Michael Wendeberg - Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf: Vocal Music, Vol. 2 (2022) Hi-Res

The new CD of vocal music by Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf begins with Dov'è?, a very personal portrait in memory of Mahnkopf's late wife, the Jewish philosopher of religion Francesca Yardenit Albertini. The Neue Vocalsolisten, accompanied by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB), sing ten of Albertini's poems written between the age of 17 and 20.

Mahnkopf's inspiration for 432 Park Avenue. Hommage à NYC is a residential building on the edge of New York's Central Park, which for him expresses both classical beauty and elegance as well as capitalist decadence. The texts are taken from the building's website. In addition to three wind instruments, everyday sounds of the city can be heard.

For Astronomica, Mahnkopf used passages from astronomy textbooks with the themes of background noise, black hole, wormhole, ekpyrosis, inflation. "If I had a second life, I would study mathematics and physics to understand how the world is built and most of all where it comes from, why it exists" (Claus- Steffen Mahnkopf).

The recordings on the CD are live and are also world-premiere recordings.