e22 CD / Januskopf. Bach – Cage
Description
Christoph Ullrich became known not only for his much-praised recording of Schubert’s complete piano works on EigenArt but also for his musical/literary acts. Here he demonstrates a surprising aspect: both Bach and Cage (and many others) dealt intensively with the topic of solitude.
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Frankfurter Rundschau –
The pianist rotates. Not metaphorically, as if critics write either terribly—or, as is usually the case here, extraordinarily well—about him. No, Christoph Ullrich literally rotates 180 degrees on his piano bench between one Bach piece and one Cage piece, switching between a conventional piano and a prepared piano. The Janus-head program of his latest CD, alternating a selection of Bach’s three-part inventions and partita movements with John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes, is typical of this outstanding Frankfurt pianist. Typical because it does not simply place rare pieces side by side, but relates them to each other. Typical also because it is interpreted with sheer excellence. Bach’s inventions here do not sound heavier than they are technically, yet they resonate with extraordinary nobility. And Ullrich’s prepared-piano sonatas show none of the harshness sometimes associated with Cage; his Cage piano sounds more luxuriant than in most other recordings.
Janus also has words. These come from Cage himself (Lecture on Nothing), from Gertrude Stein (in Ernst Jandl’s transcription into Viennese dialect), from various Baroque poets, and the almost inevitable Saint-Exupéry. Though masterfully recited by Moritz Stoepel, not all the textual interludes fit perfectly—some, Ullrich writes in the booklet, “may contribute to confusion for one listener, to exaltation for another.” With Janus, Cage, Ullrich, and Bach, one must always remain open to the full 180 degrees.
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