FIREWORKS
"When two musical temperaments such as those of Alois Kottmann and Albert Mangelsdorff come together, the result is bound to be fireworks. The jazz trombonist and the 'classical' violinist come from very different musical backgrounds, but of what concern is that when all that matters is the ability to react through sounds, to communicate? To make your own voice heard while responding empathetically to the other. Which is how this positively crackling, fizzing and exuberant meeting of minds comes across to the listener; a musical happening full of spontaneous elements, bordering on improvisation, in which the players shift between different spheres in a playful display of mimicry, while always retaining their own distinct voice. It is scarcely surprising that a piece written by Albert Mangelsdorff for trombone and string orchestra entitled Denk ich an Bosnien ('I think of Bosnia') is not as cheerful and light-hearted as Richard Rudolf Klein's Hindemith-inspired Kontradiktion written especially for the two soloists and their instruments. The most rough-hewn and direct piece is Mangelsdorff's Miniaturen for trombone and violin. Kottmann provides a longer intermezzo, availing himself of French-impressionistic lightness and sounds in the Sonata No. 2 by Hindemith. The CD Begegnungen ('Encounters' - Melisma 7239-2) is not least significant as a testament to the Frankfurt cultural scene and an homage to Albert Mangelsdorff who died in 2005." HANS-KLAUS JUNGHEINRICH / FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU
