The Sixteen continues its exploration of Henry Purcell’s Welcome Songs for Charles II. As with Robert King’s pioneering Purcell series begun over thirty years ago for Hyperion, Harry Christophers is recording two Welcome Songs per disc.
In February this year, Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho made a highly lauded debut recital at Wigmore Hall - a concert which both celebrated Opera Rara’s 50th anniversary and honoured the career of the Italian soprano Rosina Storchio (1872-1945), the star of verismo who created the title roles in Leoncavallo’s La bohème and Zazà, Mascagni’s Lodoletta and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Collapsology. Or, perhaps we should use the French word ‘Collapsologie’ because this is a transdisciplinary idea pretty much advocated by a series of French theorists - and apparently, mostly French theorists. It in essence focuses on the imminent collapse of modern society and all its layers - a series of escalating crises on a global scale: environmental, economic, geopolitical, governmental; the list is extensive.
Amongst an avalanche of new Mahler recordings appearing at the moment (Das Lied von der Erde seems to be the most favoured, with three) this 1991 Mahler Second from the 2nd Kassel MahlerFest is one of the more interesting releases.
If there is one myth, it seems believed by some people today, that probably needs shattering it is that post-war recordings or performances of Wagner operas were always of exceptional quality. This 1949 Hamburg Tristan und Isolde is one of those recordings - though quite who is to blame for its many problems takes quite some unearthing.
The voices of six women composers are celebrated by baritone Jeremy Huw Williams and soprano Yunah Lee on this characteristically ambitious and valuable release by Lontano Records Ltd (Lorelt).
As Paul Spicer, conductor of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir, observes, the worship of the Blessed Virgin Mary is as ‘old as Christianity itself’, and programmes devoted to settings of texts which venerate the Virgin Mary are commonplace.
Ethel Smyth’s last large-scale work, written in 1930 by the then 72-year-old composer who was increasingly afflicted and depressed by her worsening deafness, was The Prison – a ‘symphony’ for soprano and bass-baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra.
‘Hamilton Harty is Irish to the core, but he is not a musical nationalist.’
‘After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.’ Aldous Huxley’s words have inspired VOCES8’s new disc, After Silence, a ‘double album in four chapters’ which marks the ensemble’s 15th anniversary.
A song-cycle is a narrative, a journey, not necessarily literal or linear, but one which carries performer and listener through time and across an emotional terrain. Through complement and contrast, poetry and music crystallise diverse sentiments and somehow cohere variability into an aesthetic unity.
One of the nicest things about being lucky enough to enjoy opera, music and theatre, week in week out, in London’s fringe theatres, music conservatoires, and international concert halls and opera houses, is the opportunity to encounter striking performances by young talented musicians and then watch with pleasure as they fulfil those sparks of promise.
“It’s forbidden, and where’s the art in that?”
Dublin-born John F. Larchet (1884-1967) might well be described as the father of post-Independence Irish music, given the immense influenced that he had upon Irish musical life during the first half of the 20th century - as a composer, musician, administrator and teacher.
The English Civil War is raging. The daughter of a Puritan aristocrat has fallen in love with the son of a Royalist supporter of the House of Stuart. Will love triumph over political expediency and religious dogma?
Beethoven Symphony no 9 (the Choral Symphony) in D minor, Op. 125, and the Choral Fantasy in C minor, Op. 80 with soloist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Pablo Heras-Casado conducting the Freiburger Barockorchester, new from Harmonia Mundi.
A Louise Brooks look-a-like, in bobbed black wig and floor-sweeping leather trench-coat, cheeks purple-rouged and eyes shadowed in black, Barbara Hannigan issues taut gestures which elicit fire-cracker punch from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
‘Signor Piatti in a fantasia on themes from Beatrice di Tenda had also his triumph. Difficulties, declared to be insuperable, were vanquished by him with consummate skill and precision. He certainly is amazing, his tone magnificent, and his style excellent. His resources appear to be inexhaustible; and altogether for variety, it is the greatest specimen of violoncello playing that has been heard in this country.’
Baritone Roderick Williams seems to have been a pretty constant ‘companion’, on my laptop screen and through my stereo speakers, during the past few ‘lock-down’ months.
