Brigitte Peyré, soprano, Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain / KawkaEdison Denisov (1929-96) was among the seven composers blacklisted by the Soviet Composers' Union in 1979, who condemned their work as "pointlessness… noisy mud instead of real musical innovation". On the contrary, Denisov's Chamber Symphony No 1 (1982), emerging from those dark days, is subtle, delicate, expressive and singular. The dozen instruments play as soloists, creating gossamer textures. The CD's title piece, Au plus haut des cieux (1987), for soprano and chamber orchestra, has a similar transparency, exploring death and its mysteries with cool clarity. All the works here come from the composer's last phase, after he had moved to France and found the relief, and release, of artistic freedom.
Harmonia Mundi - HMC905268
