Wolfgang Rihm: Die Eroberung von Mexico
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Wolfgang RihmConductor: Ingo Metzmacher
Orchestra: Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra
Performer: Carmen Fugiss
Performer: Georg Becker
Performer: Hans Joachim Frey
Performer: Peter Kollek
Performer: Renate Behle
Performer: Richard Salter
Performer: Susanne Otto
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1995-01-25
Music Label: Cpo Records
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- The Conquest of Mexico: Omens: Beginn. Melodie einer Landschaft, die das Gewitter kommen spurt
- The Conquest of Mexico: Omens: 'Schatten von Wildpferden' (Montezuma)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Omens: 'Schatten Meteore Blitz' (Cortez)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Omens: 'Der Krieg, den ich fuhren will' (Montezuma)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Omens: Raiz del hombre - 1. Strophe
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: Beginn
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: 'Ich ahme einen Krieger nach' (Cortez)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: 'Seraphim? Neutral? Weiblich?' (Cortez)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: Montezuma und Cortez stehen einander gegenuber
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: 'Wir sind eure Wohltater!' (Cortez)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: 'Ist das alles?' (Cortez)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: Die Muttergottes-Statue wird neben die Huitzlipochtli-Statue gestellt
- The Conquest of Mexico: Declaration: Raiz del hombre - 2. Strophe
- The Conquest of Mexico: 'Revolte, Revolte in allen Schichten'
- The Conquest of Mexico: '...und dies wird dicht an einem grossen Schrei sein'
- The Conquest of Mexico: 'Ich zerschneide den eigentlichen Raum'
- The Conquest of Mexico: Stilles Ritual der Azteken. Tierkreis.
- The Conquest of Mexico: Spanische Soldaten uberfallen die Azteken. Ein Blutbad.
- The Conquest of Mexico: Montezumas Ansprache
- The Conquest of Mexico: Raiz del hombre - 3. Strophe
- The Conquest of Mexico: 'Lichter, Tone'
- The Conquest of Mexico: Montezumas Leichenbegangnis
- The Conquest of Mexico: Zerstorung der religiosen Bildwerke (der Azteken und Spanier)
- The Conquest of Mexico: Verwustung
- The Conquest of Mexico: Raiz del hombre - 4. Strophe
Free Music Notes for Wolfgang Rihm: Die Eroberung von Mexico
Free Music Review: a failed modern opera
Hit: 2 Stars
DIE EROBERUNG VON MEXICO (THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO) is an ambitious attempt to stage Artaud's drama as an opera. The concept is questionable -- Artaud takes the historic narrative of Montezuma and Cortez and overlays it with a metaphysical confrontation between male and female, treated as mutually incomprehensible opposites doomed to a tragic denouement. Rihm adds an Octavio Paz text and tragic 16th century poetry by an anonymous indigenous Mexican writer to create an even more unwieldy edifice. Rihm's opera was first staged in 1992 to coincide with the 500-year anniversary of Colombus's voyage and the Spanish conquest. Artaud's twist, which Rihm follows, is to portray not a conquest but the mutual ruin of the antagonists, a metaphysical view with no basis in material history.
Given the powerful elements of the drama, Rihm's music is strangely subdued, even enervating. The lead roles of Cortez and Montezuma are given periodically moving passages (Montezuma's role is sung by a soprano and an alto, as he embodies the female principle), culminating in the work's best moment at the very end as they sing a tragic duet, but the orchestral accompaniment is uniformly uninvolving.
There are many works by the incredibly prolific Rihm that have not been recorded. His 1977 opera, DIE HAMLETMASCHINE, is available on the German Wergo label from amazon.co.uk. My impression is that his reputation as a leading avant-garde figure is strongest in his native Germany, weaker elsewhere in Europe, and virtually non-existent here in the U.S. On the strength of DIE EROBERUNG VON MEXICO I have to weigh in on the low end. Lachenmann's more recent DAS MADCHEN MIT DEN SCHWEFELHOZERN (see my reviews of both recordings) is even less impressive, leaving me to wonder about the viability of German avant opera as a category.
For an open-eared listener interested in Rihm, I would recommend his CHIFFRE-ZYKLUS (CPO, 2006 -- see my review), or better still, the "4 concertos" disc on Hanssler (RIHM-EDITION VOL. 1. 2007 -- see my review), the latest Rihm releases in the U.S. JAGDEN UND FORMEN (HUNTS AND FORMS) is a fascinating if not entirely convincing piece, released in 2002 in the now discontinued DG 20/21 series (see my review). [this review updated 6/7/07 -- RH]
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