SCHULZE & GERRARD: Rheingold (2008)

“A pure masterpiece which melts both skills in a unique musical texture”

CD1

1 Alberich 24:54

2 Loreley 39:35

CD2

1 Wotan 10:03

2 Wellgunde 14:56

3 Nothung 11:20

4 Nibelungen 31:27

(Bonus studio track)

DVD 1 (99:00)

Live at Loreley 18th July 2008

1 Alberich 24:56

2 Loreley 39:35

3 Wotan 10:03

4 Wellgunde 14:56

5 Nothung 11:20

DVD 2 (120:00)

Documentary "The Real World of Klaus Schulze" – approx. 65 mins

Interview "A conversation with Steven Wilson and Klaus Schulze" – approx. 55 mins

SPV 306072 DCD

(2CD 131:18) (2DVD 219:00) (V.F.)

(Ambient Sequencer-based Berlin School)

From Friday July 18th to Sunday July 20th the Night of the Prog festival was held in Loreley, Germany. Among the guests were Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze as well as Phish,

Roger Hodgson, Barclay James Harvest and other bands whose music varies between rock and progressive. For his part, Klaus Schulze was accompanied by Lisa Gerrard on 2 tracks, Loreley and Wellgunde. The rest of RHEINGOLD is pure Klaus Schulze with improvised ideas and designs that fills our ears with pure nectar, like in the good old days of his Live in 1980 but in a more contemporary vision and version.

It's in a synthesized din that Master Schulze opens his concert. It is almost midnight. Alberich opens his tunes with a discordant synth that alternates between the hertzian madness and the central station. Schulze likes to start his concerts this way. Static cacophony that dies in the hollow of a synth wave to be reborn on a soft synth with ethereal movements, perfectly marrying the splendors of a falling night. Schulze introduces his virtual orchestra with the patience of a seasoned maestro on a floating movement of an angelic choir and orchestral arrangements that blend wonderfully into a serene soft atmosphere. An atmosphere to make us dream on the old serenades of the German creator who spices up the whole with some sound effects with the soft analogue perfume. Conquered, the audience patiently follows the slow evolution of Alberich which starts to get agitated around the 11th minute with a sequence that spins in jerky circles, creating a hypnotic effect on a barely tempered rhythm. Timid cymbals awaken its chipped circles a bit more until a heavy drumbeat hammers out a slow but powerful rhythm. Good old Schulze served up in a modern twist with echo-filled synths. The intro of Loreley is serene. Klaus gives us an earful with a dreamy synth that follows the wandering of the stars. Grace on the fingertips that reminds us of a younger, more analog Schulze. Cosmic and fragile, Loreley evolves like a soft cosmic mermaid voice floating in a radiant prismatic nothingness to introduce Lisa Gerrard's superb voice. Unlike in Farscape, the magic happens. Gerrard's voice blends beautifully with Schulze's vocal and orchestral arrangements. A splendid fusion that surprisingly evolves into a bouncy, neurotic sequenced rhythm, supported by Ms. Gerrard's vocal power. Dynamic Schulze who pushes the Australian singer to her limits with superb lively movements, almost bordering on techno, on wonderful sequential feats (it's live), animated by Blackdance-like percussions. Simply superb. The last 12 minutes belong to the spirit of Farscape<