What better way for Masonic brothers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emmanuel Shikaneder to disseminate Masonic virtues, than through the most popular musical entertainment of their age, a happy ending folktale that features a dragon, enchanting flutes and bells, mixed-up parentage, and a beautiful young princess in distress?
Since its first performance at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo during Venice’s 1643 Carnevale, Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea has been one of the most important milestones in the genesis of modern opera despite its 250 years of unmerited obscurity.
Though 2013 is the bicentennial of the births of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner, the releases of Cecilia Bartoli’s recording of Bellini’s Norma on DECCA, a new studio recording of Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro from Opera Rara, and this première recording of Saverio Mercadante’s forgotten I due Figaro, suggest that this is the start of a summer of bel canto.
Recording Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is for a record label equivalent to a climber reaching the summit of Mount Everest: it is the zenith from which a label surveys its position among its rivals and appreciates an achievement that can define its reputation for a generation.
Few people who love opera in general and bel canto in particular have never heard the comment made by Lilli Lehmann, veteran of the inaugural Ring at Bayreuth in 1876, that singing all three of Wagner’s Brünnhildes—in Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung, respectively, all of which she sang to great acclaim—pales in comparison with singing the title rôle in Bellini’s Norma.
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.
The second of Zubin Mehta’s new Ring cycle on DVD, the staging of Die Walküre by La Fura dels Baus, is as engaging as the production of Das Rheingold in its innovative presentation and effective performance of one of Wagner’s most popular operas.
As with the release of Das Rheingold in this set, Die Walküre was recorded live at the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia, and makes use of the staging of La Fura dels Baus, Carlus Padrissa, stage director, with the international cast conducted by Zubin Mehta. From the outset of this DVD the concept and execution of the production meets or surpasses that of Das Rheingold as the usual sound-only orchestral opening of the first act is accompanied by film productions that set the tone in evoking Siegmund’s trek through the forest, with ominous trees and wild animal. This element blends well into the physical stage that appears just before Siegmund’s first lines, which Peter Seiffert delivers with conviction.
Seiffert commands the first act, especially in the “Wintersturm” scene with Petra Maria Schnitzer as Sieglinde. At times Seiffert’s vibrato seems overly pronounced on sustained pitches, but this is a minor quibble in comparison to his otherwise fine delivery and acting. In taking the lead Seiffernt exudes the confidence of the doomed hero, which becomes a foil for Sieglinde’s response with “Du bist der Lenz” and the passage that follows. The circumscribed space expands well as the two performers play off each other in the duet that follows. The projections of the enchanted springtime in which the lovers find themselves is entirely appropriate to the musical result as Seiffert and Schnitzer interact. Schnitzer is enthusiastically overt and, as the music calls for it, subtle, with the quieter moments captured well in the sound of the Blu-ray recording. The intimacy suggests the effect Wagner would achieve in the second act of Tristan und Isolde, a work whose gestation intersects this part of the Ring cycle. Yet the moment in which Sieglinde begins to suspect Siegmund’s identity is particularly effective, suggesting the intensity Leonie Rysanek would bring to this scene and articulated in her triumphant laugh when Siegmund would take the sword. Here the production reinforces the relationship between the siblings with their names running up and down the trunk of the tree that appropriately dominates this part of the scene.
The opening of the second act is similarly effective in execution, with the more intensive use of projections underscoring the familiar music associated with the Valkyries. The use of mechanical lifts adds a touch, even though the supernumerary who operates the device is part of the shots in which Brünnhilde is usually seen alone. As Brünnhilde Jennifer Wilson captures the spirit of the role well and sings with ringing tone throughout the two acts in which she appears. Equally effective are Anna Larsson and Juha Uusitalo as Fricka and Wotan, the roles the performers had in this production of Das Rheingold and which they continue in this opera. Their interaction is equally comfortable, with Larsson offering persuasive performance that is audible in her singing and reinforced by her facial gestures and body language, elements captured well in this video. Uusitalo brings a welcome clarity to the sometimes lengthy passages assigned to Wotan, and he also reacts well to Fricka. The circular projections are nicely ambiguous to suggest the space in which the two interact while also connoting the ring at the center of this work. Such effects are used with direction, and they fade into the background where acting must dominate, as in the latter part of the act, when Wilson is alone on stage for Brünnhilde’s soliloquy.
Another touch is the reprise of the setting for the “Wintersturm” scene in which projections of snow replace the birds seen earlier and, thus, suggest the tragic outcome of the relationship between Siegmund and Sieglinde. Likewise, the setting for the confrontation between Hunding and Siegmund benefits from the aural space as Matti Salminen utters his lines offstage and suggests a sonic depth in the musical score. The slow-motion action in which Hunding kills Siegmund is almost cinematic, with the steel-grays and blues suffusing to the red that denotes the death of the hero and culminate in Uusitalo’s murder of Hunding with a single, well-articulated word. Here, too, the mobile-like objects suspended over the stage recall the human figures that formed the bridge to Valhalla at the end of Rheingold. This offers a sense of the concision which inspired this production.
For the famous “Ride of the Valkyries’ the pendulum full of bodies, presumably of the dead soldiers the Valkyries collect for Valhalla evokes the mythological elements of the story. Projections of battle scenes, stage smoke, and other elements are effect. This presentation surpasses the sometimes awkward modern stagings that sometimes use trampolines, conveyor belts, and other devices to less satisfactory effect. More than that, the women in this scene have a solid ensemble that makes the familiar music sound fresh and exciting. As earlier, the use of offstage sonorities adds a spatial dimension to the sound in this deservedly popular scene. This establishes a fine tone for the act, in which the special effects balance the outstanding musical execution, and the scene between Brünnhilde and Wotan deserve attention for its music elements, which the production reinforces.
Just as Uusitalo interacted well with Larsson, he is also acts well with Wilson as Brünnhilde, as his love and sense of duty emerge in the way he resolves his daughter’s fate. The two own the stage for the latter part of the act in a memorable presentation of the work. The image of the spinning world, like the one before the final tableau in Das Rheingold, recurs here, before Wotan condemns Brünnhilde to her human existence and sets into motion threads of the story that will be taken up in Siegfried. Here, as throughout the opera, Mehta offers an intensive reading of the score in which the orchestra blends with clarity and depth. The quieter moments remain full, and the iteration of various elements is never out of place. The brass never overbalance the strings, and the entire orchestral is heard to excellent effect in the concluding scene which depicts Brünnhilde’s well-known “magic sleep.” To the end Wilson and Uusitalo remain intense and tireless, with the final scene conveying a sense of tender that contributes to the overall effect of this well-thought production. The close-ups of the video certainly make this more than filmed opera; rather, this is a conception that delivers the work well in this filming.
As much as the famous Met Ring conducted by James Levine remains a solid contribution to the legacy of recordings of this cycle, the present one by Mehta is equally sound for its well-though presentation and fine performances. It is difficult to recommend one over the other. Rather, the two productions offer two fine productions of the work, and the differences between the two conceptions of Die Walküre should not be taken in opposition, but as parts of a spectrum from traditional to innovation, where both benefit from unstinting execution. The modern elements offered by La Fura dels Baus are effective because they work well within the text of the work, rather than by creating a subtext of its own, and those interested in Der Ring des Nibelungen will gain a fine sense of this production from this video of Die Walküre.
James L. Zychowicz