The concerto is for string quartet and orchestra but as one might expect, is not a dialogue between the two, more of a “manic monologue”. Sotto Voce 2 for piano and small orchestra is spontaneous, freeflowing, almost a “stream of consciousness”.
12th July 2009
***
“Strangely exploratory yet masterfully controlled, and immediately attractive, utterances.”
31st July 2009
****
“[Sotto voce Notturno] explores a strange hybrid world that has one foot in the 18th century, the other firmly in Rihm's own time. It's full of beautiful, elusive sounds, with slowly changing, delicate textures. [Sotte voce 2 Capriccio] returns to that world, but to view it from a much more agitated, anguished perspective. Played together they make a perfectly balanced form, and the soloist Nicolas Hodges plays them with perfectly judged transparency and tact.”
