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Cela arrive rarement, le souffle coupé dès les premières notes. Une minute entière à retenir sa respiration dans une apnée d’émotion totale pour recevoir la première phrase du Lamento pour contralto, de Johann Christoph Bach, d’après les Lamentations de Jérémie, son ascension douloureuse, ornée de sanglots, puis les deux accords d’une longue plainte instrumentale, avant l’entrée, magique, de la voix de Magdalena Kozena. “Ach, dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte.” “Ah, si ma tête était remplie d’eau, si mes yeux étaient une source de larmes.” L’insouciance a été jusqu’alors votre lot ? Vous, toi, nous tous, pécheurs, allons connaître ce que pèse le lourd fardeau de nos iniquités – et la récompense de cette connaissance : 7 minutes 22 d’une pure splendeur musicale.
Recorded in Tokyo on October 23, 1963, this live recording of Nozze di Figaro boasts fine sound, a top cast, and the leadership of a conductor of great skill and experience. The label, Ponto, has joined the ranks of such other companies as Opera D’oro and Gala in making available broadcast and in-house recordings at affordable prices. Sometimes these releases are not even worth the modest price asked for; this one may well have more to offer than higher-priced studio sets.
After a slightly hesitant first few moments, the sound quality settles down and becomes admirably strong and well defined. There is relatively little stage noise, the voices have a natural presence without being too forwardly placed, and Böhm’s orchestral control can be relished. His may be an old-fashioned reading, but it never lags or lacks for humor or beauty. The audience can be heard laughing from time to time at the stage antics; applause only interferes with the musical pleasures at the end of Non piu andrai, when unrestrained clapping covers a bit of Böhm’s ironically happy martial send-off.
Elsewhere on Opera Today readers can find a recent review of a live recording of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro from the Ponto label, a company that has joined the ranks of Opera D’oro and Gala in offering, at budget price, live recordings of various provenance. At their best, as with that Nozze, these recordings offer in acceptable sound (sometimes better) performances of such quality they rival their more expensive competitors. At less than the best, however, even the budget price becomes exorbitant.
This Tristan und Isolde, recorded on January 25, 1967, unfortunately belongs to the latter category. Unless one has a strong personal reason for wanting a keepsake of this company or the artists involved, the recording is unlikely to please most listeners. The primary reason is the sound. While not unlistenable, the recording is clearly an “in-house” affair, and probably from an audience member, as some of the coughing is more up-front than the singing. Worse, during the climax, some audience members are whispering as Isolde enters the Leibestod. One would love for a Jon Vickers to have been present to yell out, “Stop your damn whispering!”
William Bolcom is arguably the preeminent American opera composer of today. His third commission for Lyric Opera of Chicago, A Wedding, recently opened to mostly positive reviews. His previous work in the form, A View from the Bridge, had a successful run at the Metropolitan Opera following its premiere in Chicago.
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On an accompanying CD and in the liner notes, interviewer Klaus J. Schönmetzler asks conductor Enoch zu Guttenberg, “Why another St. Matthew Passion?” This is a fair question considering the glut of recordings ranging from the overtly romantic to the idealized “authentic” (and mostly fast) Baroque editions. To his credit, Guttenberg responds to this question by acknowledging an aversion to interpreting Bach overly Romantically while desiring a Baroque sensibility. As a theologian, zu Guttenberg understands an undeniable conviction in Bach’s theology, particularly in the chorales, which he acknowledges can lead to a more Romantic interpretation. Zu Guttenberg’s attempt to capture this devotion coupled with the reality of twenty-first century instruments and performers, produces a St. Matthew stuck in a mediocre middle ground between a Baroque “ideal” and a Romantic interpretation.
The imposing figure of Johann Sebastian Bach has loomed large for Magdalena Ko ená throughout her career. It was her first disc of Bach arias on Deutsche Grammophon’s Archiv label that brought the golden-voiced mezzo to the attention of the music world as early as 1997. Word then quickly went round that Magdalena was the perfect choice for Bach recordings. ”This disc that started my international career also was my introduction to the great Baroque conductors, including the wonderful scholar and musician Reinhard Goebel, with whom I’ve worked on my new disc, Lamento.”
