Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Vorzeichen. Beginn. Melodie einer Landschaft, die das Gewitter kommen sp�rt
2. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Vorzeichen. Schatten von Wildpferden
3. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Vorzeichen. Schatten Meteore Blitz
4. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Vorzeichen. Der Krieg, den ich f�hren will
5. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Vorzeichen. Ra�z del hombre. 1. Strophe
6. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Beginn
7. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Ich ahme einen Krieger nach
8. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Seraphim? Neutral? Weiblich?
9. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Montezuma und Cortez stehen einander gegen�ber
10. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Wir sind eure Wohlt�ter!
11. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Ist das alles?
12. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Die Muttergottes-Statue wird neben die Huitzlipochtli-Statue gestekkt
13. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Bekenntnis. Ra�z del hombre. 2. Strophe

Disc 2:

1. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Revolte, Revolte in allen Schichten
2. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. ...und dies wird dicht an einem gro�en Schrei sein
3. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Ich zerschneide den eigentlichen Raum
4. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Stilles Ritual der Azteken. Tierkreis.
5. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Spanische Soldaten �berfallen die Azteken. Ein Blutbad.
6. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Montezumas Ansprache
7. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Umw�ilzungen. Ra�z del hombre. 3. Strophe
8. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Abdankung. Lichter, T�ne
9. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Abdankung. Montezumas Leichenbeg�ngnis
10. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Abdankung. Zerst�rung der religi�sen Bildwerke
11. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Abdankung. Verw�stung
12. Die Eroberung von Mexico, music drama: Die Abdankung. Ra�z del hombre. 4. Strophe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #277632 in Music
• Released on: 1995-01-25
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .55 pounds

Customer Reviews

Dizzingly original and powerful
Along with Tan Dun's Marco Polo, Rihm's Conquest of Mexico is flat-our the most amazing opera since Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre. From the opening drum fugue, interspersed with shattering bursts from the chorus, to the beautiful duet at the conclusion, the music is dazzling--incredibly inventive at every step, now piercingly beautiful, now knock your head off powerful. Rihm, I think, has been an uneven composer in his career--a number of his works are so so (though not his 5th String Quartet: that's blistering). But in this work he put it all together and even transcended himself. Intriguing text by Antonin Artaud--really a set of plans for a play rather than actual dialogue. But it doesn't matter--Rihm's most powerful moments are shouts, cries, sighs, all visceral sound-moments. Wow.

a failed modern opera
DIE EROBERUNG VON MEXICO (THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO) is an ambitious attempt to stage Artaud's drama as an opera. The concept is questionable -- Artaud takes the historic narrative of Montezuma and Cortez and overlays it with a metaphysical confrontation between male and female, treated as mutually incomprehensible opposites doomed to a tragic denouement. Rihm adds an Octavio Paz text and tragic 16th century poetry by an anonymous indigenous Mexican writer to create an even more unwieldy edifice. Rihm's opera was first staged in 1992 to coincide with the 500-year anniversary of Colombus's voyage and the Spanish conquest. Artaud's twist, which Rihm follows, is to portray not a conquest but the mutual ruin of the antagonists, a metaphysical view with no basis in material history.

Given the powerful elements of the drama, Rihm's music is strangely subdued, even enervating. The lead roles of Cortez and Montezuma are given periodically moving passages (Montezuma's role is sung by a soprano and an alto, as he embodies the female principle), culminating in the work's best moment at the very end as they sing a tragic duet, but the orchestral accompaniment is uniformly uninvolving.

For an open-eared listener interested in Rihm, I would recommend his set of four concertos on Hanssler (see my review) or CHIFFRE-ZYKLUS, The Cipher Cycle (see my review). An earlier Rihm opera, DIE HAMLETMASCHINE, written from 1983 -- 1986, was recorded live at its 1987 premiere for the German Wergo label and is available through amazon.co.uk. It was a musical interpretation of the radical play by Heiner Muller of the DDR.

Since hearing this less than impressive opera, I have heard much more by Rihm, and am now convinced that he is one of THE 12 BEST LATE 20th/21st CENTURY COMPOSERS (see my list). I have also created a WOLFGANG RIHM: A LISTENER'S GUIDE list with more recommendations and reviews.