Download David Puderbaugh, Editor david

David Puderbaugh, Editor
[email protected]
Deep River: Music for Lent,
Passiontide and Holy Week
Winchester College Chapel Choir
Malcolm Archer, conductor
Jamal Sutton, organ
Regent REGCD405 (2012; 66:02)
The Winchester College Chapel
Choir has brought together a collection of repertoire and
hymns that allows for
reflection and meditation during the Lenten
season; included are
various pieces by Antonio Lotti, William
Byrd, Maurice Green, Henry Purcell, John
Ireland, J.S. Bach, John Sanders, Maurice
Duruflé, Anton Bruckner, and Michael
Tippett.
The choir has a pure, warm sound
that provides clarity in the phrases of
polyphonic pieces such as Lotti’s Crucifixus and Purcell’s Hear My Prayer. This
sound also accentuates the tight harmonies in the twentieth-century pieces:
Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas and John Sander’s
The Reproaches.
Of particular interest are the five
spirituals arranged by Michael Tippett,
originally from the composer’s secular
oratorio A Child of Our Time, written in
1941. Tippett’s arrangement of Deep
River is a highlight of the recording. The
spiritual has several layers of melody and
rhythm that give the piece movement,
creating the image of a flowing spring.
Several other recordings of Tippett’s
spirituals and of the entire oratorio
can be found elsewhere; however, this
is the first recording that specifically
programs the spirituals with traditional
Lenten hymns and standard repertoire
appropriate for Lent and Holy Week.
The unique combination of the classic
repertoire with the modern arrangements of spirituals makes this album
worth owning and exploring.
Sarah Zietlow
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Clytus Gottwald:
Alma und Gustav Mahler
SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart
Marcus Creed, conductor
Carus 83.370 (2013; 63:41)
The pendulum is inexorably swinging back. After decades of disparaging
comments about the artistic worth of
transcriptions, we now acknowledge
the skill and artistry of those who take
an original composition and render it
into something new,
albeit recognizable. Of
cour se , composer s
through the centuries
have borrowed, adapted, and even stolen
from their counterparts; some, like J. S. Bach and Handel,
did it to themselves! No longer is our
enjoyment of Stokowski’s orchestral
arrangement of Bach’s Toccata in D
minor considered a guilty pleasure. With
a clear conscience, then, we may enjoy
the arrangements of Clytus Gottwald
for what he himself declares them to
be: “A transcription represents something entirely new, an artistic product
that is aesthetically autonomous…It is
in no way auxiliary to the original, but
an independent form, a reflection on
the original.”
This is the fourth release by the German publishing house CARUS of such
transcriptions by Gottwald, and the second by the Stuttgart radio choir directed
by Marcus Creed. Whereas the other
recordings are witness to Gottwald’s
range of composers, from Alban Berg to
Richard Wagner, this latest CD focuses
on just two: Gustav Mahler and his wife,
Alma. We are reminded by Gottwald in
the excellent CD notes that Alma was
the more forward-looking musician of
the two: “[She] was truly very talented,
and she was professional … It is a great
pity she did not defend herself against
Gustav’s prohibition to compose.”
Certainly, the three songs heard on this
disc are worthy companions, but they
fail to capture the imagination in the
same visceral manner as do say, Gustav’s
“Urlicht” or “Ich bin der Welt abhanden
gekommen.” These, and several other
songs like “Um Mitternacht” and “Wo
die schönen Trompeten blasen,” are the
“meat and potatoes” of this disc, and
highly digestible they are too. Given that
Mahler left no unaccompanied music
of his own, these transcriptions are a
wonderful way for choral singers to
explore his Zeitgeist. They are distinct
from intentionally choral pieces by his
contemporaries such as Max Reger and
Richard Strauss, and our familiarity with
their original form (several are taken
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 4
November 2014
83
from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn
settings) only deepens our enjoyment.
