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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