24 Sep 2006
Katarina Jovanovic — Songs by Brahms, Strauss, Schubert
In her debut recording the young Roumanian soprano Katarina Jovanic demonstrates her talent in performing an intriguing selection of Lieder by Schubert, Brahms, and Strauss.
Recently in Recordings
Henry Purcell, Royal Welcome Songs for King Charles II Vol. III: The Sixteen/Harry Christophers
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.
Anima Rara: Ermonela Jaho
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.
Requiem pour les temps futurs: An AI requiem for a post-modern society
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.
Ádám Fischer’s 1991 MahlerFest Kassel ‘Resurrection’ issued for the first time
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.
Max Lorenz: Tristan und Isolde, Hamburg 1949
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.
Women's Voices: a sung celebration of six eloquent and confident voices
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).
Rosa mystica: Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir
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.
The Prison: Ethel Smyth
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.
Songs by Sir Hamilton Harty: Kathryn Rudge and Christopher Glynn
‘Hamilton Harty is Irish to the core, but he is not a musical nationalist.’
After Silence: VOCES8
‘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.
Beethoven's Songs and Folksongs: Bostridge and Pappano
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.
Flax and Fire: a terrific debut recital-disc from tenor Stuart Jackson
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.
Carlisle Floyd's Prince of Players: a world premiere recording
“It’s forbidden, and where’s the art in that?”
John F. Larchet's Complete Songs and Airs: in conversation with Niall Kinsella
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.
Haddon Hall: 'Sullivan sans Gilbert' does not disappoint thanks to the BBC Concert Orchestra and John Andrews
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’s Choral Symphony and Choral Fantasy from Harmonia Mundi
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.
Taking Risks with Barbara Hannigan
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.
Alfredo Piatti: The Operatic Fantasies (Vol.2) - in conversation with Adrian Bradbury
‘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.’
Those Blue Remembered Hills: Roderick Williams sings Gurney and Howells
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.
Bruno Ganz and Kirill Gerstein almost rescue Strauss’s Enoch Arden
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.
OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »
Recordings
Her accompanist in what is essentially a vocal recital is Bruno Fontaine, who has worked with such performers as Julia Migenes and Ute Lemper. As a producer, Fontaine worked with Lemper on her CDs entitled Illusions and City of Strangers, both fine efforts for the team. On this CD Fontaine demonstrates his work as an accompanist in literature that shows his talents in this area.
As to the contents of the CD, it includes four songs by Brahms (“Mädchenfluch,” “Mädchenlied,” “Verscheller Schwur,” and “Das Mädchen”), six by Strauss (“Ruhe, meine Seele,” “Cäcilie,” “Heimliche Aufforderung,” “Morgen,” “Hat gesagt,” and “Schlechtes Wetter), and seven by Schubert (“Die junge Nonne,” “ Lietanei auf das Fest Allerseelen,” “Die Sterne,” “Bei dir,” “Erster Verlust,” “Rastlose Liebe,” and “Der Hirt auf de Felsen”). The literature is fairly standard, but the inclusion in a single program is something of a challenge, especially with the Strauss songs, which have demands of their own.
Jovanic has an engaging voice, and in approaching Lieder brings out the text clearly. At times, as in Strauss’s “Ruhe, meine Seele,” it can tend toward an arioso approach to the music. This serves her well in bringing out the rhythms of the poetry that are essential to this literature, which must be part of the line. In lines that require vocalizing, as at the end of “Cäcilie,” it is possible to hear Jovanic’s strong and consistent tone. This serves her well in delivering a good selection of Brahms’s Lieder, as its dramatic qualities allow the vocal line to emerge clearly from that composer’s sometimes dense accompaniments.
With the latter, Fontaine accompanies her sometimes impetuously, as in “Mädchenfluch,” the piece that opens the recording. Sometimes the performers seem to push the tempos just a bit, and that gives can bring out the drama implicit in the texts. Fontaine is a deft pianist, and his own interpretations are not without interest. While he can be aggressive with some of Strauss’s music, he also demonstrates exemplary finesse with Schubert’s song.
In fact, the most interesting selection on this CD is the final one, Schubert’s “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen,” D. 965, with the well-known clarinet obliggato. Joined by Florent Heau. This piece by Schubert resembles some of a Baroque solo cantata, and the demands of a piece of this length show Jovanic’s voice well. With the tone set by the clarinetist Heau, Jovanic offers a solid interpretation of this piece, where the clarinet and voice echo each other in lines that intersect in the manner of fine chamber music. Fontaine accompanies both soloists well, and the three performers offers a fine conclusion to this curious, yet satisfying recording of what is essentially a Liederaband. This recording is an excellent introduction to the young and talented soprano Katarina Jovanic, and those intrigued by her voice will, no doubt, want to see how she develops her promising career.
James L. Zychowicz