Liza Lim
A Sutured World*; Mary**; The Compass^
*Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), **^Carin Levine (flute), **^William Barton (digeridoo); Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/*Edward Gardner; **Franck Ollu;^Christoph Poppen
BR Klassik 900647 69:03 mins
Liza Lim is a weaver of worlds. An Australian of Chinese heritage, her music arises from a trans-cultural urge far deeper than surface references – and extending into realms of ecology, metaphysics and female power. These works are typical in their terrific energy and fecundity.
Two concertos sandwich the second of her Annunciation Triptych, a celebration of three icons of female spirituality. A Sutured World (2024) foregrounds the cello in a piece that explores the beauty of scars. Richly textured, with sudden, unexpected sounds and harmonic segues adroitly threaded by soloist Nicolas Altstaedt and conductor Edward Gardner, as with all the works here dense layers arise from a kind of neural – or mycelial – networking.
In Mary/Transcendence after Trauma (2020-21, conductor Franck Ollu), Lim traces Mary’s journey from supernatural shock to a ‘forgiveness so immense that it has the power to shift the fabric of the world’ – reminding us today of our human agency. Exploring ‘ecstatic hearing and speaking’, chimes, pulses and swelling unisons underpin an emerging, teeming radiance that spills beyond the orchestra.
Patterns and connections swirl and stream in The Compass (2005-06, conductor Christoph Poppen), where seemingly incongruous forces meet in a dynamic cross-cultural celebration that spans Aboriginal chant to the clicking of massed insect calls. Soloists William Barton and Carin Levine are excellent, as are the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra throughout.
