Thursday, 2 December 2010
Mahlerkugeln Jurowski Mahler 4 LPO
Vladimir Jurowski is a man who deserves respect because he has integrity. He's spiritual and a fantastic conductor in his core repertoire - Russians, Mozart, Romantics. So it breaks my heart to see him forced onto the Mahler bandwagon at the Royal Festival Hall. He's been wise to approach Mahler slowly, conducting smaller, non-final works like Totenfeier, Blumine, the Adagio from the Tenth and recently the First Symphony. It's not a bad strategy to ease into a composer's idiom gradually, so Jurowski is no fool. It took Barenboim years to get Mahler at all.
But now Jurowski is expected to do the full blown Mahler thing whether he's ready or not. A disappointing Mahler 2nd in September 2009 and a shapeless Mahler 3rd in September 2010. Tonight's Mahler 4th was heartbreaking. I could go into detail about what didn't work but that's not fair. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is good. They wouldn't normally play as if feeling their way. The brass players are good, perfectly capable of Mahler's trademark incisive panache. Since the new Royal Festival Hall acoustic favours brass, I don't know why the double basses were aligned across the back of the platform, The strings in general were generic. We know the leader can carry off the sforzando quirkiness of the Freund Hein theme. This orchestra is just too good to be "walking the part", as they say of opera singers.
The problem was lack of focus, elongated lines, slow tempi, little sense of direction or meaning. . Although Mahler's Fourth seems idyllic, it's a mistake to think it's romantic. Children starve and are massacred. What's the point of a Totentanz if it's not haunted Freund Hein, the demon violinist, is often depicted as a grinning skeleton. The "restfulness" here is the rest of the grave But it's not passive. Graduallly, it transforms from a kind of purgatory into heavenly transcendence. The final movement is powerful because it represents triumph over evil. One good thing in this performance was that Christine Schäfer entered at a point when there's a hint of procession, as if she were emerging out of chaos into light. Kein' Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden. Our music isn't of this earth. The children whose voices she sings died horribly but are reborn on a better plane. (Please see my post Why greedy kids in Mahler 4)
Jurowski conducted a wonderful Mahler Das klagende Lied in 2008. That's telling. For a conductor like him, who's so good in opera and ballet, a narrative like DkL comes naturally. It exists on its own terms, without cross references to the composer's other work and without the complicated metaphysics that truly penetrating interpretation involves. Jurowski's a Buddhist, (I think), so in theory, metaphysics should be his thing, but Mahler's mindset is so idiosyncratic it's unique. Understanding is gained from insight and long experience. Much of the meaning is embedded structurally into the music, which is why an "architectural" approach often works better than straight loveliness.
Besides, why should everyone "have" to get everything every time? Jurowski probably gets bombarded with the newly-rebranded revisionist view of Mahler. It's hard to resist when all around you are clamouring for it. But I think he's intelligent and independent enough to find his own way into Mahler one day. Just not yet.
It was a mistake to programme Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Britten's Les Illuminations and Debussy Three Préludes orchestrated by Colin Matthews. Stylistically, there's too much of a leap. Christine Schäfer has done both Les Illuminations and Das himmlische Leben so often she could probably sing them in her sleep. Yet her singing was alert, as if she was quite unperturbed by an orchestra that sounded like it was sight reading. Again, it's not their fault. It's not Jurowski's fault. It's the curse of Mahlerkugelnjahr.
LOTS more posts on Mahler, symphony by symphony
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Theodora multiplies - Salzburg broadcast
The 2009 Salzburg Theodora can be heard online on demand for the next week HERE. This is the one with Christine Schäfer, Bejun Mehta and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra which alone should indicate something special. Theodora is "...a product of (Handel's) late maturity, that ultimately determines one’s enjoyment of a work that avoids spectacular flights and fancies but shines with inner radiance" said the Financial Times (full review HERE)
Theodora didn't sell out, and neither did Handel. Though there are cross-dressing hijinks, this story isn't "fun". The organ dominates, for the vow Theodora has made is stern and uncompromising, and the dark sound of the organ symbolizes the depth of her integrity. The orchestration is spare, closer perhaps to the spirit of Bach than to High Baroque ostentation. Schäfer sounds girlish and fragile, which makes the strength of her resolve all the more intense. Her steeliness is more convincing than ostensibly more "beautiful" and luscious voices.
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's singing is glorious, but I couldn't stand the Glyndebourne production. Peter Sellars turned the oratorio into a Star Wars caricature. The Romans became futuristic androids in plastic suits, while the Christians languished in Grecian robes. Sellar's sci-fi setting was popular because people could relate to the story in simplistic terms, but it completely overwhelmed the music and the "real" story, which is infinitely more human and moving. In any case the Christians turned out to be the "future" not the Romans. More destructively, Sellars shifts the focus away from the spirituality in the music to the cartoon-like overlay. Pointless and destructive. The Salzburg production at least recognised the role of the music, placing the organ at the centre of the action on stage, as it is in the oratorio, and by extension, in the whole narrative. Less is definitely more, particularly in a work like Theodora which is predicated on ascetic austerity.
