Rihm has always impressed and shocked with the powerful expressiveness of his music. And his “Oedipus”, originally commissioned by the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1987 has lost nothing of its musical impact over the years. Rihm’s opera – in an impressive production by the intendant and principal director at the time, Götz Friedrich, with baritone Andreas Schmidt (at the start of his international career) in the title role – was praised by audiences and critics alike. Schmidt was subsequently not only much in demand as a performer of the classical repertoire and a lieder recitalist but also gained a reputation for his interpretations of works by other contemporary composers ranging from Hans Werner Henze to Peter Ruzicka.
Salzburg Festival 2020: Martin Grubinger and The Percussive Planet Ensemble
“The performances of the Salzburg percussion star with the Percussive Planet Ensemble always have something sporty and relaxed about them. How these breathtakingly virtuoso patterns finally culminated in three-four time techno touched even younger generations. An elementary concert event” Salzburger Nachrichten. PROGRAM Rihm: Tutuguri VI (Kreuze), Music after a poem by Antonin Artaud; Xenakis: Pléïades; Reich: Drumming (Part One)
Dionysos
It was a daring enterprise in every respect. A work of music drama that the composer Wolfgang Rihm had carried about with him for more than 15 years – its premiere already postponed three times – was now to be committed to paper in a matter of weeks. A production team that had to plan to a tight deadline before the piece was even in existence – rehearsals began a week after composition was completed – was faced with a highly artificial text: Nietzsche’s late “Dionysos dithyrambs”, the last poetic thoughts of the philosopher, published shortly before his breakdown.