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.
Its foundational interest in affective response made the early Baroque era a time rich in the nurture of highly impassioned music and text. Little surprise then that laments, with their characteristic emotional intensity, were particularly at home on the early seventeenth-century stage and in the chambers of the nobility.
“The Italian Dramatic Lament,” performed by the award-winning Catacoustic Consort, brings together assorted laments by a trio of composers who figure prominently in any consideration of early opera: Claudio Monteverdi, Jacopo Peri, and Giulio Caccini. While not all of the works on the recording are operatic—there are some “unattached” songs as well as instrumental music—the collection richly evokes the highly emotional and highly stylized music that comprised the stilo rappresentativo.
Soprano Catherine Webster is an impressive singer with a commanding dramatic range, equally adept at impassioned verbalism and lyrical singing. This range famously comes into play in works like Monteverdi’s “Lamento d’Arianna,” a work that Webster handles with notable vocal flexibility and a compelling sense of style. Throughout the recording she sings with a mature understanding of the dynamics at play in the works, and the result is unflaggingly convincing. That which ultimately sets this recording apart, however, is the beguiling contribution of the instrumentalists. The interplay of lirone (a chordal bowed-string instrument with regrettably few modern practitioners), harp, and theorbo is unusually rich here, adopting a freely improvisational approach, full of dynamism and responsiveness. It is brilliant continuo playing, and the collaborative color and spontaneity do much to make the performances wondrously alive.
Several instrumental works by Hieronymus Kapsberger give the ensemble a chance to extend the lamentative theme. Tellingly, all are grounds, including a large-scale Passacaglia. The ground bass form is often associated with laments in the seventeenth century, where their descents became emblematic of falling tears and their obstinate repetitions seem to embody the inescapability of fate.
This is a stunning recording by a young ensemble well worth watching in the future. The performances here dramatically underscore the degree to which early seventeenth-century style is collaborative, and the “Catacousticians” amply show the rewards of a heightened collaborative approach. But moreover, the performances here remind as well of the degree to which manner of performance lies close to the heart of this repertory. And in this case, the heart is well served, indeed.
Steven Plank
Oberlin College