Melodramas can be a difficult genre for composers. Before Richard Strauss’s Enoch Arden the concept of the melodrama was its compact size – Weber’s Wolf’s Glen scene in Der Freischütz, Georg Benda’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea or even Leonore’s grave scene in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
So much has been written about the notorious scandal of May 29, 1913, the scandal of the reception of the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du Printemps, that it is easy to forget that the music itself was less the cause of the riotous activities than the subject, the décor, and the dancing.
Due in part to the commotion caused by the work’s premiere and its subsequent performances in the following weeks, but more because of wartime privations affecting musical performances all over Europe, it was not until the 1920s that audiences began to hear and appreciate the score of The Rite in concert form. Its subsequent rapid ascent to “classic” status is now a fact of history, and the number of respectable recorded performances available are well into the double digits.
Naxos’ project of releasing CDs of all of Stravinsky’s works, conducted by Robert Craft, is a huge and noble one, and the present disc represents a significant addition to the recorded Stravinsky legacy. This particular Rite was released by Koch International Classics in 1995; the overall sound and balance of the new release reflect the complex score superbly. The playing of the London Symphony comes as close to perfection as one could ever expect in bringing this score accurately and vibrantly to life, no small complement given the strength and size of the recorded competition. The players and the engineers deserve particular credit for allowing listeners to hear inner voices and subtle rhythmic and sonority features often absent from other recordings. This manifests itself both in the quieter pages of the score, (e.g., the “Introduction” of Part One) as well as in the heavier passages (e.g., the “Procession of the Sage,” also in Part One).
Despite such important and deserved kudos, the performance here does not exude the frenzy and daring excitement that one hears in such recordings as the one by the Kirov Orchestra under Valery Gergiev for Philips. If perfection in realization of the composer’s notated intentions is the purchaser’s goal, one can arguably do no better than this recording, particularly in view of Craft’s capabilities and vast experience with the composer personally as well as with his works. However, someone preferring a bit more risk-taking by performers and conductor might not find this performance quite up to par.
The remainder of this disc is given over to a 1997 MusicMasters recording of Stravinsky’s one-act opera, The Nightingale. Stravinsky actually began composing this sonically gorgeous work in 1908, not finishing it until after the premiere of The Rite, when a performance opportunity presented by Diaghilev and his stage director Alexander Sanin provided the composer with the necessary impetus. Paris was again the site of the premiere, on May 26, 1914, almost exactly a year after the premier of The Rite. Less than an hour in length, The Nightingale shared double-billing with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Le coq d’or in its initial presentations.
While fully two-thirds of the opera was completed after Stravinsky composed The Rite, the musical language is much closer to that of Firebird, with more than a few pages bringing the sounds of Debussy to mind as well. The experience of scoring both Petrushka and The Rite had developed Stravinsky’s orchestral pallet significantly, however, with the result that the latter parts of this work have some of the richest and most imaginative sonorities to be find anywhere in the composer’s output. Certainly, this can be credited in part to the setting (in China) of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale as well as to the fantastic nature of the story and the role of the nightingale as a central character.
The Philharmonia Orchestra serves both composer and conductor well in this performance. The technical difficulties of the score are handled with aplomb, and the oriental atmosphere is created with sensitivity and a lightness of touch that are perfectly suited to the nature of the story. Both the “real” and the mechanical nightingale in the story fairly leap from the disc with a brilliant realism. The orchestra bears much responsibility for this sonorous beauty, of course, but the singers are equally up to their tasks. The highly demanding role of the Nightingale is virtually tossed off by Olga Trifonova, whose thrilling voice amazes with its agility and range. Likewise, Robert Tear brings his usual lyricism and focused sound to the important role of the Fisherman. Pippa Longworth as the Cook, Paul Whelan as the Emperor, and Sally Burgess as Death stand out among other vocalists, as do the London Voices under Terry Edwards’ guidance.
This is a performance that has been prepared with considerable care and understanding. The Nightingale deserves wider exposure, both for its own virtues and because of what it displays about Stravinsky’s developing style and technique. This valuable (and inexpensive!) recording should go far in increasing that exposure.
Roy J. Guenther
Professor of Music
The George Washington University