The singing on this disc is exemplary,
as is the case with the other Gottwald
recordings on CARUS by the Saarbrücken Chamber Choir. The new CD
features instead the South West German Vocal Ensemble, based in Stuttgart,
clearly a center of choral excellence;
consider also the Gächinger Kantorei
and Freider Bernius’s Stuttgart Chamber Choir. The chief conductor of the
SWRVE is, surprisingly, an Englishman,
Marcus Creed, who has made his career
in Germany since graduating from King’s
College, Cambridge. From 1987 to 2001
he was artistic director of the RIAS choir
in Berlin and since 2003 has served as
the chief conductor of the SWRVE.
Earlier recordings have demonstrated
his exemplary direction, and this new
Mahler disc only confirms his reputation
as a choral musician of the highest order.
He draws out wonderful performances
from his singers and proves a powerful
advocate for Gottwald’s work. In less
capable hands, one might wonder if “In
Abendrot,” taken from the famous Adagietto of the fifth symphony, would have
seemed maudlin and self-indulgent? As
it is, it stands as the highlight of a recording abundant in newly cut gems. This is
clearly a recording to treasure.
Phillip Barnes
St. Louis, Missouri
Otto Nicolai: Messe in D; Liturgie Nr. 2,
Psalm 13, Pater noster, Ecce enim Deus,
Psalm 84
Kammerchor CONSONO
Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen
Harald Jers, conductor
Carus 83.341 (2013; 58:24)
Otto Nicolai is typically associated
with his singular opera, The Merry Wives
of Windsor, but his body of work also
84
includes multiple liturgical choral settings, which have surprisingly garnered
little attention. Harald Jers conducts the
Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen and
the CONSONO Chamber Choir in a
new, unique album of Nicolai’s Messe in
D and other small-scale, sacred works.
Messe in D encompasses six masterfully
crafted movements for
orchestra, SATB choir,
and SATB soloists. The
simple orchestration is
rooted in the traditions
of Viennese classicism and strings, brass,
and low woodwinds dominate the texture. The CONSONO chamber choir
flawlessly negotiates passages throughout each movement with clear diction
and purity of tone.
The five-minute, five-movement Liturgie no. 2 is understated. Little is known
of Nicolai’s religious conviction, but this
work sounds sincere and is reminiscent
of earlier Baroque homophonic works.
Nicolai’s voice-leading engenders vivid
harmonies, and the nuanced performance by CONSONO draws the listeners’ attention toward the work’s short,
phrasal nature.
The Psalm settings, two of which are
world-premiere recordings, have unique
orchestration. Psalm 13 calls for an octet
of accomplished soloists to perform
with choir and piano; Ecce enim Deus
is for unaccompanied double choir;
and Psalm 84 requires soloists, choir,
trumpet, trombone, and organ. Within
these settings, Nicolai’s palpable nod
to Baroque composers such as Bach
and Hasse is unmistakable in both form
and style.
In stark contrast, the Pater noster is
evocative of motets from the Italian Renaissance. Overlapping rising vocal lines
followed by pensive homophonic phrases create a thick, rich texture rivaling
the motets of Palestrina. Most notable
in this recording are the confident and
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 4
warm melodies sung by CONSONO’s
experienced soprano section, despite an
unnaturally high tessitura.
Both CONSONO and Folkwang
Kammerorchester Essen successfully adapt to numerous musical styles
throughout this recording, likely a testament to the musicianship and preparation by conductor, Harald Jers. The
copious and impressive qualities of this
album make it worthy of addition to
any music library; more importantly, it
fosters a yearning for other recordings
of equally underappreciated works.
Christopher Shortt
Louisville, Kentucky
Rautavaara: Missa A Cappella;
Sacred Choral Works
Latvian Radio Choir
Sigvards Kļava, conductor
Ondine ODE 1223-2 (2013; 63:34)
Those unfamiliar with the sacred
choral works of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara will find a substantial
compendium in this recent recording
by the Latvian Radio
Choir. An active composer since the 1950s,
Rautavaara developed
his compositional technique through numerous style periods, most
of which can be heard on this album.
