e55 CD / Illusion(en)

Illusion(en)

Salonmusik

ensemble narcissus

1 review for e55 CD / Illusion(en)

  1. Reutlinger Generalanzeiger

    Music is always an escape into another world. Why shouldn’t these worlds of escape be painted in the most iridescent colors? Salon music does exactly that. It lets the listener fall into realms that are more opulent, more richly colored, and more densely filled with passion than any novel. To indulge properly for once – why not? Even if it is only an illusion.
    The musicians of Ensemble Narcissus are experts at conjuring such sound worlds of novelistic color. They are our guides on these short trips into the realm of illusion, where for a few minutes we become languishing lovers or proud tango heroes, sleigh riders, horsemen of the Hungarian plains, or waltzers in the moonlight on the Alster.
    “Illusion(s)” is therefore the title of the Reutlingen quintet’s new CD, which gathers 18 gems from this often underestimated genre. For this, Markus Rettenmayr and Friederike Mercy on violins, Thomas Lambeck on cello, Hartmut Gessinger on double bass, and Rudolf Mercy on piano have devised a sophisticated dramaturgy. At first they rock us with gallant dance-floor sounds in pieces such as “Für Sie, Chérie” and “Jeu d’amour.” But with Helmut Ritter’s tango fantasy “Gelbe Narzissen” and Hans Zander’s “Polka Express,” the dance floor begins to glow. The effervescent festive mood tips over; dark longing breaks through in the tangos of Astor Piazzolla and in the Russian waltz by Jacob Gade. Suddenly we find ourselves in a headlong gallop across the Hungarian plain in Mihály Erdélyi’s “Puszta-Fox,” before the mirage dissolves in Franz Grothe’s famous melody from the film Illusion.
    To relieve the intensity of the drama we have endured, we are allowed, with Hans Zander, to play a little cowboy, and with Henk Bruyns and Johann Strauss to ride in horse-drawn sleighs and on trains. Once more melancholy breaks through with thoughts of Faymé, the Slavic girl, before the illusion fades with tender memories of Piroschka.
    What a journey through nostalgic cinematic landscapes! That the musicians of Narcissus are seasoned experts in these worlds can be heard in every note. The violins sparkle, the cello sobs, the double bass murmurs, and the piano weaves flying carpets of sound for the journey through Fantasia. Everything here has taste, remains balanced, clear in line and compact in rhythm. Indulgence? Yes. Sentimentality? No, not with these musicians. But grace, elegance, lightness, energy, and a perfectly flowing melody – most certainly. More such journeys, please!
    akr

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