Improvisation is an important part of the performance of early music. From the early stages in the development of the historical performance practice interpreters realised that simply playing the notes as they were printed or written down by the composer was not enough. The score was only the starting point of the process of interpretation or even recreation of what the composer had in mind. In this respect they reacted against the traditional performances of early music, in particular those which - in their pursuit of avoiding the romantic distortion of pre-romantic music - aimed at avoiding every personal element and even emotion in the interpretation. Only recently I saw a performance of Bach's B minor Mass under the direction of Karl Richter which was a good illustration of this approach.
The more interpreters were mastering the singing and playing techniques of the 17th and 18th centuries, the more they felt free to add something to their performances. They became more generous in their ornamentation and took more liberties in their treatment of rhythm and tempo. In recent times some performers have gone some steps further in that they are adding their own inventions to the music they play. Some harpsichordists, for instance, add an improvised prelude to a keyboard suite. Others don't hesitate to change notes or create their own version from two existing versions by the composer.
Basically this is a good development. It is important to realise that composers were mostly also the performers of their own compositions. There can be no doubt that someone like Johann Jacob Froberger played his own compositions during his concert tours and it is hardly plausible that he played his suites exactly the same way every time. One should be careful, though. After all, today's interpreters are not at the same footing as the composer. It is the freedom of the composer to do with his own music whatever he likes. That doesn't necessarily mean the modern interpreter has the same right. We also should not forget that the interpretational freedom of the performer in the composers' time was not unlimited. Not seldom composers warned performers of their music not to violate its character. Often they published their compositions in order to 'correct' distorted copies of their works, either printed or circulating in manuscripts.
That doesn't take anything away from the importance of attempts to perform the music of the past with the kind of freedom the composers expected from their interpreters. But we have a problem here which is the effect of a crucial part of today's music-scene: the phenomenon of the recording. Ornamentation and all other sorts of interpretational liberties are supposed to change from one performance to the other. With a recording all improvisational devices are frozen for ever. By playing a disc they are reproduced and repeated ad nauseam which violates their very nature. There is no solution to this problem: a recording in the style of the old days - playing exactly what was written down - is no option anymore, as the audiences are expecting interpreters to do something which sets their performance apart from those of their colleagues. But it proves once again that no disc can ever replace a live performance.
Some musicians take further steps on the path of improvisation. In the Festival Early Music Utrecht of 2008 I attended a concert by the Spanish ensemble More Hispano. I enjoyed the concert and was impressed by the way they used existing material for their improvisations. Recently they released a disc with improvisations under the title "Yr a oydo" (*), meaning "going by heart". In the booklet their approach is described as "an active approach, taking care not to just play the written notes of the pieces but adding another dimension to the interpretation as early performers did. Instead of being passive readers, we play the same game using their same tools and resources, and thus creating new melodic phrases, improvised solos, nuances and agogics, never planned in advance. we spontaneously create a way of punctuating the musician's dialogue on stage, playing with open structures that will resolve unpredictably during the course of the performance on stage or during the recording, taking us on new and unsuspected paths. We express our approach to Renaissance music in a fully improvised performance of virtually all the pieces included in our programs."
Whether recorded improvisations are really improvised - and not prepared beforehand or corrected afterwards - is impossible to verify. We have only the interpreters' word for it. But if they say so, let's trust them. Listening to this disc I was thinking how different a live performance and a recording are, in particular in regard to an approach like this. I don't think I would like to hear this disc a second time, simply because I know what is coming. The surprise which is part of the attraction of an improvisation is gone after two or three listens. But it has also to do with the way the musicians treat the material. They state that they try to "recover the art of improvisation by basing it only on the encoded material in the numerous early publications." This means that they don't opt for distorting the music with contemporary musical elements - and one can only be thankful for that. I am not sure, though, whether they have been completely successful in avoiding it. In particular the playing of the recorder sometimes didn't sound like the 17th century to me.
The programme is a bit one-sided in that all pieces are extraverted, pretty loud and in fast tempi. What about more intimate music? Would their approach work in other kinds of music? They write that "[one] of our aims is to show that this creative aspect, at least in the repertoire of the Renaissance and Baroque, is not only a possibility or a permission, but almost always an inescapable duty of the professional performer." It seems to me this statement is hardly tenable: the approach may work in the Spanish or Italian secular repertoire as recorded on this disc, it would be completely wrong in, for instance, German sacred music of the 17th century. Even here some improvisations may be in the style of the 17th century, but that in itself doesn't make them historically plausible. The most striking example is the last track, Ciaconna, in which elements from Monteverdi's madrigal Zefiro torna and his motet Laudate Dominum are mixed, even textually. There seems to me no justification for this whatsoever. It has more to do with the preferences of the performers than what is historically justifiable.
So this disc raises many questions, which in itself is not a bad thing. But for me it underlines that improvisation may be an "inescapable duty" of modern performers, it does matter how they treat this subject. It is easy to go overboard, and I feel that is what has happened here.
(*) Yr a oydo - More Hispano (Carpe Diem CD-16279)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Early Music News
Personal
The American lutenist James Tyler has died on November 23. There is an obituary in The Guardian.
Awards
One of the six awards of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik for the year 2010 was given to the recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's motets by the Bach Collegium Japan under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki.
The Musikfest Bremen awarded the Belgian keyboard player and conductor Jos Van Immerseel with its Musikfest-Preis for 2010. It is a token of acknowledgement for his artistic achievements on the music scene and his programmatic contributions at the festival. Previous prizewinners include John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Marc Minkowski.
From the recording studios
Some interesting productions will be released in the coming months.