Although the CD notes describe much
of his music as neo-Romantic, Rautavaara’s music distills so many different
practices that it seems to defy any single
stylistic label.
The disc’s centerpiece is the worldpremiere recording of Rautavaara’s
Missa A Cappella. Although the work
was completed in 2011, its origins can
be traced as far back as the early 1970s.
At that time, he had planned on writing an entire Mass, but, being drawn to
other projects, published only the Credo
as a stand-alone piece in 1972. As the
work was completed almost forty years
later, one might expect the Mass to have
somewhat of a composite feel. Instead,
Rautavaara has expertly crafted the
surrounding parts of the Mass Ordinary
around the Credo, synthesizing style
traits he developed over the years to
create a seamless work that stands up
with some of the great unaccompanied
Masses in the choral canon.
The mass combines Medieval chant,
minimalist soundscapes, and the composer’s unique brand of extended
tonality, resulting in a haunting, archaic
tone that pervades the entire work.
Rautavaara is a self-described mystic, and
one can appreciate the metaphysical implications in Rautavaara’s compositional
process from the first downbeat of the
Kyrie. The six-part soprano and alto
voices perform repeated, sixteenth note
melodic cells on “Kyrie eleison,” which
are each offset by one sixteenth note.
This provides a pulsating wash of sound
over which the soprano duet and men’s
voices chant the text in parallel thirds
and fifths. This same texture returns in
the Benedictus as a way of demarcating
the final Hosanna section. Other than
these two sections and parts of the
Credo, the Mass is largely homophonic
and at times rather slow, which is fortunate given the relative complexity of
Rautavaara’s harmonic language.
It is difficult at times to gauge the
singability of these works due to the Latvian Radio Choir’s seemingly effortless
execution. The fluid, unprepared modulations prevalent in most of these pieces
call to mind parts of Schönberg’s Friede
auf Erden, yet Sigvards Kļava’s group
handles each of these non-functional
tonal shifts with unwavering accuracy.
It is possible that there is a modicum
of studio magic at work here, but the
recording is so clean that one would
never be the wiser. The dynamics are
performed well within the realm of possibility, such that the pianos are not too
soft, and the fortes are not overwhelming. The soprano sound is generally light
and straight-toned, in contrast with the
men’s somewhat heavier, brassy timbre.
This results in an ideal, pyramid-style
choral balance that remains consistent
throughout the record.
Some other highlights of the CD include the Missa duodecanonica (1963), a
brief and surprisingly melodic mass from
Rautavaara’s twelve-tone period, and the
Canticum Mariae Virginis (1978), whose
sinuous tone clusters and even simpler
melodic writing represent yet another
style period for the composer. For the
Missa A Cappella alone, this album will
likely become a seminal recording of
Rautavaara’s sacred choral repertoire.
Those wishing to become more familiar
with this challenging, nuanced literature
would do well to add this CD to their
collection.
John Guarente
Miami, Florida
The Lost City:
Lamentations Through the Ages
Sospiri
Christopher Watson, conductor
Susanna Fairbairn and
Miranda Laurence, sopranos
Robert Vanryne, trumpet
Naxos 8.573078 (2013; 62:26)
Sospiri’s The Lost City examines a
fascinating topic: how various composers have approached the Lamentations
of the Prophet Jeremiah. Bypassing
well-known settings by Victoria, Tallis,
and Ginastera, the disc includes a mixture of Renaissance (Phinot, Mundy)
and twentieth-century (Britten, Casals,
Mauersberger, Ortiz, Vaughan Williams)
pieces and new works by Cecilia McDowall and John Duggan.