Although the title may suggest wailing and gnashing of teeth, this is a sublime and eclectic mixture of music by J. S. Bach, his relations and contemporaries. ”There’s a very optimistic feeling to this CD,” says Ko ená. ”Although all these pieces are about how horrible it is on this earth, they are really celebrating how great it will be afterwards. There’s a message of hope throughout.”
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Recordings
30 Mar 2005
LAURIDSEN: Lux aeterna
The title piece, Lux aeterna (light eternal), a five-movement work by American composer Morton Lauridsen (b.1943), is intended to be an “intimate work of quiet serenity.” The composer’s quest for texts that express “hope, reassurance, faith and illumination in all of its manifestations,” results in a free compilation from various liturgical observances or feasts: the Introit from the Requiem; select verses of the Te Deum, sung at the end of Matins on Sunday or in thanksgiving for a special blessing, interpolated with a verse from the Beatus vir (Ps. 111:4); verses from O nata lux, the Lauds hymn for the feast of the Transfiguration; Veni sancte spiritus, the sequence for Pentecost; and the Agnus Dei and Communio from the Mass for the Dead with an “Alleluia” tag added by the composer. Admittedly, the work is non-liturgical. Still, the fashioning of these texts causes the work to be viewed by some as a “Requiem” or quasi “German Requiem.” Indeed, it is neither a Requiem nor a Mass for the Dead, in spite of the opening and closing movements. As a meditation on “light eternal,” texts other than those from the Requiem could have been used. One need only read the Exsultet, which overflows with the symbols and imagery of “the Light” that conquers death, and which dispels darkness. Further, the theme of the texts used in the three inner movements is more Trinitarian (Te Deum = God the Father; O nata lux = God the Son; Veni sancte spiritus = God the Holy Spirit). Unfortunately, their importance and strength is reduced to the occurrence of the word “light” in their verse. That being said, the texts are not what the ear remembers in this work; it is the music. The words are merely the vehicle for the vocalists.
Morton Lauridsen: Lux aeterna
Polyphony with Britten Sinfonia, Pauline Lowbury, leader, Stephen Layton, conductor.
Hyperion CDA67449 [CD]
The title piece, Lux aeterna (light eternal), a five-movement work by American composer Morton Lauridsen (b.1943), is intended to be an "intimate work of quiet serenity." The composer's quest for texts that express "hope, reassurance, faith and illumination in all of its manifestations," results in a free compilation from various liturgical observances or feasts: the Introit from the Requiem; select verses of the Te Deum, sung at the end of Matins on Sunday or in thanksgiving for a special blessing, interpolated with a verse from the Beatus vir (Ps. 111:4); verses from O nata lux, the Lauds hymn for the feast of the Transfiguration; Veni sancte spiritus, the sequence for Pentecost; and the Agnus Dei and Communio from the Mass for the Dead with an "Alleluia" tag added by the composer. Admittedly, the work is non-liturgical. Still, the fashioning of these texts causes the work to be viewed by some as a "Requiem" or quasi "German Requiem." Indeed, it is neither a Requiem nor a Mass for the Dead, in spite of the opening and closing movements. As a meditation on "light eternal," texts other than those from the Requiem could have been used. One need only read the Exsultet, which overflows with the symbols and imagery of "the Light" that conquers death, and which dispels darkness. Further, the theme of the texts used in the three inner movements is more Trinitarian (Te Deum = God the Father; O nata lux = God the Son; Veni sancte spiritus = God the Holy Spirit). Unfortunately, their importance and strength is reduced to the occurrence of the word "light" in their verse. That being said, the texts are not what the ear remembers in this work; it is the music. The words are merely the vehicle for the vocalists.
