WISPELWEY, PIETER
COLLEGIUM VOCALE

The Canticle of the Sun Preludes for violoncello solo (1974)
In Croce for cello and bajan (1979)

In the course of more than 30 years, the Collegium Vocale Gent has established a truly worldwide reputation in the field of classical music. This is clearly no mere chance occurrence but is the fruit of years of consistent and methodical effort and artistic vision. Founded in 1970 by Philippe Herreweghe, this group of singers was the first in the 1970s to apply the new principles of style for the performance of baroque music to vocal music. Instrumentalists had already been searching for a number of years for a performing style more in the line with the historical context. To this end, they referred back to original source material, which they subjected to detailed study, and made use of authentic period instruments. Consequently, it is not surprising that musicians such as Gustav Leonhardt, Ton Koopman and Nikolaus Harnoncourt soon expressed their interest in the parallel approach which the Flemish group had adopted in the field of vocal music. This resulted in an intense cooperation, both on stage and in recordings. Philippe Herreweghe has always been conscious of the value of such a cooperation and for this reason the group still works regularly with different conductors (René Jacobs, Paul Van Nevel, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Reuss…) and different orchestras such as the Freiburger Barock Orchester, the Concertgebouw Orchestra or the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The repertoire of Collegium Vocale Gent can not be trapped within one style period. The ensemble made an important contribution to the rediscovery of polyphonic renaissance music. Regularly the classical and romantic repertoire is programmed, as well as contemporary music. However the ensemble is and remains most known for its outstanding performances of German baroque music, in particular the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. At the end of the eighties the Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent was founded. Through its close link with the choir, the orchestra has become an essential instrument performing this repertoire. Throughout the years Collegium Vocale Gent has made a wide collection of recordings. A capella, together with the Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Gent, the Orchestre des Champs Elysées, the choir of La Chapelle Royale or with other vocal and instrumental ensembles. The Collegium Vocale Gent is a regular guest at all major music festivals throughout Europe. The ensemble visited the United States, South America, Israel, Hong-Kong, Japan and Australia and the Russian Federation. The ensemble is also supported by the Flemish Government, the Province of East Flanders and the city of Gent.
An Raskin, born in Belgium, plays the bajan, a variant of the push-button accordeon, an instrument which developed within the confines of Russian folk culture into a full scale concert instrument. She studied at the Netherlands Conservatories in Tilburg, Groningen (accordeon), and The Hague (chamber music). She then went to the ‘Gnessin-academy’ of Moscow, where she pursued specialised studies with professor Friedrich Lips, a renowned bajan player. She has concertized both as a soloist and as a chamber ensemble player in most European countries, the United States (New York), and Japan (Osaka). She has performed with ensembles including the Telesto Trio, the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and the ASKO Ensemble. In December 2002 An Raskin gave the world premiere of ‘Rogues' Gallery’, a concerto for Bajan and Orchestra by the Canadian composer Andrew Stewart. In 2003 she was invited by the Russian compser Sofia Gubaidulina for a work session devoted to her own compositions.
Daniel Reuss (1961) studied choral conducting under Barend Schuurman at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Since 1990 he has been the permanent conductor and artistic director of Cappella Amsterdam, which has evolved into a professional chamber choir under his supervision. Daniel Reuss was also appointed the principal conductor of the RIAS Kammerchor of Berlin in 2003. He works throughout Europe with orchestras, choirs, and ensembles including the Groot Omroepkoor, Nieuw Ensemble, Radio Kamerorkest, Holland Symfonia, Collegium Vocale Gent, SWR Vokalensemble, Balthasar Neumann Chor, Concerto Köln, and the Akademie für Alte Musik. He produced a CD of works by Robert Heppener with the Netherlands Chamber Choir which received an Edison Award. Daniel Reuss worked as a guest programmer to organize the International Chorus Biennale 2003 in Haarlem, organized under the auspices of the local Concertgebouw. In addition to his work as a performer, Daniel Reuss is a busy teacher of choral conducting. From 1994 to 2000 he led the choral direction course at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory. Daniel Reuss also gives regular courses and master classes abroad, most recently at the Paris Chorus Biennale, ‘Citta della Musica’. Daniel Reuss performs repertoire ranging from 1200 to the present, and thereby has proved himself to be a ‘convinced non-specialist’.