Although the exclusion of any music
written between 1630 and 1922 does
seem an oversight for a project that aims
to “give a sense of the many different
approaches to the text by composers
over the centuries,” the time periods and
repertoire that the group’s codirectors
Christopher Watson and John Duggan have chosen are well suited to the
group’s bright and clear timbre.
While the Renaissance and betterknown works on this
disc works are exemplary, it is on the newer and lesser-known
works that Sospiri really shines. Cecilia
McDowall’s The Lord is
Good opens the disc with a compelling
summons. As the choir shimmers in the
background, two soprano soloists weave
a haunting melody, sounding simultaneously ancient, ageless, and completely
contemporary.
Another standout is Rudolf Mauersberger’s Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst [How
Lonely Sits the City]. Mauersberger was
the music director of the Kreuzkirche in
Dresden and wrote his Lamentations
setting in 1945 as a response to the
Allies’ fire-bombing of the city during
World War II. The attacks destroyed
the church, library, and choir school and
killed eleven of his young choristers.
The parallels between Jeremiah’s lament
over the destruction of Jerusalem and
Maursberger’s over the destruction of
his city are poignant; and the music vividly represents the desolation, suffering,
and feeling of forsakenness.
While neither a cheerful nor uplifting
recording, Sospiri’s The Lost City is an
intense and emotional hour of music,
thoughtfully programmed and exquisitely sung.
Marc Falk
Iowa City, Iowa
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 4
85
Gioachino Rossini:
Petite Messe Solennelle
(1863 chamber version)
Kirchheimer Vokal-Consort
Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor
Carus 83.406 (2013; 78:35)
Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle stands
as a respected choral work despite
its inherent oddity. At the time of its
composition, Rossini had been retired
nearly thirty years, living comfortably in
Paris as a gourmand and composing little
of significance. The dialogue in Rossini’s
famous opera buffas has little in common
with the unwavering
faith of the Catholic
Mass text. And while
other composers such
as Mozart, Bach, and
Verdi wrote meaningful
liturgical works in their
later years, the peculiar scoring for the
Rossini’s mass—twelve singers, four soloists, two pianos (the second essentially
for doubling) and harmonium—make
the work seem less like a statement of
lifelong conviction than as a speculative
chamber music experiment.
Though self-described as petite, the
mass itself is anything but that, containing almost twenty separate movements.
Rossini prescribed twelve singers for the
Petite messe solennelle (“men, women,
and castrati”), and the soloists were
expected to be part of the chorus. The
Kirchheimer Vokal-Consort made their
recording with eight singers, two on
each part.
The Kyrie begins with an “oom-pah”
ostinato accompaniment that continues
underneath the legato, stepwise lines
of the choir and harmonium. The vocal
lines are distinctly chromatic but are
always lyrical and share many musical
traits with the late masses of Franz
Schuber t. The choir’s phrasing and
intonation are very good despite the
86
challenge of each part only having two
voices to blend. The middle Christe is
a beautiful, unaccompanied movement
written in traditional florid counterpoint.
The large multimovement Gloria is
the longest of the five Mass Ordinary
sections. Rossini’s penchant for drama is
displayed in the lively piano accompaniment, whose rhythmic energy is ably
performed by pianist Simon Bucher.
While the Petite messe solennelle was
fully orchestrated in 1867, the original
1863 version’s piano part often feels like
an orchestral reduction, especially with
its parallel octaves and varying textures.
While the first movements do not
resemble Rossini’s operatic works, the
tenor solo “Domine Deus” is one of
several solo works that function as
operatic showpieces. The Kirchheimer
Vokal-Consort has talented ensemble
singers, but the arias by the tenor and
bass soloists leave something to be
desired. The tenor’s voice sounds quite
strained in his high register, and the bass
soloist on the “Quoniam” and during the
Sanctus uses a very covered tone and is
somewhat uneven.