Another Theodora, this time from Paris in 2006. Listen to this performance (streamed online) from Opera Today. Emmanuelle Haϊm conducts the Orchestre et chor du Concert d'Astrée. Anne Sofie von Otter is Theodora, fitting in well with Haϊm's clean, unfussy approach. Theodora isn't a flight of gorgeous fantasy, but a story of strong human beliefs. The Glyndebourne elaboration perhaps made it easy on the eye rather than the mind, but why not set it in other periods where high-minded people like Theodora stand up to high-living corruption? The spartan Salzburg setting seems to have acknowledged this, and alluded to the point that there are plenty of Theodoras around, even now.
Monday, 21 December 2009
Alternative Winterreise
Winterreise has inspired dozens of responses, good and bad. You don't want to see Brigitte Fassbender dressed up as a nun, surrounded by Beidermeier peasants, however well she sings (yes, it exists). But Simon Keenlyside's Winterreise with choreographer Trisha Brown sparked off new ideas for me. Keenlyside is an athlete (now married to a ballerina) so he has physical presence. In this production, he didn't dance but it was very physical, the semi-invisible dancers around him formed a kind of net which caught him when he fell. It was like he was trusting in fate - he didn't "see" the dancers but they stopped him from crashing to the ground and pushed him ever onwards. Just like the landscape in the cycle.
There's also a film of Winterreise with Christine Schäfer and Eric Schneider, which many admire passionately. I haven't seen it myself but can understand why it's such a cult, it's edgy and uncompromising. I love the audio version, which I think is a different and better performance. because her high, bright soprano brings out the eerie quality of light in the music extremely well. She sounds shockingly vulnerable and yet sharp - chilling and totally in accord with the music. Indeed I can't recommend this CD too highly. It reveals aspects of the cycle no-one else comes close to expressing. Sure, it's not the usual butch male thing, but it "needs" to be heard to bring out levels of Winterreise not usually accessed.
Years ago when Ian Bostridge and Julius Drake were fairly malleable they got talked into filming the cycle with David Alden. Alden had very definite ideas, and even judicious editing can't hide the fact that he and Bostridge/Drake didn't feel comfortable with them. This was filmed in a Victorian lunatic asylum. At one stage Bostridge writhes in a straitjacket. "Let me out of here!" his eyes seem to plead. He's got good ideas of his own, far less limiting than the "psycho" scenario around which tis film predicates. It's Alden's vision, Bostridge and Drake are just extras.
Another unusual one, which I haven't seen either but heard about from others. Winterreise mixed with The Sorrows of Young Werther, two great classics of Romantic despair. The singer is Erik Nelson Werner. Very demanding role esp. as it means switching modes, adding to the sense of disorientation.
There's also been a Black Theatre of Prague version, where a disembodied voice and piano do their thing while fleeting images in black and light flicker on the stage. I know there's at least one ballet but can't remember at this moment - prompt please? And there's Hans Zender's orchestration, with Ensemble Modern, which was a good experience live because some of the musicians move about in the hall, like a ragged village band. Better than it sounds, but not quite so interesting on audio. Everyone who listens has a different perspective (which changes all the time). So exploring alternative Winterreises is like listening to someone telling you how they feel about it. It may not be the same as what you feel, but to say "never!" is like saying, never listen to someone else's opinion. Though sometimes you get Fassbender dressed as a nun.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
Schäfer sings Mahler 4 with Haitink
Christine Schäfer sings Mahler 4/4 on Saturday at the Barbican with Haitink and the LSO. This is one I've been waiting for for months, because I like her light, clean voice, very "white" which suits the nature of the piece. In fact I like this kind of clarity in Mahler in general. On the Boulez recording of Mahler 2 she's ethereal and almost steals the show though the soprano part is fairly short. This clip comes from her perfomance of the 4th Symphony with Haitink and the Concertgebouw. I'm not sure of the exact date because they must have performed it together several times. There's a good recording from 2006. Obviously, it's not a smart idea to micro compare performances as each one differs every time, but this is a nice taster. She looks so tense in the film, in that black suit, but sounds fine. Listen to the poised way she slows down on "tausend Jungfrauen", like the way dancers dip in some graceful dance.