An emotionally charged work, the title itself causes the air to teem with monastic modalities and incense. Clearly educated in the manner and madrigalisms of the early masters, Lauridsen neither replicates nor imitates, but defines and speaks his own musical mind: a single recurring chord (D-major triad with an added E), that re-creates itself throughout the work, becoming "the harmonic symbol of the luminous." A composer with the heart of a Humanist, who heeded Leopold Mozart's counsel--to read poetry aloud in order to understand the lyricism of music--Lauridsen's masterful lyricism is a result of his "passion for poetry." The harmonic style, chromaticisms, dissonances and divisi writing reveal his contemporary soul. When looking at the work in its entirety, text and music, it appears to be more of a cycle, referencing a particular theme, than an extended motet. Composed for Paul Salamunovich and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lux aeterna premiered 13 April 1997. The first recording of this work (RCM 19705) by the Master Chorale, while a solid performance, is surpassed by the intensity and passion offered by Polyphony and the Britten Sinfonia.
Madrigali: Six 'Fire Songs' on Italian Renaissance Poems (1987) stands in stark contrast to Lux aeterna. Inspired by the madrigals of Gesualdo and Monteverdi, Lauridsen effectively explores the darker, earthy terrains of human emotion. The listener again hears what may be somewhat of a hallmark for Lauridsen--the use of a single chord with an added second--as the unifying element within the work. In this case, it is a B-flat minor chord with an added C, which the composer calls the "fire-chord." This collection of six Italian love poems is set in an extended "arch form," climaxing with the fourth lament Io piango (I weep), which begins innocently enough in unison and moves to a tantalizing, biting dissonance on the word piango. This interplay between consonance and dissonance reaches its moment of torment and the apex of the "arch" on the phrase Sorte fiera e inaudita (what cruel, unheard-of-fate). Everything after that is falling motion. Within the vocal lines of these madrigali one can audibly "see" the "eye music" which Renaissance composers often used for the visual appeal, enjoyment and inspiration of the performer. The vocal ensemble Polyphony, under the direction of Stephen Layton, navigates the harmonic complexities with ease and skill; what is difficult on the page, sounds effortless to the ear; Polyphony's sense of ensemble is beyond reproach.
The concluding three motets, Ave Maria (1997), Ubi caritas et amor (1999), and O magnum mysterium (1994) return the listener to the spiritual plane. The Ave Maria is an indulgence in vocal sonorities cast in the double choir style of Venice. The vocal writing for the inner voices is particularly appealing. Ubi caritas, an antiphon for Maundy Thursday, states the chant tune in the sensuous rendering of the male chorus, which is ten ornamented with tone clusters, creating a tonal shimmer that would best be appreciated in the appropriate acoustical space. If when listening to the third motet, O magnum mysterium, one feels caught in a cycle of Lux aeterna, the ear has not deceived. O magnum mysterium, which sings with similar sonorities of the Lux aeterna, pre-dates Lauridsen's contemplation of the larger work. This motet is the composer's "affirmation of God's grace to the meek... a quiet song of profound inner joy." Extended melodic lines, arching suspensions, and singing dissonances best characterize these three motets.
The choral work of Polyphony, under the direction of Stephen Layton, is solid and inspiring throughout the CD, but it is in the a capella performances where their true musicianship, impeccable intonation and sense of ensemble is most appreciated and at its best. They truly sing with one heart. The choral sound, for the most part, is warm and rich. At times however, the straight tones of the sopranos are rather piercing. One may reason that this as one of the drawbacks of hearing these works recorded as opposed to a live performance. The texture, sound and harmonic sensibilities of Lauridsen are at their best in a live performance. This music demands an acoustical space that is a performing partner, as with the choral tradition of Venice, where overtones spin their own galaxy of harmonies. Polyphony, Stephen Layton, Britten Sinfonia and Pauline Lowbury recorded this CD in 2003, along with the composer at the Temple Church in London. The only thing that is better than this recording is a live performance.
Geraldine M. Rohling