The ensemble Ordo Virtutum has recorded music by Notker Balbulus. It is the first in a series of recordings of musical treasures from the library of the convent Sankt Gallen (label: Christophorus).
Music by female composers from Italian convents of the 17th century is recorded by the Cappella Artemisia under the direction of Candace Smith (label unknown; probably Tactus).
Le Concert Brisé, directed by the cornettist William Dongois, has recorded a programme with sonatas and motets by Buxtehude. Next year a disc with sonatas by Fontana will be recorded and in 2012 either a programme with antiphons and sonatas by Cazzati or sonatas by Bertali. All productions will be released by Accent. At the German label Carpe Diem a disc with music by Pandolfi Mealli and Froberger has appeared.
The United Continuo Ensemble from Germany has recorded excerpts from a collection of arias from Leipzig, Die Musicalische Rüstkammer of 1719. Next year a disc with music for bass instruments by composers from Italy and Spain (Frescobaldi, Vitali, Rognoni, Ortiz et al) will be recorded. Both are produced by PanClassics.
The Canadian ensemble Constantinople has recorded a programme with Mexican baroque music (Sanz, Ribayaz, Murcia) (Analekta).
One of the most prominent British all-male college choirs is the Choir of New College, Oxford, since long directed by Edward Higginbottom. Although its repertoire ranges from the Middle Ages to the 21th century it is especially renowned for its performances of early music. Recently a recording of Monteverdi's Vespers was released. Other new recordings include Bach's motets and Mozart's Requiem. These all appear on the choir's recently-founded label Novum.
A series of five discs with sacred music by Johann Sebastian Bach and some contemporaries will appear at the Belgian label Passacaille, with the ensemble Il Gardellino, directed by Marcel Ponseele. The first has just been released.
Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord concertos have been recorded by Aapo Häkkinen and Helsinki Baroque (Aeolus), whereas Andreas Staier and the Freiburger Barockorchester have recorded keyboard concertos by Carl Philipp Emanuel for Harmonia mundi.
Events
Last October the first performance since 300 years of the opera Berenice und Lucilla by Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) took place in the Orangerie in Darmstadt, where Graupner worked most of his life. The performers were the Konzertchor Darmstadt and the Darmstädter Hofkapelle on period instruments, conducted by Wolfgang Seeliger. Interesting was the historical approach of the staging, by the Belgian choreographer Sigrid T'Hooft, who is a specialist in baroque gesture.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The operas of André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry
For a long time the interest in French music of the ancien régime was mostly limited to the music during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Only fairly recently the music which was composed and performed in France in the second half of the 18th century has been given some attention. It can't be a coincidence that this year no less than two recordings of operas by André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry were released, conducted by Hervé Niquet and Guy Van Waas respectively. With Grétry we have one of the most successful composers of that era in French music history. Part of his success came from the fact that he was the favourite of Marie-Antoinette. She was a music lover and also played the keyboard and the harp. Recently I reviewed a disc which contains a survey of the music played and sung in the salons of Marie-Antoinette and the upper class of her time.
Grétry is also represented in the programme, with a duet from his opera La Caravane du Caire. A complete recording of that opera was released in the early 1990's, under the direction of Marc Minkowski [1]. But that remained a single event, and didn't create any real interest in Grétry's music.
Grétry was first and foremost famous for his comic operas. It is ironic that the two operas Niquet and Van Waas have recorded, both don't belong to that genre. It could well be that comic operas of that time don't go down that well to the audiences of our time. Some years ago I heard a recording of the comic opera L'irato ou l'Emporté by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul [2], and I didn't find it very funny at all. But maybe it had more to do with having a different sense of humour.
Considering his reputation it was quite surprising that in 1778 Grétry was commissioned to compose an opera on a libretto after the tragedy Andromaque by Jean Racine, the most famous French poet of the 17th century. But the then director of the Opéra wanted to offer various styles to his audience, and give them the opportunity to compare them. Andromaque [3] wasn't a great success when it was first performed in 1780. The libretto by Louis-Guillaume Pitra was sharply criticised for disfiguring Racine's tragedy. The same critic also had some bad things to say about Grétry's music: "In this work there is nothing but a shrill and tedious noise (...)." The opera was also criticised for the number of choruses and the lack of divertissements. It was considered too tragic, and particularly the ending. For later performances it was therefore reworked by the librettist and the composer, and that made the work more successful. Niquet decided to perform the original version. It is a pretty modern work in which the three acts are actually three large scenes, in which recitatives, arias and choruses merge into one another almost without interruption. There are very few long arias and the number of dances is limited. The chorus is part of the dramatic development and comments the events or pushes them forward. The orchestra is playing a particularly important role by depicting what is going on. It is also full of contrasts in dynamics and colour, thanks to the scoring with flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani plus strings. There is no keyboard: all recitatives are accompanied by the orchestra.
It is easy to understand that the audiences had problems with the tragic ending: one of the four main characters dies, another commits suicide, and a third is becoming mad.
Hervé Niquet's interpretation is almost ideal. The orchestra is just as colourful and dynamical as the score requires, and greatly contributes to the dramatic character of the performance. The choruses are also splendidly realised. The casting of the main protagonists is spot-on: Karine Deshayes (Andromaque), Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Hermione) and Tassis Christoyannis (Oreste) all give excellent accounts of their characters. Sébastien Guèze (Pyrrhus) gives a fairly good interpretation of his role, but is a bit undifferentiated: he mostly is too loud, and stylistically his singing is debatable.
This recording makes it abundantly clear that Andromaque is a masterpiece, and one has to be thankful to Hervé Niquet for digging it up.
