Rihm: String Quartet No 12; Fetzen; Interscriptum

Teodoro Anzellotti (accordion), Nicolas Hodges (piano), Arditti String Quartet Winter & Winter 910 178-2

German composer Wolfgang Rihm, who'll turn 60 next year, is not just a prolific composer (with a list of works headed towards 500), but also a prolific re-writer and re-worker. Pieces can beget other pieces without apparent restraint, or be themselves transmogrified into new works. There's a common ancestor for the three pieces here, Fetzen(Scraps) for accordion and string quartet (1999-2004), the Twelfth String Quartet(2000-01), and Interscriptum(2000-04), which is described as a "duo" for string quartet and piano. The prodigality of Rihm's output is frequently matched by the energy of his invention. And the spirit of romantic abandon, of a composer driven by urgings of almost Lisztian extravagance, never seems that far away. The performances fully match the music's intensity and drive. See url.ie/92j1