This disc from the invaluable Col Legno label features two related works by the German composer Wolfgang Rihm. Ins Offene... (played here in its second, revised version) is coupled with the piano concerto sphere, based around the same material as Ins Offene..., though realised completely differently. (Incidentally, the solo piano part of sphere was itself used as the basis of the very fine piano work Nachstudie, recorded on the Kairos label.)

Ins Offene... is a half-hour work for moderately large orchestra, scored for three piccolos, three clarinets, bass clarinet, double bassoon, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, harp, piano, five percussionists, two violins, two violas, six cellos, four double basses. As with many of Rihm's 1990s orchestral works, the shadow of late Nono--particularly that of A Carlo Scarpa and No hay caminos--hangs heavily over the music, though as ever Rihm's writing is less obsessive, less singleminded, more colourful than Nono's. Single-note passages alternate with forceful chordal eruptions and soft, floating melodies throughout the work, which is in a roughly arch form, beginning and ending in silence and climaxing about half way through.

In the concerto, sphere, the solo piano is surrounded by an orchestra of four flutes doubling piccolos, two oboes, two cors anglais, four clarinets, two bass clarinets, two bassoons, two double bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, two trombones, two tubas, two percussionists plus four offstage performers: two trumpeters and two percussionists. The solo piano part is not conventionally virtuosic or melodic; it is primarily based around tremolos and repeated chords, and explores the effect of resonance within the piano body. The orchestra amplifies the effects of the piano writing, almost as Rihm was wishing to turn the entire ensemble into a resonant cavern. The work itself lasts just over twenty minutes, the first half of which involves a gradual intensification of the material until at the climax the offstage performers start to play. After an extensive trumpet dialogue, laid over the solo piano part, the closing stages involve the gradual disintegration of the musical material and the collapse of the musical tension.

These works both are Rihm at something close to his considerable best, and I would rate this as one of the best Rihm discs on the market. The performances seem very assured and the excellent piano soloist Siegfried Mauser is a long-time Rihm specialist. (Canadian Review)

1. Ins Offene...   
Composer  	Wolfgang Rihm (1952 - )
Conductor  	Gerd Albrecht
Date Written  	1990-1992
Ensemble  	Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Period  	20th Century
Recording  	Studio

2. Sphere   
Composer  	Wolfgang Rihm (1952 - )
Conductor  	Aleksandr Lazarev
Date Written  	1992-1994
Ensemble  	Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period  	20th Century
Recording  	Studio


(c) Col Legno (see .jpg included)