Ficta Zeitgenössische Improvisation und Experimentelles aus Portugal. [...] Die beiden anderen Aufnahmen, «23 Exposures» und «Ficta», sind interessanter und lassen ein feines Gespür für Weite und Raum erkennen. Improvisierte zeitgenössische Musik, wie sie von verschiedenen Leuten in Europa - etwa Burkhard Beins, Xavier Charles oder Werner Dafeldecker - gemacht wird und die sich durch die Instrumentierung (Violine, Percussion, Sopransaxophon, präpariertes Klavier) auch in die Kategorie «ernst» einordnen ließe. Hier passt alles, und bereits nach zwanzig Sekunden weiß man, wie es enden wird (und auch tatsächlich endet). Und obwohl das Spiel perfekt ist, weil alles klar definiert ist, weiß ich einfach nicht mehr, was über solche Produktionen noch zu sagen wäre. Vielleicht sollte man sie als «Etüden» durchgehen lassen, vielleicht dienen sie der «Rekreation», wer weiß das schon? Eine Sache gibt mir jedoch zu denken: Viele dieser Aufnahmen sind im «Post»-Kontext verankert - Post-Moderne, Post-Avantgarde, Post-60er und - 70er zeitgenössische Musik -, und da sollten bei uns die Alarmglocken schrillen. Revival oder Konservativismus? Noël Akchoté (Skug) Este CD está grabado en diciembre de 2001, cuando los músicos portugueses citados invitan a Gabriel Paiuk (aprovechando la visita del músico argentino por algunos países europeos, con el Trío de Improvisación). La intención mayúscula del grupo es sacar partido, en este caso, del silencio. Ninguno de los músicos del cuarteto, Ernesto Rodrigues (violín, viola); Guilherme Rodrigues (cello, trompeta de bolsillo); Gabriel Paiuk (piano), y José Oliveira (percusión), tienen un papel marcadamente solista aunque, quizás, a Paiuk sea al que más se le escuche, junto al percusionista Oliveira; confundiéndose, en ocasiones, la manipulación del sonido del piano con la de los objectos percutidos. Hay una fuerza interior fundamental, que domina la contención del músico a participar, y es precisamente la escucha del proprio conjunto. Es, por tanto, «Ficta» un trabajo delicado en recursos y maduro en concepción sonoras donde se prodigan pequeños trazos, elaborados casi imperceptiblemente en las cuerdas - por momentos, hay golpes secos del piano o de la propria percusión que dicen todo lo contrario - en un total de seis piezas improvisadas, denominadas Nihil. Las dos piezas finales son las de una interacción a un mayor volumen (imprescindible que se escuche así para una mayor apreciación de las deliciosas interpretaziones de los instrumentos de cuerda, y también la trompeta de bolsillo) e unas improvisaciones que abogan por una mayor intencionalidad armónica (pieza 5), un contenido de connotaciones de música contemporánea (pieza 4). Abstracciones sonoras de un grupo portugués al mejor nivel europeo que acostumbra a invitar numerosos músicos. Chema Chacón (Oro Molido) Suoni multiformi dall'incedere frammentato quelli indotti da Ernesto Rodrigues, fondatore a Lisbona nel 1999 della Creative Sources, etichetta dedicata nello specifico all'improvvisazione, percorsi che dichiarano lontane origini nella musica barocca, la prima forma di arte occidentale pronta ad accogliere nella propria tradizione influssi ed esperienze di altre culture. Diversi sono stati i generi che hanno attinto all'idea di un fluire sonoro non rigidamente programmato (jazz, rock, psichedelia ed avanguardie colte) fino ad arrivare nell'epoca dell'elettronica digitale allo spontaneo eclissarsi della scrittura riferita al processo di composizione musicale. Venendo a mancare oggi una cesura netta tra elaborazione scritta ed improvvisazione, il portato teorico delle ricerche di siffatto tipo ha altro valore rispetto al passato pur continuando ad emettere un fascino che a contatto con inediti procedimenti può ancora essere stimolante. Ernesto e Guilherme Rodrigues (viola e violino, violoncello e tromba) insieme a Gabriel Paiuk (piano) e José Oliveira (percussioni) offrono un fertile esempio della nuova 'free music', assommando tecniche ed approcci, cercando di aderire al presente, pur riferendosi nell'impostazione più ad una revisione delle 'culture alte' che non al mondo del pop ibridato. Immaginari musicali densi, ricchi di concetti ed espressioni, un toccasana rispetto alla molta banalità imperante.  