I find it harder to consider Céphale et Procris [4] a masterpiece. It was called a ballet-héroïque and was first performed in 1773. It received a mixed reception, and that was largely due to its ambivalent character. Grétry tried to incorporate elements of the Italian style of his time into the traditional French opera. On the one hand there are sequences of recitatives - which are accompanied by the orchestra -, arias and choruses, on the other hand it includes ballets as in the classical French opera. The work is also traditional in its mythological subject matter and the appearance of allegorical characters. In addition the libretto was considered problematic: Céphale is not a very heroic character, and there are few direct conflicts between the protagonists. As a result the work is not very dramatic, and the fact that the performance under the direction of Guy Van Waas was recorded live doesn't make any difference. All in all, this is an interesting piece because of its form and the quality of the music, but not very captivating. On the whole the interpretation is good, but also a bit flat. Pierre-Yves Pruvot is good as Céphale, but Katia Vellétaz is too uninvolved as Procris. Bénédicte Tauran (Aurore) and Isabelle Cals (Palès, Jalousie) give good accounts of their respective roles, but their continuous vibrato is disturbing. Stylistically Caroline Weynants (L'Amour) and Aurélie Franck (Flore) make a better impression. The choir is, as one would expect, excellent, and the orchestra - more or less of the same constitution as in Andromaque - is also playing well. This production is definitely interesting, and enhances our knowledge of Grétry as a composer of music for the theatre. It is just a shame it is musically not completely satisfying.
[1] Grétry, La Caravane du Caire
Greta De Reyghere, Isabelle Poulenard, Guy De Mey, Jules Bastin et al, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Ricercar Academy/Marc Minkowski (Ricercar RIC 100084/085; 1991)
[2] Méhul, L'Irato ou l'Emporté
Pauline Courtin, Svenja Hempel, Cyril Auvity, Alain Buet, Georg Poplutz, Miljenko Turk, Bonner Kammerchor, L'arte del mondo/Werner Ehrhardt
(Capriccio 60128; 2005)
[3] Grétry, Andromaque
Karine Deshayes, Maria Ricarda Wesseling, Sébastien Guèze, Tassis Christoyannis, Choir and Orchestra of the Concert Spirituel, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles/Hervé Niquet
(Glossa GCD 921620; 2009)
[4] Grétry, Céphale et Procris
Isabelle Cals, Bénédicte Tauran, Katia Vellétaz, Caroline Weynants, Aurélie Franck, Pierre-Yves Pruvot, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens/Guy Van Waas
(Ricercar RIC 302; 2009)
Grétry is also represented in the programme, with a duet from his opera La Caravane du Caire. A complete recording of that opera was released in the early 1990's, under the direction of Marc Minkowski [1]. But that remained a single event, and didn't create any real interest in Grétry's music.
Grétry was first and foremost famous for his comic operas. It is ironic that the two operas Niquet and Van Waas have recorded, both don't belong to that genre. It could well be that comic operas of that time don't go down that well to the audiences of our time. Some years ago I heard a recording of the comic opera L'irato ou l'Emporté by Etienne-Nicolas Méhul [2], and I didn't find it very funny at all. But maybe it had more to do with having a different sense of humour.
Considering his reputation it was quite surprising that in 1778 Grétry was commissioned to compose an opera on a libretto after the tragedy Andromaque by Jean Racine, the most famous French poet of the 17th century. But the then director of the Opéra wanted to offer various styles to his audience, and give them the opportunity to compare them. Andromaque [3] wasn't a great success when it was first performed in 1780. The libretto by Louis-Guillaume Pitra was sharply criticised for disfiguring Racine's tragedy. The same critic also had some bad things to say about Grétry's music: "In this work there is nothing but a shrill and tedious noise (...)." The opera was also criticised for the number of choruses and the lack of divertissements. It was considered too tragic, and particularly the ending. For later performances it was therefore reworked by the librettist and the composer, and that made the work more successful. Niquet decided to perform the original version. It is a pretty modern work in which the three acts are actually three large scenes, in which recitatives, arias and choruses merge into one another almost without interruption. There are very few long arias and the number of dances is limited. The chorus is part of the dramatic development and comments the events or pushes them forward. The orchestra is playing a particularly important role by depicting what is going on. It is also full of contrasts in dynamics and colour, thanks to the scoring with flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani plus strings. There is no keyboard: all recitatives are accompanied by the orchestra.
It is easy to understand that the audiences had problems with the tragic ending: one of the four main characters dies, another commits suicide, and a third is becoming mad.
Hervé Niquet's interpretation is almost ideal. The orchestra is just as colourful and dynamical as the score requires, and greatly contributes to the dramatic character of the performance. The choruses are also splendidly realised. The casting of the main protagonists is spot-on: Karine Deshayes (Andromaque), Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Hermione) and Tassis Christoyannis (Oreste) all give excellent accounts of their characters. Sébastien Guèze (Pyrrhus) gives a fairly good interpretation of his role, but is a bit undifferentiated: he mostly is too loud, and stylistically his singing is debatable.
This recording makes it abundantly clear that Andromaque is a masterpiece, and one has to be thankful to Hervé Niquet for digging it up.