Wispelwey’s background makes him a stylish exponent of this eerie music. (…) His individuality makes him an ideal soloist on the rather eerie Canticle, and it is this and the immediacy of his playing which makes his performances of the brief Preludes as gripping as his Bach interpretations. (…) (…) In Croce……. provoking explosions of sound when their lines cross. A suitable intense climax to a powerful disc. Gramophone
(…) A l’image d’une Wispelwey offrant une finesse de son remarquable, au prix d’une audace contenue, l’entreprise évite les vertiges de la tempête pour recouvrir l’auditeur d’une fraîche et subtile pluie d’étoile (le numéro final, tender éblouissement) Diapason
(…) Along with the crack singers of the Collegium Vocale Gent and percussion players of the Prometheus Ensemble, the Dutch cellist finds all the beauty and spiritual atmosphere of the work. (…) (…) played by Wispelwey with passion and incisiveness. Daily Telegraph
(…) Pieter Wispelwey laat iedere noot sprankelen en zijn solopartij klinkt bijzonder present: soms verleidelijk, dan wrang, dan weer ingetogen. Het Collegium Vocale voegt onthechtte engelenstemmen toe en de drie leden van het Prometheus Ensemble sluiten daar mooi bij aan. (…) De etudes voor cello solo ‘In Croce’ voor cello en accordeon zijn een charmant opvullertje waarin Wispelwey nogmaals zijn fabuleuze techniek kan bevestigen. (…) De Standaard
Mise à l'honneur de Sofia Gubaïdulina, compositrice russe née en 1931, révélée en Europe occidentale au début des années 90 et établie depuis à Berlin. Son écriture, éminemment personnelle, libre de tout dogme, mue par des forces à la fois mystiques et telluriques, est, en plus, régie par une science accomplie: une nouvelle preuve en est donnée avec le ‘Canticle of the Sun’ (1997), basé sur le poème de François d'Assise. Avec cette trouvaille: les paroles, confiées au choeur - magnifique Collegium -, sont laissées à distance et forment l'environnement sensoriel plutôt que linguistique du violoncelle à qui appartient le véritable discours. (…) La Libre
(…) Luister er vaak naar, heel vaak en je zult steeds meer ontdekken. Spanning, metafysische krachten en grote spiritualiteit. Prachtig opgenomen, dat ook nog eens. (…) De preludes voor cello solo en bajan zijn een ware ontdekkingsreis en een lust voor het oor! HVT
(…) Pieter Wispelwey geeft alles in deze uitvoering, het koor en de slagwerkers worden door Daniel Reuss tot een grootse prestatie gedreven en de opname is perfect. (…) Luister
Fantastisch. Wispelwey speelt het stuk met een ongelooflijke power en fantasie en overtuigd van begin tot eind. En wat een schitterend koor. Trouw
(…) The admirable cellist Pieter Wispelwey (…) (…) Very recommendable, especially if you want some of the composer’s most eloquent works. BBC Music Magazine
(...) hij speelt het stuk met een ongelooflijke power en fantasie en overtuigd van het begin tot het eind. En wat eens schitterend koor. Trouw
(...) Wispelwey’s interpretation is beautiful: he has thought extremely carefully about the placing and tonal quality of each note he plays. (...) (...) Wispelwey has chosen to include Gubaidulina’s preludes for solo cello and he really makes them his own, with a combination of formidable technique and lustrous tone. In Croce, for cello and bajan (Russian accordion) is one of the composer’s most intense work, here it is superbly performed by the Belgian bajan player An Raskin. They penetrate into the work’s highly charged symbolic and poetic vocabulary in an extraordinary fashion. International Record Review
(...) very recommendable, especially if you want some of the composer’s most eloquent works. BBC Music Magazine
(…) Een grote luister uitdaging, luister er vaak naar, heel vaak en je zult steeds meer ontdekken. Spanning, metafysische krachten en grote spiritualiteit. Een ware ontdekkingsreis en een lust voor het oor!! Hifi Video Magazine
(…) Rätselhafter Schönheit (…) (…) Gubaidulina schreibt Musik, in der die Befindlichkeit unserer Zeit eindrücklich reflektiert wird. Crescendo Ekstatisch!! Fono Forum
(…) Wispelwey's feeling for continuity and mood is so good that I'd like to hear him to do them all. American Record Guide
(…) Un indispensable album pour les férus de musique contemporaine. Cinéfonia (…) Pieter Wispelwey se distingue par son émotion continue, ses traits ciselés et la subtilité de ses nuances. (…) Le Monde de la Musiques (…) He brings to it the most ecstatically spiritual sound I have ever heard from a cello. Firm, lithe and luminous, his tone complements the Collegium Vocale perfectly. (…) www.positive-feedback.com