Thursday, December 13, 2012

Dieter Ilg - PARSIFAL ( ACT 2013)

The monumental becomes sensual and the sensual monumental: Parsifal is definitely another masterpiece of improvisation by Germany's leading bass player, Dieter Ilg.

Line Up: 
Dieter Ilg / bass
Rainer Böhm / piano
Patrice Heral / drums


On ‘Parsifal’ Dieter Ilg succeeds with an astonishingly logical, chamber musical reinterpretation of the opulent material. "The monumental becomes sensual and the sensual monumental," he explains, and demonstrates his seemingly unending creativity with impressive virtuosity and stylistic variability in each and every piece: The title of the first track "Zum Raum wird hier die Zeit" indicates the tone of the album - an intensive, suspenseful and masterly game with opposing extremes. The bombastic "Parsifal" motif alternates between the major and minor keys and is interpreted excitingly and openly; the hymnal is rendered playful; the "Klageruf" sounds less plaintive than demanding and mighty, the "Zaubergarten" enchants almost weightlessly, with light melancholy; Wagner's programmatic "Ich bin ein reiner Tor” is condensed with a driving groove and towers up dramatically. And it suffices to hear how the impressive "Amfortas" theme is introduced, varied upon, played around and injected with dynamism to see that this trio recognises the inexhaustible musical opportunities that classical music holds for jazz, and exploits them like no other. 
ACT