I find it harder to consider Céphale et Procris [4] a masterpiece. It was called a ballet-héroïque and was first performed in 1773. It received a mixed reception, and that was largely due to its ambivalent character. Grétry tried to incorporate elements of the Italian style of his time into the traditional French opera. On the one hand there are sequences of recitatives - which are accompanied by the orchestra -, arias and choruses, on the other hand it includes ballets as in the classical French opera. The work is also traditional in its mythological subject matter and the appearance of allegorical characters. In addition the libretto was considered problematic: Céphale is not a very heroic character, and there are few direct conflicts between the protagonists. As a result the work is not very dramatic, and the fact that the performance under the direction of Guy Van Waas was recorded live doesn't make any difference. All in all, this is an interesting piece because of its form and the quality of the music, but not very captivating. On the whole the interpretation is good, but also a bit flat. Pierre-Yves Pruvot is good as Céphale, but Katia Vellétaz is too uninvolved as Procris. Bénédicte Tauran (Aurore) and Isabelle Cals (Palès, Jalousie) give good accounts of their respective roles, but their continuous vibrato is disturbing. Stylistically Caroline Weynants (L'Amour) and Aurélie Franck (Flore) make a better impression. The choir is, as one would expect, excellent, and the orchestra - more or less of the same constitution as in Andromaque - is also playing well. This production is definitely interesting, and enhances our knowledge of Grétry as a composer of music for the theatre. It is just a shame it is musically not completely satisfying.
[1] Grétry, La Caravane du Caire
Greta De Reyghere, Isabelle Poulenard, Guy De Mey, Jules Bastin et al, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Ricercar Academy/Marc Minkowski (Ricercar RIC 100084/085; 1991)
[2] Méhul, L'Irato ou l'Emporté
Pauline Courtin, Svenja Hempel, Cyril Auvity, Alain Buet, Georg Poplutz, Miljenko Turk, Bonner Kammerchor, L'arte del mondo/Werner Ehrhardt
(Capriccio 60128; 2005)
[3] Grétry, Andromaque
Karine Deshayes, Maria Ricarda Wesseling, Sébastien Guèze, Tassis Christoyannis, Choir and Orchestra of the Concert Spirituel, Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles/Hervé Niquet
(Glossa GCD 921620; 2009)
[4] Grétry, Céphale et Procris
Isabelle Cals, Bénédicte Tauran, Katia Vellétaz, Caroline Weynants, Aurélie Franck, Pierre-Yves Pruvot, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Les Agrémens/Guy Van Waas
(Ricercar RIC 302; 2009)
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Opera recitals
Discs with arias from operas and oratorios appear regularly. They are mostly a vehicle to make the soloist shine in his or her favourite repertoire. I am always rather sceptical about this kind of discs. Firstly, because I believe the music should always take first place rather than the interpreter. If the name of the soloist is printed in larger letters than the name(s) of the composer(s), you just know something is wrong.
Secondly, isolating arias from an oratorio or an opera is mostly unsatisfying, as they lose some of their meaning without their dramatic context. It depends what kind of arias are sung: in Italian operas, for instance by Handel, arias often are not strongly connected to the dramatic context. Sometimes arias were moved from one opera to another and given to another character. It is more problematic in French operas where the arias are more closely connected to the dramatic development. That is one of the reasons the disc by Anne Sofie von Otter which I review on my site, is highly unsatisfying. It is not the only reason, the performances are rather bad as well.
The two discs I would like to mention here are not convincing either. The German mezzo Mareike Morr has finished two musical studies, piano and singing, and has diplomas in teaching both as well. But she has decided to concentrate on a career as a singer of oratorio, opera and songs, basically from every period in music history. As far as I know this is her first solo recording. I don't understand why she has chosen almost exclusively 'evergreens' of the baroque opera. Only the excerpts from Vivaldi's operas are lesser known, but all other pieces are available in numerous other recordings. This way she has to compete with interpreters who have more experience in this particular repertoire, and she fails to live up to that competition. In the two pieces by Monteverdi Ms Morr's performance is far from the ideal of recitar cantando. In general she pays too little attention to the text, and often there is a lack of declamation. She has certainly a nice voice, and that makes it all the more disappointing that her performances are rather one-dimensional and undifferentiated, for instance in regard to articulation and dynamics. And expressive her interpretations are mostly not. In Handel's 'Lascia ch'io pianga' her performance lacks subtlety, and I don't think anyone will be moved by her singing of Gluck's 'Che farò senza Euridice'. Lastly, the orchestra - with two violins, viola, cello, violone, theorbo, harpsichord and the additional wind instruments - is far too small for most arias. The recording is also very direct, and as a result there is no theatrical atmosphere at all.
Gluck has been a key figure in the history of opera. But only a handful of his theatrical works are known. Everyone knows Orfeo ed Euridice and maybe two or three other works, but most of his about 50 operas are largely unknown. In January 2010 Ian Page staged a concert in the Wigmore Hall in London in which he directed the Classical Opera Company in a selection of arias from various Gluck operas. Of course it couldn't be without 'Che farò senza Euridice' from Orfeo ed Euridice, but there were also arias from La Semiramide riconosciuta, Paride ed Elena, Ezio, Antigono and L'ivrogne corrigé. The latter is a comical opera - a genre one doesn't immediately associate Gluck with. Historically speaking the programme which was recorded in the Wigmore Hall Live series, is quite interesting, and in particular opera aficionados should love it. But musically it is very disappointing. Like in the Mareike Morr's recording the orchestra is too small: just 7 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos and one bass. In addition the playing is mostly dull and undramatic. As far as one can tell from extracts the singers give a good account of the respective roles from a dramatic point of view, but stylistically the performances of the sopranos Ailish Tynan and Sophie Bevan and the mezzo Anna Stéphany are wide of the mark. Too little attention is given to the text and the continuous wide vibrato of the ladies is unbearable and - more importantly - against all we know about the aesthetic ideals of the 18th century. This disc is another example of a great idea which has gone awry due to an inadequate performance.
