If
Kurt Schwertsik confuses listeners with his stylistic eclecticism, absurd humor, and sly gamesmanship, then the joke is on them for expecting the wrong things in his music. Despite his long involvement with the avant-garde -- Webern,
Stockhausen, and
Cage were early heroes --
Schwertsik seems old-fashioned in his forms and instrumentation, yet postmodern in his manipulation of styles, tonality, harmony, and orchestration. There are traces of
Stravinsky in the Sinfonia-Sinfonietta/Movements (5) for orchestra, Op. 73; hints of
Berg in the Violin Concerto No. 2; and dollops of
Milhaud in the Schrumpf-Symphonie, Op. 80, perhaps because
Schwertsik wants to keep everyone guessing his intentions. Most puzzling or amusing, depending on point of view, is his theater piece for narrator and orchestra, Goldilöckchen, Op. 74, in which Roald Dahl's twisted poem becomes a musical fairy tale, ironically reminiscent of
Prokofiev.
Dennis Russell Davies ably leads the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in the first two works, recorded in 1996 and 2000, respectively, and
Roger Norrington conducts the Camerata Salzburg in the comic Schrumpf-Symphonie, recorded live in 1999.
Schwertsik narrates in German and
H.K. Gruber conducts the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra in the vivid 1997 performance of Goldilöckchen. Because of the different venues and recording conditions, the sound is variable but decent overall.