The other day someone told me they heard someone say they didn't like Mahler 4 because it was "too light". But the child in the song is dead, and the 11000 virgins were massacred. It's not a "happy" symphony, charming as it is. Sometimes sopranos sing this with more gusto, which is fine because it is sensuous - all that food! Please see my earlier posts on Mahler 4th especially the one "Why greedy kids in Mahler 4" Schäfer doesn't look greedy but that's OK, there are many ways of singing this, and her way is good for creating the idea of a child no longer of this world.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Salzburg 2009 - Mozart, Nono, Handel
Così fan tutte seems very good indeed:
"Now comes a staging that, though far from perfect, brings Così back into the reckoning as a Salzburg speciality. It marks the culmination of a Da Ponte trilogy directed in consecutive years by Claus Guth, and it is easily the most impressive of the three. Guth’s achievement ........ is to lend Mozart’s “school for lovers” a contemporary sheen without stretching credibility or denying the opera’s inner logic." Read more HERE
The one I really wanted to see, Luigi Nono's Al gran sole carico d'amore. This is a real rarity. It's not at all "easy listening" , a powerful piece about the horrors of capitalism. Tickets cost about 300 Euro which, plus travel and accomodation, puts it beyond the means of real Nono fans. What those who could afford to go made of it, who knows? There were also recitals and talks connected with this, for those Nono fans who could make it. (Please let me know if you want details, the talk by Carola Neilinger-Vakil is important, she's the best Nono writer around). I'll curl up with the old Luther Zagrosek recording which is a bit muted, dreaming of what Metzmacher might do. It's hard to imagine the Vienna Philharmonic in this repertoire but then they've responded well to Metzmacher - they did Messiaen Eclairs sur l'au-delà with him and sound surprisingly idiomatic. The Salzburg cast, well-known UK singers, are not Nono specialists, so apart from one, the singing may be an unknown quality. Read the FT article HERE and follow the labels on the right for the MANY things I've done about Luigi Nono.
Then, Handel's Theodora with Christine Schäfer, good strong cast including Bernarda Fink, and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra who alone would have made this production worthwhile, they're so good. It's directed by Christof Loy, who did the amazing abstract Lulu and will be directing the new Royal Opera House Tristan und Isolde. Anything would be better than the 1996 Glyndebourne Theodora, with Star Wars set and clumpy costumes, making Dawn Upshaw and Lorraine Hunt Liebermann look so ludicrous I switched off the video to listen. Read the FT report HERE.
photo credit HERE
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Schoenberg Zemlinsky Salonen London
Everybody but everybody repeats the usual cliché connecting Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and Zemlinsky's LS ((code to save typing the whole name). It's much wiser though, to listen to each piece on its own terms and appreciate how unique each one is. Both are symphonies with song. Zemlinsky sets lines from Tagore about two lovers in ancient
What the Viennese secession did was break away from the hyperfervid neurosis of High Victorian taste, the claustrophobia that exists even in Wagner. That's why it ushered in more fluid lines in design, painting, literature. Zemlinsky is a lot more than an obtuse proto-Wagnerian. He's the missing link (if there is one) between Mahler and the
Oddly enough there are lots of tickets left for the performance on Thursday. Below is a description of the most illuminating recording of the LS ever. Scroll down , enjoy
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Zemlinsky Lyrische Symphonie Magic Eschenbach
It's groundbreaking because it's informed by recent discoveries about Zemlinsky and his style. Anthony
In the 1920’s, Tagore was wildly popular in progressive circles because his rejection of materialism ran counter to the values of the time. Remember, India was still a colony. Embracing Tagore's spirituality was a kind of liberation. By using Tagore as the basis of this symphony, Zemlinsky is doing more than adopting pseudo-oriental exoticism. He knew what Tagore represented. He's not looking backward, but forward..
Thus those rich drum rolls that lead into the symphony announce things to come, as drum rolls should be – quite literally a “curtain raiser” for a cosmic adventure. Immediately, refreshingly clear brass introduce the three note figure that recurs in myriad guises through the whole symphony. Then, softly, out of the orchestra, the baritones voice enters, quietly but with intense depth and feeling. “Ich bin friedlos” (a variant of the three note figure). Goerne is just over forty, still not at the peak of his powers, and yet it’s hard to imagine any singer delivering such authority and nuance to these words. The way he curls his voice around the vowels is utterly delicious – Meine Seele schweift in Sensucht, den Saum der dunkeln Weite zu berühten. You don’t need a word of German to enjoy the richness of his tone.
Berühten, becalmed. Yet this music is anything but listless. It reflects the overwhelming “thirst” in the text for distant, unknown horizons and the “Great Beyond”. Goerne sings Ich bin voll Verlangen with eagerness, then shapes the next words “und wachsam” with warm, rounded, sensuality. It’s delicious to hear two different, but valid feelings, in the space of a few seconds. Make no mistake, this music is about seeking, striving for something yet unknown, which grows from a pool of stillness.
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Audi Partenope Wien Schäfer
".........It is this finale which cleverly encapsulates Audi’s vision of Partenope’s latently violent world: the confrontation becomes an actual boxing match set inside the villa, complete with ropes, hanging microphone, glitzy scorecard girls and the protagonists in lurid red and white towelling robes. The watching characters seem to hold their breath as Arsace makes the winning blow: his opponent must fight, like him, bare-chested (and thus betray her sex). This cruel twist breaks her spirit, and reveals all the treachery and immorality lying beneath the sham glamour of their lives. Handel’s final chorus is oddly abrupt and Audi leaves us wondering whether any of them will ever love each other again. No heroes here in Vienna, just a baroque opera for the 21st century, and none the worse for it. "
Read the whole piece here with production pix:
http://www.operatoday.com/content/2009/02/no_home_for_her.php