- "Lamenti - furore e dolore" - Mareike Morr, Hannoversche Hofkapelle (Genuin GEN 10176)
- Gluck: "Blessed Spirit - A Gluck retrospective" - Ailish Tynan, Sophie Bevan, Anna Stéphany, Classical Opera Company/Ian Page (Wigmore Hall Live WHLive 0037)
Secondly, isolating arias from an oratorio or an opera is mostly unsatisfying, as they lose some of their meaning without their dramatic context. It depends what kind of arias are sung: in Italian operas, for instance by Handel, arias often are not strongly connected to the dramatic context. Sometimes arias were moved from one opera to another and given to another character. It is more problematic in French operas where the arias are more closely connected to the dramatic development. That is one of the reasons the disc by Anne Sofie von Otter which I review on my site, is highly unsatisfying. It is not the only reason, the performances are rather bad as well.
The two discs I would like to mention here are not convincing either. The German mezzo Mareike Morr has finished two musical studies, piano and singing, and has diplomas in teaching both as well. But she has decided to concentrate on a career as a singer of oratorio, opera and songs, basically from every period in music history. As far as I know this is her first solo recording. I don't understand why she has chosen almost exclusively 'evergreens' of the baroque opera. Only the excerpts from Vivaldi's operas are lesser known, but all other pieces are available in numerous other recordings. This way she has to compete with interpreters who have more experience in this particular repertoire, and she fails to live up to that competition. In the two pieces by Monteverdi Ms Morr's performance is far from the ideal of recitar cantando. In general she pays too little attention to the text, and often there is a lack of declamation. She has certainly a nice voice, and that makes it all the more disappointing that her performances are rather one-dimensional and undifferentiated, for instance in regard to articulation and dynamics. And expressive her interpretations are mostly not. In Handel's 'Lascia ch'io pianga' her performance lacks subtlety, and I don't think anyone will be moved by her singing of Gluck's 'Che farò senza Euridice'. Lastly, the orchestra - with two violins, viola, cello, violone, theorbo, harpsichord and the additional wind instruments - is far too small for most arias. The recording is also very direct, and as a result there is no theatrical atmosphere at all.
Gluck has been a key figure in the history of opera. But only a handful of his theatrical works are known. Everyone knows Orfeo ed Euridice and maybe two or three other works, but most of his about 50 operas are largely unknown. In January 2010 Ian Page staged a concert in the Wigmore Hall in London in which he directed the Classical Opera Company in a selection of arias from various Gluck operas. Of course it couldn't be without 'Che farò senza Euridice' from Orfeo ed Euridice, but there were also arias from La Semiramide riconosciuta, Paride ed Elena, Ezio, Antigono and L'ivrogne corrigé. The latter is a comical opera - a genre one doesn't immediately associate Gluck with. Historically speaking the programme which was recorded in the Wigmore Hall Live series, is quite interesting, and in particular opera aficionados should love it. But musically it is very disappointing. Like in the Mareike Morr's recording the orchestra is too small: just 7 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos and one bass. In addition the playing is mostly dull and undramatic. As far as one can tell from extracts the singers give a good account of the respective roles from a dramatic point of view, but stylistically the performances of the sopranos Ailish Tynan and Sophie Bevan and the mezzo Anna Stéphany are wide of the mark. Too little attention is given to the text and the continuous wide vibrato of the ladies is unbearable and - more importantly - against all we know about the aesthetic ideals of the 18th century. This disc is another example of a great idea which has gone awry due to an inadequate performance.
- "Lamenti - furore e dolore" - Mareike Morr, Hannoversche Hofkapelle (Genuin GEN 10176)
- Gluck: "Blessed Spirit - A Gluck retrospective" - Ailish Tynan, Sophie Bevan, Anna Stéphany, Classical Opera Company/Ian Page (Wigmore Hall Live WHLive 0037)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Frans Brüggen, José Antonio Abreu & politics ... and Vivaldi
After a long break it is time to revive this weblog. More than 10 years ago I started a website with reviews of discs with early music. The number of discs which I receive is so huge that it is simply impossible to review all of them, as interesting as they may be. Therefore I have decided to use this weblog to give more general impressions of such discs, as well as of recordings which have been reissued.
But this week I would like to pay attention to some news which deserves attention.
Frans Brüggen may be 75, he still has a busy schedule. In August and September he has conducted the Orchestra of the 18th Century in Warsaw in a series of piano concertos by Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, as well as the latter's violin concerto. Among the soloists in these performances, which have been recorded, were Kristian Bezuidenhout and Thomas Zehetmair. After returning he received the Medal of Honour in Arts and Sciences from Queen Beatrix in The Hague. A well-deserved award for someone who - with the likes of Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt - fundamentally changed the way music of the past has been played.
He still has big plans. Next month he will perform and record Beethoven's Triple Concerto, with Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Kristian Bezuidenhout, and in October of next year all Beethoven's symphonies will be performed and recorded once again. And in April 2011 the orchestra will return to Bach, with some of the orchestral suites and the Easter Oratorio.
Brüggen has regularly conducted the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, one of the three orchestras of Dutch radio. There is a good chance all of them will be disbanded, as the result of the compulsive economizing of the upcoming right-wing coalition government. The world-wide financial and economic crisis makes savings inevitable but the rigorous measures in the making to cut short the expenses of the Dutch national channels are far over the top and could well be a fatal blow to music life in the Netherlands. The radio orchestras - and the radio choir - play a major role in music life and several concert halls are highly dependent on their performances. The Amsterdam Concertgebouw fears that it will be impossible to balance the books and some even fear its closure. Representatives of the arts will argue against these drastic measures, but as the radical right-wing party this coalition depends on has a strong anti-cultural bias - considering arts as a "left-wing hobby" - it is hard to see them finding a response.
