Ensemble FisFüz: Mozart im Morgenland

Pianissimo Musik 2014

Annette Maye – Klarinetten
Gürkan Balkan – Ud, Gitarre, Gesang
Murat Coşkun – Rahmentrommeln, Perkussion

ANNETTE MAYE:
„For me, the most appealing in this program was the task to arrange orchestral music for our little cast.Therefore I extracted the musical essences out of the partitures without disregarding Mozart's musical ideas. I think it's important to approach the pieces in a playful way but nevertheless with respect and in a well conceived manner. I also appreciate the possibility of improvisation and free playing in the midst of firmly composed shapes. When dealing with Ottoman music, that originally was created for vocals, string instruments or short necked oboes, I tried to give an own and „modern“ voice to the melodies and in playing the oriental scales, I tried to investigate the soul of the pieces. I also wanted to find a well fitting clarinet sound to draw in a variable way troughout  the pieces.“

GÜRKAN BALKAN:
„Mozarts music doesn't actually show real Turkish themes, even if a piece is for example called „alla Turca“. At the best some minor parts may be felt a bit „oriental“, like for example in the overture. These parts hold a melancholy that approaches slightly to the „oriental soul“. In fact it was those parts that where most suitable for my enrichment with melismas. And it became even more oriental, when we interpreted a melody of Blonde's aria in a 7/4 rhythm. Of course it is not easy to play occidental atmospheres with an oriental instrument, also the intonation was a challenge. However, this project was sort of a light-bulb moment for me, as I discovered that I actually could interpret pieces of occidental music on the oud.“

MURAT COSKUN:
„In Mozart's music the percussion represented the Turkish element in it. Therefore I have often been invited to different orchestras like the Freiburger Barockorchester to play the „Abduction from the Seraglio“ to „original Janissary percussion“. I really love Mozart's Singspiel, but in some parts I always wished to hear some „real“ oriental enrichments which I literally heard inside of me. This has been realised very well by Gürkan. Annette made some chosen pieces suitable for our trio. For me personally it was important to have the idea of a story apart from the music. We needed a backgroundstory... And so I had the idea of the fictitious story with the Ottoman musicians who served as a source of inspiration to Mozart.“