Aurelio Cianciotta (Neural) After an aseptic and extremely quiet opening, the quartet on «Ficta» expands its horizons into the ethereal world of sound creation. The two Rodrigues string players and the drummer Oliveira are Portuguese musicians, while pianist Paiuk is Argentinean; thus, they bring forth new music concepts from diverse cultures. Their set consists of six experiments in music having an atonal base and fully unstructured composition. The session proceeds tentatively with each artist testing the atmosphere with stark interjections or quiet musings. This in turn invokes periods of spontaneous blurts of temporal duration, which dissolve back to the eerie world of velvety noise. The fifth member of the group is silence. There are periods of prolonged quietude followed by agitated manipulation of tonal output with bare otic registration. Paiuk is the most outspoken of the group. He intermittently explodes with a short burst on the piano before retreating to the nether region where they all seem to reside and spring forth. “Nihil 00.05” has examples of these outbursts, albeit constricted periods. Ernesto Rodrigues adopts abrupt plucking techniques to make his violin or viola an equal partner in this séance, while Guilherme Rodrigues bows the cello with irregular strokes of sonar-detecting quality. Oliveira’s bells and chimes fall right in line. They speak the language of whales where high pitches and curt tones sing out in search of a response. Guilherme Rodrigues also introduces the pocket trumpet into the equation, but these periods as well are totally devoid of flow. The liner notes quote the expression “esthetics of silence”, which is descriptive of much of the disc. Perseverance will allow one to find the hidden gems buried within this music. Frank Rubolino (Cadence)   Ernesto Rodrigues has been working with improvised music and modern forms of composition for over twenty years. Having performed under varied musical circumstances throughout Europe, he is a respected artist aligned with conceptualist thought and is gifted in the use of preparations with stringed instruments. As with many radical 20th century musical figures, we can hear in his music the need to break free from tradition or current accepted practices (trends?), and displace those tendencies with untried methods. Great strides ­ a few of which are actually in the forward direction ­ can be witnessed in unlikely places. Like Poland and Greece, Portugal’s hub of Lisbon is fast becoming a dependable blip (at least to some of us in the US) on the growing map of groundbreaking music communities. And since we are alluding to tradition here, like New York, Berlin or Kyoto, those places are often identified in terms of art culture, by those who practice in the advancement of the art itself. Rodrigues falls into that group. But one might argue that progress is not the goal his music is currently seeking. Rather, it is process, and it can be heard in the documents of «Assemblage» and the earlier «Ficta», where Rodrigues is joined by his son Guilherme (cello, pocket trumpet) and José Oliveira (percussion). The common thread between the two discs is in the dynamics of the music: were the activity to be graphed in terms of collective pursuit and sonic amplitude, both might be represented as bell curves, from restrained to semi-raucous. As a whole, the music is unassuming, insofar as the sounds can be measured against “threat”. There are some lovely passages, particularly on «Assemblage», where guitarist Manuel Mota accentuates soft, sporadic tones with transients of his own.  Often we find that the sounds come as precious adornments (rather than conscious accomplices), while Rodrigues’ treatments (both literal and figurative) of the violin and viola make for an undercurrent that seem to define these discs’ structure, potency and attitude. Common to past and current systems of similar, explorative music, here there is no tempo. The element of time is completely lost as intention gives way to evolution. Gabriel Paiuk’s piano on «Ficta» is critical in creating this sensation; his playing is quantifiable in terms of its function as mechanical counterpart, but fluctuates in and out of false signatures, an effect created by periodic, variable responses from the other instruments. Further illusory outcomes are achieved by Guilherme Rodrigues’ cello and the disciplined adventurousness of Oliveira’s inside-piano playing on Assemblage. There is much to be held in these quartets’ obvious structural ambiguity. Movable resources (inhibition, experience, technical depth) are at work in celebrating the freedom of improvisation while the musicians seek elusive parallels in one another through their music’s very transformation. This "new" music is highly recommended to both the adventurous and the passive listener. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Alan Jones (Bagatellen)

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