It is ironic that the same day the prospective prime minister received the order to build a cabinet the Venezuelan pianist José Antonio Abreu received the prestigious Erasmus Prize from Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. Abreu is the founder of what is generally known as El Sistema, a project which aims at bringing children from the lower classes into contact with classical music. They participate in a choir or an orchestra and receive private music lessons. The system has had great success and is now copied in other countries. The combination of cultural education and social elevation is praiseworthy and is ample justification for awarding Abreu the Erasmus Prize. One would hope his message of the importance of musical education, particularly for those who don't have the financial means to really participate in society, is not lost on those who will decide which austerity measures have to be taken.
And then some positive news: recently a flute concerto by Vivaldi has been discovered. The Gramophone writes: "University of Southampton research fellow Andrew Woolley stumbled across the score of a Vivaldi flute concerto among papers housed in the National Archive of Scotland in Edinburgh. “This piece was previously known only from a mention in the sale catalogue of an 18th-century Dutch bookseller. Discovering that it is actually in existence is unexpected and hugely exciting,” he said. The concerto is named Il Gran Mogol and is a cornerstone of a quartet of “national” concertos (the others celebrate France, Spain and England, but alas they are have not come to light). The score is virtually complete: a part for second violin had to be reconstructed using another manuscript that appears to be based on the same concerto." This is exciting indeed, and I can't wait to hear this piece. It shows that music still can be found at unexpected places. Time to clean up your attic! Who knows?
Lastly, some months ago I have joined the world-wide Twitter community. I don't see any reason to keep other people up-to-date with what I am doing. Many people overestimate the interest of others in their activities or thoughts. But it gives the opportunity to follow the activities of musicians and ensembles at the early music scene. Many use it to inform their followers about their concerts and recording plans. Anyone who likes to know what is going on at "the scene" should consider following the musicians and ensembles of his liking.
But this week I would like to pay attention to some news which deserves attention.
Frans Brüggen may be 75, he still has a busy schedule. In August and September he has conducted the Orchestra of the 18th Century in Warsaw in a series of piano concertos by Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, as well as the latter's violin concerto. Among the soloists in these performances, which have been recorded, were Kristian Bezuidenhout and Thomas Zehetmair. After returning he received the Medal of Honour in Arts and Sciences from Queen Beatrix in The Hague. A well-deserved award for someone who - with the likes of Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt - fundamentally changed the way music of the past has been played.
He still has big plans. Next month he will perform and record Beethoven's Triple Concerto, with Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Kristian Bezuidenhout, and in October of next year all Beethoven's symphonies will be performed and recorded once again. And in April 2011 the orchestra will return to Bach, with some of the orchestral suites and the Easter Oratorio.
Brüggen has regularly conducted the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, one of the three orchestras of Dutch radio. There is a good chance all of them will be disbanded, as the result of the compulsive economizing of the upcoming right-wing coalition government. The world-wide financial and economic crisis makes savings inevitable but the rigorous measures in the making to cut short the expenses of the Dutch national channels are far over the top and could well be a fatal blow to music life in the Netherlands. The radio orchestras - and the radio choir - play a major role in music life and several concert halls are highly dependent on their performances. The Amsterdam Concertgebouw fears that it will be impossible to balance the books and some even fear its closure. Representatives of the arts will argue against these drastic measures, but as the radical right-wing party this coalition depends on has a strong anti-cultural bias - considering arts as a "left-wing hobby" - it is hard to see them finding a response.
It is ironic that the same day the prospective prime minister received the order to build a cabinet the Venezuelan pianist José Antonio Abreu received the prestigious Erasmus Prize from Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. Abreu is the founder of what is generally known as El Sistema, a project which aims at bringing children from the lower classes into contact with classical music. They participate in a choir or an orchestra and receive private music lessons. The system has had great success and is now copied in other countries. The combination of cultural education and social elevation is praiseworthy and is ample justification for awarding Abreu the Erasmus Prize. One would hope his message of the importance of musical education, particularly for those who don't have the financial means to really participate in society, is not lost on those who will decide which austerity measures have to be taken.
And then some positive news: recently a flute concerto by Vivaldi has been discovered. The Gramophone writes: "University of Southampton research fellow Andrew Woolley stumbled across the score of a Vivaldi flute concerto among papers housed in the National Archive of Scotland in Edinburgh. “This piece was previously known only from a mention in the sale catalogue of an 18th-century Dutch bookseller. Discovering that it is actually in existence is unexpected and hugely exciting,” he said. The concerto is named Il Gran Mogol and is a cornerstone of a quartet of “national” concertos (the others celebrate France, Spain and England, but alas they are have not come to light). The score is virtually complete: a part for second violin had to be reconstructed using another manuscript that appears to be based on the same concerto." This is exciting indeed, and I can't wait to hear this piece. It shows that music still can be found at unexpected places. Time to clean up your attic! Who knows?
Lastly, some months ago I have joined the world-wide Twitter community. I don't see any reason to keep other people up-to-date with what I am doing. Many people overestimate the interest of others in their activities or thoughts. But it gives the opportunity to follow the activities of musicians and ensembles at the early music scene. Many use it to inform their followers about their concerts and recording plans. Anyone who likes to know what is going on at "the scene" should consider following the musicians and ensembles of his liking.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The murder of Tarquinio Merula
From time to time discs are released with a mixture of early and contemporary music. The latter term shouldn't be taken too litterally: here I refer to music composed later than, say, the mid-20th century. Even though I can't get tuned in to modern music, such programming can be interesting, in particular as some modern composers are influenced by composition techniques used in the past, especially the renaissance. It can only be assessed positively that they don't feel obliged anymore to follow slavishly the 'rules' of contemporary music.
