Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, first heard in 1907, once seemed important. Arturo Toscanini conducted the Met premiere in 1911 with Farrar and later arranged some of its music for a 1947 recording with his NBC Symphony.
The economics of the recording companies dictate much that is not ideal. Wagner’s operas were not composed as they were in order to permit the extraction of bleeding chunks, even on those occasions when strophic song forms do occur.
Among the recent recordings of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, Valery Gergiev’s release on the LSO Live label is an excellent addition to the discography of this work.
While not unknown, the songs of Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942) deserve to be heard more frequently.
Recorded on 5 and 6 May 2008 and 17 and 18 January 2009 at the Lisztzentrum (Raiding, Austria), this recent Bridge release makes available the piano-vocal versions of three song cycles by Gustav Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert-Lieder, and Kindertotenlieder performed by mezzo-soprano Hermine Haselböck, accompanied by Russell Ryan.
Contraltos rarely achieve the acclaim and renown of sopranos. Assigned few leading roles in opera, they are condemned to playing the villain or the grandmother, or to stealing the castrati’s trousers in en travesti roles.
Following their 2011 Decca recording of Striggio’s Mass in 40 Parts (1566), I Fagiolini continue their quest to unearth lost treasures of the High Renaissance and early Baroque, with this collection of world-premiere recordings, ‘reconstructions’ and ‘reconstitutions’ of music by Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Palestrina, and their less well-known compatriots Viadana, Barbarino and Soriano.
Eternal Echoes is an album of khazones [Jewish cantorial music] for cantorial soloist, solo violin and a blended instrumental ensemble comprising a small orchestra and the Klezmer Conservatory Band.
Michael Tilson Thomas’s recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony is an outstanding contribution to the composer’s discography.
Oliver Knussen burst into British music with an unprecedented flourish. In 1967, the London Symphony Orchestra premiered Knussen’s First Symphony, with István Kertész scheduled to conduct.
Based on performances given in Summer 2010 at the Lucerne Festival, this recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio is an admirable recording that captures the vitality of the work as conducted by Claudio Abbado.
Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) was one of the most popular composers of his day in Poland, and of the many works he wrote for the stage, two are performed from time to time, Halka (1848) and Strazny dwór [The Haunted Manor] (1865).
The Polish alto Jadwiga Rappé is a familiar voice in various stage and concert works, and the recent release of a selection of songs by Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) is an opportunity to hear her performing artsongs.
Originally released on multiple discs in 1981 this reissue on two CDs is a comprehensive collection of art songs by Italian and French composers from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
An exciting contribution to the discography of this popular opera, the live performance of Richard Strauss’s Salome from the Festspielhaus at Baden-Baden is a compelling DVD.
Released in late 2011, Deutsche Grammophon’s DVD of the new staging of Berg’s Lulu at the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona is an excellent contribution to the discography of this fascinating opera.
A recent release by the Metropolitan Opera, this two-disc set makes available on DVD the famous performance of Berg’s Lulu that was broadcast on 20 December 1980 as part of the PBS series “Live from the Met.”
The novels of Sinclair Lewis once shot across the American literary skies like comets, alarming and fascinating readers of that era, but their tails didn’t extend far behind them.
Once the province of only the most dedicated opera fanatics, mid-20th century recordings of privately taped live performances have become more widely available.
Flute players in opera orchestra around the world must look forward to the frequent appearances of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, knowing that while the stage spotlight in the mad scene will be on the soprano, the orchestral spotlight will be on their instrument.
This is a recording that makes a full meal of various salads: in this case, several ensaladas by the Spanish composer most associated with the form, Mateo Flecha, the elder (?1481-1553). Ensaladas toss together different languages and verbal quotations (sometimes musical quotation, as well) in a quodlibet that promotes an appealing sense of variety within the unified frame of their textual themes.
Mateo Flecha: Ensaladas
La Stagione Armonica; L'Amoroso
Directed by Sergio Balestracci
cpo 777 070-2 [CD]
This is a recording that makes a full meal of various salads: in this case, several ensaladas by the Spanish composer most associated with the form, Mateo Flecha, the elder (?1481-1553). Ensaladas toss together different languages and verbal quotations (sometimes musical quotation, as well) in a quodlibet that promotes an appealing sense of variety within the unified frame of their textual themes.
Flecha's ensaladas were composed in the 1540's, though not published until his nephew brought out a posthumous edition, Las ensaladas de Flecha, in 1581. The time gap itself would seem to document the persistence of the form, and moreover, the texts' association with Christmas themes would have given them a broad appeal. The three ensaladas recorded here are extended works that treat spiritual themes with metaphor and a degree of narrative invention. "La Justa," for instance, recounts a jousting tournament in which Lucifer, the knight of Lady Envy, wields his lance of gluttony against Adam, armed with his lance of innocence. When Adam falls in the field (the fall from grace) a new knight must take up the fight to redeem sinners. Who is the new knight? Christ, armed with the lance of righteousness. In "El Fuego," various aquatic tropes (the waters of penance, Jesus' birth as the flowing forth of the purest stream, Jesus offering living water) are placed in opposition to the fire of sin. If the themes are spiritual, the language itself is unlofty, and peppered with vernacularisms. Didacticism seems never to overwhelm the popular tone.
The music is contrapuntally simple and features long stretches of reduced textures. Sometimes, too, the infectious rhythmic spice of Spanish dance rhythms enlivens the music in ways that underscore its popular style. The performance by La Stagione Armonica is somewhat mixed. They bring to their rendition a stylish sense of phrasing and inflection and, where called for, an engaging rhythmic verve. However, the overall sound of the ensemble seems to suffer from a lack of clarity and definition, with too many singers on a single line, compounded by ample instrumental doubling, the culprit. This is especially noticeable in the many duo and single-line passages, but is also problematic for the tutti, as well.
The recording also features a number of instrumental pieces by the famous blind organist, Antonio de Cabezón. Mostly diferencias, or variation sets, they are played by a colorful ensemble combining winds and strings. The florid passage work is handled by the solo cornettist, Marie Garnier-Marzullo, with a natural ease, lyrically propelled by soft, period articulations. And both cornett and viol consort possess a distinctive vocality in their playing in the shaping of the phrases and in the richness of vowel in their sound.
All in all, this meal of salads left me a bit hungry for a main course, but at the same time, there was certainly much pleasure in the eating.
Steven Plank
Oberlin College