Hardenberger/Gothenburg - Dean: Dramatis Personae, Francesconi: Hard Pace

Ever since his very first disc, released by BIS some thirty years ago, H�kan Hardenberger has earned recognition for his performances of classical repertoire, but also as a pioneer of significant and virtuosic new music for trumpet. Collaborations with composers such as Takemitsu, P�rt, Henze and H. K. Gruber have resulted in numerous works, of which the two recorded here are among the more recent. Brett Dean�s concerto Dramatis personae is named after the term used for the list of characters in a stage work, and casts the soloist in the role of the �Hero�. Dean�s protagonist is a complex one, however, with traits inspired by comic-book super heroes as well as the flawed heroes of literature and legend: �Soliloquy�, the second movement, is a reference to Hamlet, while Charlie Chaplin�s character in Modern Times has inspired the work�s finale, �The Accidental Revolutionary�. If there is a hero in the concerto by Luca Francesconi, it is Miles Davis. Commenting on the work itself, Francesconi talks of Davis as �a musician who transcends all labels� with �a delicate, cracked sound� and a voice which speaks directly to the listener. Hard Pace, the title of Francesconi�s work, is an allusion to a difficult journey, but it is also a conflation of the names of the performers for whom it was written: Hardenberger, Antonio Pappano and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra. On the present recording it is the Gothenburg Symphony and conductor John Storg�rds who provide H�kan Hardenberger with expert support in these demanding, and rewarding, scores.