In such cases composers specifically link up with old traditions. But there are also modern composers whose works show some similarities with early music, even though they are not explicitly influenced by it. Some composers of the 20th century give much freedom to interpreters, allowing them to achieve very different results in the realisation of their scores. This freedom, turning the performer into a kind of 'co-composer', is sometimes considered as not very different from the liberties interpreters of early music should take. A recent recording by the German ensemble Lautten Compagney, directed by Wolfgang Katschner, underlines the similarity between the role of 'improvisation' in the music of Philip Glass (1937), the main representative of 'minimal music', and the Italian composer Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) (*).
In her programme notes Babette Hesse underlines the fact that in Glass' music, in particular after him becoming acquainted with the music of Ravi Shankar, the absence of bar lines gives an almost endless freedom to the interpreter. And then she states that modern interpreters can look at Merula's music the same way. "There is a basic beat, but no bar lines, and no cross bars grouping the notes clearly together. Nor is there a score as such showing the entire composition at one glance: instead, the editions only provide the separate parts, which don't come together until the piece is actually played." Merula is not unique in this respect. "17th centry composers didn't see any necessity to record every detail of the performance in writing: they assumed that the players themselves would make their own creative contribution."
For decades interpreters of early music concentrated on finding the right instruments and understanding the way they should be played and the music should be interpreted. The amount of freedom they took was limited. As today the playing of early instruments has greatly evolved and the understanding of early music has increased, it is possible to grasp and explore the freedom composers of the past gave the interpreters.
In order to use the room for improvisation correctly, one first needs to understand the character of a particular composition and the style and performing habits of the time in which it was composed. In that respect the evolution from a strict performance of what was written down to a more improvisational style is logical. It is therefore regrettable that modern performers who should know better, don't hesitate to use the freedom to perform compositions in such a way that the composer wouldn't recognize them.
I don't know if the freedom Philip Glass expects his interpreters to take is limitless, and whether he wants them to at least respect his style. Would he be satisfied with a performance of his compositions in the manner of the 17th century? At least that is historically possible as the instruments of the 17th century are still used and the style of performance of that time is known. But performing Merula as if it was 20th-century music is something quite different. Instruments like saxophone and marimba, as they are used by the Lautten Compagney to perform some pieces by Merula, are very different from anything he knew. And improvisation in 20th-century style is different from what was practiced in Merula's time.
Of course the members of the Lautten Compagney know this very well, as they are seasoned interpreters of early music. Then why do they do things like this? If they really believe in the quality of Merula's music, then why do they think it is necessary to jazz it up? I am ready to accept that they really believe this is a way to show that Merula's music isn't just old stuff, but still very much alive. But in my view they have murdered Tarquinio Merula instead.
(*) "Timeless: Tarquinio Merula - Philip Glass" - Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner (deutsche harmonia mundi 88697526982)
In such cases composers specifically link up with old traditions. But there are also modern composers whose works show some similarities with early music, even though they are not explicitly influenced by it. Some composers of the 20th century give much freedom to interpreters, allowing them to achieve very different results in the realisation of their scores. This freedom, turning the performer into a kind of 'co-composer', is sometimes considered as not very different from the liberties interpreters of early music should take. A recent recording by the German ensemble Lautten Compagney, directed by Wolfgang Katschner, underlines the similarity between the role of 'improvisation' in the music of Philip Glass (1937), the main representative of 'minimal music', and the Italian composer Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) (*).
In her programme notes Babette Hesse underlines the fact that in Glass' music, in particular after him becoming acquainted with the music of Ravi Shankar, the absence of bar lines gives an almost endless freedom to the interpreter. And then she states that modern interpreters can look at Merula's music the same way. "There is a basic beat, but no bar lines, and no cross bars grouping the notes clearly together. Nor is there a score as such showing the entire composition at one glance: instead, the editions only provide the separate parts, which don't come together until the piece is actually played." Merula is not unique in this respect. "17th centry composers didn't see any necessity to record every detail of the performance in writing: they assumed that the players themselves would make their own creative contribution."
For decades interpreters of early music concentrated on finding the right instruments and understanding the way they should be played and the music should be interpreted. The amount of freedom they took was limited. As today the playing of early instruments has greatly evolved and the understanding of early music has increased, it is possible to grasp and explore the freedom composers of the past gave the interpreters.
In order to use the room for improvisation correctly, one first needs to understand the character of a particular composition and the style and performing habits of the time in which it was composed. In that respect the evolution from a strict performance of what was written down to a more improvisational style is logical. It is therefore regrettable that modern performers who should know better, don't hesitate to use the freedom to perform compositions in such a way that the composer wouldn't recognize them.
I don't know if the freedom Philip Glass expects his interpreters to take is limitless, and whether he wants them to at least respect his style. Would he be satisfied with a performance of his compositions in the manner of the 17th century? At least that is historically possible as the instruments of the 17th century are still used and the style of performance of that time is known. But performing Merula as if it was 20th-century music is something quite different. Instruments like saxophone and marimba, as they are used by the Lautten Compagney to perform some pieces by Merula, are very different from anything he knew. And improvisation in 20th-century style is different from what was practiced in Merula's time.
Of course the members of the Lautten Compagney know this very well, as they are seasoned interpreters of early music. Then why do they do things like this? If they really believe in the quality of Merula's music, then why do they think it is necessary to jazz it up? I am ready to accept that they really believe this is a way to show that Merula's music isn't just old stuff, but still very much alive. But in my view they have murdered Tarquinio Merula instead.
(*) "Timeless: Tarquinio Merula - Philip Glass" - Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner (deutsche harmonia mundi 88697526982)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Unhistorical performance practices
One of the returning subjects of this weblog is the way the historical performance practice is compromised by artists in the early music scene. A recent example is a Naxos-recording of harpsichord works by the French composer Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (1727-1799), in which the American harpsichordist Elizabeth Farr plays a harpsichord with a 16' stop.