The strongest parts of the recording
are those featuring the choir and the
soprano and alto soloists.The limpid soprano line in O salutaris hostia, (included
here though not part of the Mass) with
its soaring melodic line, is quite moving,
while the male soloist in the Agnus Dei
also performs capably. Another distinctive element to this particular recording
is the large reverberation, a result of
recording in the spacious Noblessner
hall in Tallinn—a building used during
the Soviet years as a submarine factory.
Despite the echoes, tempos are not
slow, and diction is crisp enough to be
comprehended.
The Petite messe solennelle presents
such great difficulties in part because it
calls for four soloists to sing challenging
bel canto arias and then immediately
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 4
contribute to a twelve-voice choir. Other recordings of this work circumvent
this by using professional opera stars
separately or by using a larger choir. The
Kirchheimer Vokal-Consort’s recording
may be a useful reference for conductors in preparation of the Petite messe
solennelle, but readers seeking the most
aesthetically pleasing recording might
look elsewhere.
Tobin Sparfeld
Los Angeles, California
Live in Japan
The Real Group
Anders Edenröth, tenor
Katarina Henryson, alto
Anders Jalkéus, bass
Emma Nilsdotter, soprano
Morten Vinther Sørensen, baritone
Atenzia Records ATZ1338 (2013;
62:02)
The Real Group has been perfecting
their singular brand of unaccompanied
singing in Stockholm for nearly thirty
years. Their most recent album, Live in
Japan, finds them singing better than
ever and showing they do not need the
studio and overdubbing to produce a
world-class sound.
The last live CD from The Real Group
was released in 1997 (Live in Stockholm).
Since then, it has undergone two personnel changes, welcoming a new lead
soprano and baritone (Nilsdotter and
Sørensen), and, more importantly, radically changing the focus
and approach of the
ensemble. Whereas
the first ten to twelve
years of the ensemble
focused heavily on
jazz standards, the last
fifteen years have seen it widen the
approach to pop tunes, folk songs, and,
most of all, originals spanning virtually
every contemporary music genre. Additionally, in 2002 it recorded an entire
album of Swedish choral music, conducted by Eric Ericson.
Live in Japan is an album of highlights.
However, there are a few that stand
out even among the many outstanding
performances:
Gøta, the opening track, sets the
bar unfathomably high with a wordless,
soaring original melody that grows from
unison prime to five-part, full-throated
singing.
Gee, Mine or Mozart’s? is a fabulous
reworking of Mozart’s fortieth Symphony. At first the listener expects a Swingle
Singers-type rehashing, but the group
turns it into a tour de force, seamlessly
integrating styles from jazz to country,
tango to Middle Eastern-style modality.
Pass Me the Jazz is an original swing
tune in the style of the many Count
Basie songs the ensemble previously
performed. Tightly voiced, brisk saxophone lines are delivered idiomatically
and with feeling. The clever lyric is an
extended metaphor comparing jazz to
food.
A Minute On Your Lips is The Real
Group’s first foray into Nashville-style
country music. The original song is so
well done it is hard to believe it was
originally sung by Dolly Parton. Hearing
native Swedes singing with a southern
twang warps the mind, more so to know
that they wrote the funny, clever lyric in
a second language. Listen close for the
perfect rendition of a slide guitar in the
background parts.
Harder, Faster, Better, Stronger, originally by the French duo Daft Punk, finds
The Real Group happily venturing into
contemporary pop. Wonderful sections
of four-voice hocket alternate with
homophonic singing in its interpretation, and concluding cascading octaves
end at a low Ab from basso profundo
Anders Jalkéus.
Live in Japan is a record of one of the
best vocal ensembles in the world at the
very top of their game. Its blend and
intonation are consistently flawless, and
it has a distinct sound across the musical spectrum. For this listener, The Real
Group redefines what is possible for
vocal ensembles and deserves mentioning in any list of top singing ensembles.
Jed Scott
Rockford, Michigan
CHORAL JOURNAL Volume 55 Number 4
87