Iannis Xenakis - Oresteïa (2002)

The choral style, motivated by that of ancient Greek drama, but with Xenakis' own flair, is appealingly compelling that is much less difficult than much of his other music. The combined ensembles, many of them students, give sparkling renditions. Although designed as one piece, this program breaks down fairly clearly into track #2 (for soloists) and the rest of the cycle. In fact, the wonderful Kassandra scene was added at a later date in 1987 while the remaining 4 tracks form a "suite" which Xenakis extracted from a much longer stage production. These were previously recorded, without the Kassandra scene, on Erato LP.

Tracklist

1 Agamemnon
2 Kassandra
3 Agamemnon - suite et fin
4 Les Choephores
5 Les Euménides

Performers: Choeur du Départment musical de l'Université de Strasbourg, Maïtrise de Colmar, Ensemble Vocal d'Anjou, Ensemble de Basse-Normandie, Spiros Sakkas (baritone solo), Sylvio Gualda (percussion solo), Robert Weddle (vocal direction), Dominique Debart (musical direction)

Playing time: 49'

Recorded live at Strasbourg Festival, October 1987


Salabert Actuels 8906
Naïve Montaigne 782151