Balbastre's keyboard works have been recorded before, but this disc is welcome as Elizabeth Farr has made an ample choice from his output which is enough to fill two discs. If I am not mistaken Balbastre's music doesn't meet universal approval. He is often associated with the decline of the French harpsichord school which had its origins in the 17th century. It cannot be denied that sometimes he goes for superficial effects at the cost of depth. The reports of Balbastre's own playing as an organist don't help to improve his reputation. The English music writer Charles Burney heard him play in 1770, and reported: "He performed in all styles in accompanying the choir. When the Magnificat was sung, he played likewise between each verse several minuets, fugues, imitations, and every species of music, even to hunting pieces and jigs, without surprising or offending the congregation, as far as I was able to discover."
According to Charles Burney Balbastre had a Ruckers harpsichord which was "more delicate than powerful". Elizabeth Farr plays a copy of a Ruckers harpsichord, but here the tone is just the opposite. The main reason is that the builder, Keith Hill, has added a 16' stop. In the booklet he argues: "Certain composers of harpsichord music wrote pieces that beg to be played on harpsichords sporting a 16' stop. (...) Claude Balbastre also happens to be just such a composer". I have heard other recordings with music by Balbastre, and I have never had the idea that something was missing without a 16' stop.
Hill admits that this view is not supported by the facts as "no French harpsichords with 16' stops remain from his time". But "I wanted to hear what the acoustic effect would be if a Ruckers type of harpsichord were extended in size by adding a 16' stop, with its own soundboard in the manner of the Hass family of harpsichord makers". This combination of Flemish-French (Ruckers) and German (Hass) elements results in an instrument which is the product of fantasy, can't be considered a 'copy' and therefore has nothing to do with historical performance practice.
In fact, the use of the 16' stop is not just without any historical foundation, but - in contrast to Keith Hill's views - it doesn't do Balbastre's music any good. Sure, some pieces are definitely written for the gallery. But there is no reason to even reinforce the effects Balbastre had in mind. It is precisely the task of the historical performance practice to perform any composer's music with the means he had at his disposal. This is the only way to do his music justice and to communicate its features to a modern audience.
It is not the first time Elizabeth Farr uses the wrong instrument in a recording. Some years ago she recorded the complete harpsichord oeuvre of Jean-Henry d'Anglebert. Here she plays two instruments, a harpsichord and a lute-harpsichord. As I have argued in my review there is no real historical foundation for the use of this kind of instrument in French music.
In both cases I find Elizabeth Farr's choice of instrument ill-judged, not only from a historical perspective but also from a strictly musical angle. The use of these instruments - and in the case of the Ruckers-copy even the very building of the instrument - compromise the principles of the historical performance practice. Here the personal preferences of the harpsichord maker and the interpreter override historical evidence. But that is exactly what the pioneers of the historical performance practice wanted to get rid of, is it not?
Balbastre's keyboard works have been recorded before, but this disc is welcome as Elizabeth Farr has made an ample choice from his output which is enough to fill two discs. If I am not mistaken Balbastre's music doesn't meet universal approval. He is often associated with the decline of the French harpsichord school which had its origins in the 17th century. It cannot be denied that sometimes he goes for superficial effects at the cost of depth. The reports of Balbastre's own playing as an organist don't help to improve his reputation. The English music writer Charles Burney heard him play in 1770, and reported: "He performed in all styles in accompanying the choir. When the Magnificat was sung, he played likewise between each verse several minuets, fugues, imitations, and every species of music, even to hunting pieces and jigs, without surprising or offending the congregation, as far as I was able to discover."
According to Charles Burney Balbastre had a Ruckers harpsichord which was "more delicate than powerful". Elizabeth Farr plays a copy of a Ruckers harpsichord, but here the tone is just the opposite. The main reason is that the builder, Keith Hill, has added a 16' stop. In the booklet he argues: "Certain composers of harpsichord music wrote pieces that beg to be played on harpsichords sporting a 16' stop. (...) Claude Balbastre also happens to be just such a composer". I have heard other recordings with music by Balbastre, and I have never had the idea that something was missing without a 16' stop.
Hill admits that this view is not supported by the facts as "no French harpsichords with 16' stops remain from his time". But "I wanted to hear what the acoustic effect would be if a Ruckers type of harpsichord were extended in size by adding a 16' stop, with its own soundboard in the manner of the Hass family of harpsichord makers". This combination of Flemish-French (Ruckers) and German (Hass) elements results in an instrument which is the product of fantasy, can't be considered a 'copy' and therefore has nothing to do with historical performance practice.
In fact, the use of the 16' stop is not just without any historical foundation, but - in contrast to Keith Hill's views - it doesn't do Balbastre's music any good. Sure, some pieces are definitely written for the gallery. But there is no reason to even reinforce the effects Balbastre had in mind. It is precisely the task of the historical performance practice to perform any composer's music with the means he had at his disposal. This is the only way to do his music justice and to communicate its features to a modern audience.
It is not the first time Elizabeth Farr uses the wrong instrument in a recording. Some years ago she recorded the complete harpsichord oeuvre of Jean-Henry d'Anglebert. Here she plays two instruments, a harpsichord and a lute-harpsichord. As I have argued in my review there is no real historical foundation for the use of this kind of instrument in French music.
In both cases I find Elizabeth Farr's choice of instrument ill-judged, not only from a historical perspective but also from a strictly musical angle. The use of these instruments - and in the case of the Ruckers-copy even the very building of the instrument - compromise the principles of the historical performance practice. Here the personal preferences of the harpsichord maker and the interpreter override historical evidence. But that is exactly what the pioneers of the historical performance practice wanted to get rid of, is it not?
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