Greif

The title is inspired by Manuel Gagneux’s memories of Der Vogel Greif, a hybrid carnival creature that would symbolically turn its back to the gentry in Basel, Switzerland, where the frontman grew up. The gesture is one of defiance – something that the music of Zeal & Ardor has never lacked. These new songs, however, also reflect the griffin-like monster’s weird mutation of different animal parts. Though it rarely goes harder, GREIF goes further and deeper than anything Zeal & Ardor have done before – which is saying something, given the inherent uniqueness of everything Manuel touches. “I’m seeking that feeling of pleasant whiplash,” he told us recently, also rather modestly likening his output to “pineapple-on-pizza metal”.

For the seventieth anniversary of Olivier Greif’s birth, B Records and the Deauville Festival invite you to discover his remarkable works, some of which have never been released before. They were composed at dazzling speed, nurtured by Early Music, literature and the composer’s obsession with death and mysticism. Two symphonic works are interpreted for us by passionate, young musicians and have been recorded live so that you can experience the "dangers" and delights of reverie, and an archive recording from the "Festival de Pâques" with Olivier Greif himself on the piano.

The title is inspired by Manuel Gagneux’s memories of Der Vogel Greif, a hybrid carnival creature that would symbolically turn its back to the gentry in Basel, Switzerland, where the frontman grew up. The gesture is one of defiance – something that the music of Zeal & Ardor has never lacked. These new songs, however, also reflect the griffin-like monster’s weird mutation of different animal parts. Though it rarely goes harder, GREIF goes further and deeper than anything Zeal & Ardor have done before – which is saying something, given the inherent uniqueness of everything Manuel touches. “I’m seeking that feeling of pleasant whiplash,” he told us recently, also rather modestly likening his output to “pineapple-on-pizza metal”.

With this new program recorded for Artalinna in Metz in April 2023, Aline Piboule continues her original musical journeys by associating two unexpected composers, both genius pianists, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Olivier Greif (1950-2000), who each one carried out a powerful mystical journey during their existence. Of the two, it brings together two works as beautiful as they are complementary. From Liszt, Ballade No. 2 as then sublimated by Blessing of God in Solitude, coming from poetic and religious harmonies. From Greif, two Sonatas, among his most beautiful works, Three Poems of Li T’ai Po (1977) and the Codex Domini (1994), both played in the critical edition produced by Anne-Élise Thouvenin. Two pages of Bach open and end this recital, filled with grandiose and intense feelings.

»Unsere Sprache kostet nichts. Sie gehört uns allen. Man kann sie nicht privatisieren.« 1989 beging Mark Greif einen großen Fehler: Er entschied sich für Indie-Rock – und gegen Hip-Hop. Als er 20 Jahre später versucht, selbst Rappen zu lernen, um dieses Versäumnis wiedergutzumachen, stößt er auf schier unüberwindbare Hindernisse: die anspruchsvolle Atemtechnik, das Wort »Nigger«, die Affinität zu Materialismus und Gewalt. In »Rappen lernen« setzt Greif nicht nur dem Hip- Hop ein Denkmal, sondern er entwirft zugleich eine Kulturgeschichte von Schwarz und Weiß und erzählt davon, was es bedeutet, in neoliberalen Zeiten erwachsen zu werden.

For the seventieth anniversary of Olivier Greif’s birth, B Records and the Deauville Festival invite you to discover his remarkable works, some of which have never been released before. They were composed at dazzling speed, nurtured by Early Music, literature and the composer’s obsession with death and mysticism. Two symphonic works are interpreted for us by passionate, young musicians and have been recorded live so that you can experience on CD the ‘dangers’ and delights of reverie, and an archive recording from the Festival de Pâques (Easter Festival) with Olivier Greif himself on the piano.