February 2020
Harrison Birtwistle's creativity into his mid-eighties has seen numerous significant works, not least a second piano concerto. responses Sweet Disorder (2014) might seem a fanciful title but aptly evokes the interplay between methodical balance and playful anarchy characterizing the dialogue between soloist and orchestra; this half-hour piece unfolds in a series of dual contrasts prior to the brief cadenza, then a final pair of contrasts whose manner feels pointedly unclimactic. Pierre-Laurent Aimard sounds fully engaged in what is frequently a concertante part integrated within the texture, while Stefan Asbury (who recorded the revised version of antiphons, Birtwistle's first concerto – Metronome, 10/15) presides over a secure premiere.
Gwalchmai's Journey (1991) finds this most unequivocal composer in a more combative mood. As devised by Elgar Howarth from Birtwistle's fourth opera, Gawaine, it stands as both a cohesive paraphrase on that piece and a gripping autonomous work. Much of the discourse is strident, even violent, but several episodes focus on that fraught lyricism which has been a Birtwistle trait from the outset. It is here that Asbury's more considered reading comes into its own next to Howath's account, with the playing of the Philharmonia marginally less assured than that of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, though the NMC recording's decision to divide this piece into 12 separate tracks according to specific episodes is a definite plus.
The recorded Sound has the focus and dynamism this Music Needs, and Paul Griffiths contributes typically laconic observations. Not for Birtwistle newcomers but a notable addition to his discography.
Richard Whitehouse
On November 18, 2019, Paco Yáñez wrote:
(…) En conjunto, así pues, dos versions muy recommendable, si bien me quedo, por su modernidad y feroz teatralidad, con la lectura que ahora nos presenta NEOS.
También ayuda la excellent toma de sonido, magnífica, tanto para Responses. Sweet Disorder as for Gawain's Journey, with a brilliant espacialization realized by Ingo Schmidt-Lucas in the Cybele studios for the capa SACD: de a realismo portentoso. La edition es la ya habitual de NEOS para la serie Musica Viva, que alcanza aquí su vigesimonoveno VOLUME, con escuetas biografías de compositor e intérpretes, así como con el ya mencionado ensayo a cargo de Paul Griffths, no especialmente amplio, pero sutantivo. Un nuevo disco, por tanto, de esos que nos parecen necesarios, pues éste no hace sino ampliar la fonografía -con la primera grabación mundial de Responses. Sweet Disorder- de uno de los principales compositores británicos de nuestro tiempo.
Please read the full article here.
In the October 2019 issue, Dirk Wieschollek wrote:
The releases of the musica viva series are a bank when it comes to remarkable contemporary orchestral compositions. Episode 29 introduces two sonorous contributions from Harrison Birtwistle. The traditional confrontation between soloist and orchestra is repeated by Pierre-Laurent Aimard in “Response. Sweet disorder” (2014) exhausted with the greatest tension. (...) The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is allowed to go all out with relish and leaves nothing to be desired in terms of expressive drasticity and sensuality of sound.
Gerardo Scheige wrote in issue 4#_2019:
Restrained and full of expectation, drums and harp announce the beginning of a nearly half-hour journey in sound, which is aptly described as Sweet Disorder – the subtitle of Reponses (2013-2014). The British architect Robert Maxwell understands “sweet disorder” to mean a lively juxtaposition of different building forms and styles. This also applies to Sir Harrison Birtwistle's second piano concerto, which is characterized by numerous simultaneous coexistences: exalted outbursts of sound and delicate tonal lines, pointed accents and elastic surfaces, solo instrument and orchestra. Responses quickly turns out to be an organism, a creature full of inner contradictions. (...) Again, the performance by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stefan Asbury is extremely goal-oriented, acting as a reliable compass within this sound adventure. (...) And yet the exuberant abundance of details and twists (...) sometimes causes unnecessary effort for the listening pleasure. Every ear also delights in clean lines and bitter order.
