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.
Mahler’s well-known revisions of music he conducted include the four symphonies by Robert Schumann, and while these Retuschen have been performed from time to time, a recording of all four of them is now available from Decca.
Based on performances give between 2006 and 2007, specifically: Symphony no. 1 (13-16 February 2007); Symphony no. 2 (30 August to 9 September 2006); Symphony no. 3 (30 May to 2 June 2007; and Symphony no. 4 (26-28 October 2006). As such, the four symphonies offer a unified reading of the scores in the versions Mahler retouched, and which David Matthews describes in the liner notes included with this recording. Leaving aside for the moment some of the critical stances on Schumann’s orchestration, the present recording is valuable in conveying the scoring that Mahler used and in doing so suggesting some aspects of the later composer’s approach to these works. While revised the orchestration of these works, he did not revise them so drastically as to create new arrangements of the scores. Rather, he revised the brass and woodwind parts, as well as added indications for effects, like stopped horns, etc.; his efforts included adjusting dynamic markings, and other details that allowed him to interpret these symphonies from the podium. The result is a Mahlerian approach to these works, with various timbres and balances calling to mind sonorities Mahler himself would use. In this sense it requires a conductor familiar with both composers to bring these scores to life, and the esteemed Mahlerian Riccardo Chailly has done some impressive work in these performances.
The content of the pieces is wholly Schumann’s, but the orchestral touches reflect subtleties that Mahler wanted to bring out. As much as Mahler’s revisions clarify some passages, they also suggest the way he would approach the orchestra and, in a larger sense, the stance a conductor from the late nineteenth century would offer on these scores from the middle of the century. Some of the details reflect a reliance on woodwinds and brass that was not used or, in some cases, not possible during Schumann’s lifetime. In this sense, these scores are Schumann realized for a new generation, when the orchestral sound shifted from its reliance on the strings as the core sound to a more diversified timbral palette. A telling point for this is the first movement of Schumann’s Third Symphony “Rhenish,” in which the horns and woodwinds differ from the conventional way this piece is played. Mahler’s orchestral dialect articulates Schumann’s text well, and this movement is a fine example of the value of this recording.
Those familiar with the traditional scoring of the Second Symphony may find some palpable differences in Mahler’s scoring of that work, especially in the final movement. As moving as this Symphony is, it takes on different colors with the revision, which bears rehearing with some of the traditional recordings of the piece in the extant discogtraphy. A fine point of comparison is the venerable recording by George Szell, or even the more recent set of Schumann’s symphonies that Eliahu Inbal recorded. In this new recording of Mahler’s revision, it is also possible to hear Chailly’s perspective on these works, a factor which is yet another benefit of this set.
As to these performances, Chailly demonstrates well his concepts of Schumann’s symphonies and also his sense of style with Mahler’s music. With slow introductions, as with the first movement of the First Symphony (“Spring”), the contrast in tempo may seem drastic at first, but it works well as the energetic theme of the first section moves forward and contributes to the convey the emotion suggested in the score. In rendering the scoring of this piece Chailly brings a sense of lightness that fits the character of the music. Elsewhere, as in the slow movement of Schumann’s Second Symphony, the structure of the music emerges readily and persuasively. Likewise, the Third Symphony (“Rhenish”) works well, in this fresh and dynamic reading of the piece which is evident from the start. The solemnity suggested in the fourth movement (marked “Feierlich”) is in earnest, and never a caricature. In these movements and the others Chailly balances nicely the music of Schumann with the editorial stance of Mahler, while never allowing the pieces to become studied.
This set of Schumann’s symphonies has much to recommend on the part of both composers. Not merely a curiosity or a novelty, the revisions that Mahler himself believed were important are certainly given such credence in this set of authoritative readings by Chailly. Moreover, the playing by the Gewandhaus Orchestra is engaging throughout, with a supple, inviting sound that brings the score to life. The two-disc set is a convenient vehicle for this intriguing release.
James L. Zychowicz