Vocal and Choral

Handel – Semele
Soloists; NZ Opera; Peter Walls
Opus Arte OA1362D (naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=OA1362D) 

Disguise is the elaborate subtext of Semele. Indeed, the same might be said of the work itself for it is an Italian opera masquerading as an English oratorio. Gone is Handel’s Biblical subject matter. In its place is the decidedly secular fable from Ovid’s Metamorphoses with a libretto by the dramatist William Congreve.

The beautiful mortal, Semele, becomes the lover of the god Jupiter, which panders to her overweening vanity. Jupiter’s jealous wife, Juno, seeking revenge, appears to Semele in disguise and easily persuades her that she too could become immortal, and so Semele asks Jupiter to reveal himself to her in his full glory. Unfortunately, he does just that and Semele is destroyed by his burning brightness. End of story. The moral? “Be careful what you wish for.”

This was exactly what happened to Handel, who anticipated – indeed expected – a glorious reception for Semele when it was premiered during the Lent of February 1744, in Covent Garden. The audience was unimpressed. In the memorable words of Winton Dean: “where they expected wholesome Lenten bread, they received a glittering stone dug from the ruins of Greek mythology.” Handel’s most secular opera, however, stayed alive thanks to Jupiter’s Act II aria, Where’re you walk. 

Emma Pearson (Semele), Amitai Pati (Jupiter/Apollo), Sarah Castle (Juno/Ino) and Paul Whelan (Cadmus/Somnus) brilliantly perform Handel’s opera around the iconic church altar marriage setting, propelling this New Zealand Opera production into the stratosphere where Semele rightfully belongs.

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges – L’Amant Anonyme
Haymarket Opera Company
Cedille CDR 90000 217 (cedillerecords.org) 

With the recent release of the film Chevalier, the life of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, one of the small number of biracial early composers whose works were celebrated in the 18th century, has been thrust into the spotlight. Before Chevalier was on theatre screens, however, Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Company issued their world-premiere recording of Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme, the only one of his six operas to survive to the present day.

Often called “the Black Mozart”, Bologne’s nickname has provided his music with relatively recent recognition through its celebratory comparison, but also obscured his own originality and influence. This recording clearly demonstrates that Bologne was an exceptionally gifted composer of his own accord, and that his works merit widespread rediscovery and respect, whether Mozart is nearby or not. (Bologne was highly respected and well-connected in his day – he and Mozart were neighbours in Paris, and he commissioned Haydn’s six Paris Symphonies.)

Premiered in 1780, L’Amant Anonyme is a two-act opéra comique (it contains spoken dialogue instead of recitative) that is a striking combination of Baroque and classical forms, utilizing galant styles and earlier dance forms to create an aristocratic air that is always delightfully tuneful. Indeed, this melodic genius is even more impressive when one considers that Bologne wrote this opera before any of Mozart’s major operas, reversing the conventional understanding of which composer influenced who.

No matter how perfect the composer’s intentions, music needs performers to make it come alive, and the Haymarket Opera Company does not disappoint. Both singers and orchestra are light, agile and transparent in tone, and the tempi are neither rushed nor tardy. This disc is highly recommended for all who love the early classical repertoire, and especially for those who watched Chevalier and are eager to learn more about this unsung hero.

Schubert Revisited – Lieder arranged for baritone and orchestra
Matthias Goerne; Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Deutsche Grammophon 483 9758 (store.deutschegrammophon.com/p51-i0028948397587) 

The fact that Franz Schubert was not – like Beethoven or Mozart – a virtuoso musician seemed to overshadow (even diminish somewhat) his greatest achievements as a composer. His unfettered gift for melody and attachment to classical forms didn’t help his cause either. However, Schubert helped shape the art of lieder like no other composer of his day, or after. For all he did to give wing to the poetry of (especially) Goethe (but also others), Schubert himself might easily lay claim to being a true lieder poet, great in every way as the writers whose poetry he set to music. 

More than anything else Schubert’s songs live and die with the talents of their performers. Like the plays of Shakespeare, the songs respond to a variety of interpretations while always needing the singer who can strike the right balance between characterisation and vocal beauty. Baritones like the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, the Welshman Bryn Terfel and German-born Thomas Quasthoff mastered that and distilled the beauty of Schubert’s profound art with majesty.

The pantheon of great Schubert lieder interpreters must also include Matthias Goerne. His performance is truly masterful on Schubert Revisited – Lieder arranged for baritone and orchestra. Together with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen Goerne gives a particularly atmospheric and powerful performance of songs set to the poetry of Goethe, Claudius, Mayrhofer and others. Highlights include the dramatic Grenzen der Menschheit, and the wonderfully fleet-footed and joyful Gesänge des Harfners.

Puccini – Messa di Gloria & Orchestral Works
Charles Castronovo; Ludovic Tézier; Orfeo Catala; Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Gustavo Gimeno
Harmonia Mundi HMM905367 (harmoniamundi.com/en/albums/puccini-messa-di-gloria) 

We all know Puccini is one of the greatest opera composers, but little do we know that as a student in the conservatory he dabbled in orchestral and religious music. Three of his orchestral pieces are presented here and to my surprise, embedded in one of them, Capriccio sinfonico, I found the opening pages of his first breakthrough success and masterpiece: La Bohème.

On this new Harmonia mundi recording, the chief conductor of our TSO Gustavo Gimeno with his fine Luxembourg orchestra perform these works, as well as a major choral work. The Messa di Gloria is a very ambitious youthful composition, a complete five-movement Catholic Mass for chorus and orchestra with tenor and baritone soloists. 

I was truly amazed at Puccini’s budding genius in the level of invention, evocative power and passion, but also as a future composer of opera. For example, near the beginning in the Gloria section a beautiful aria, Gratias agimus tibi (We give thanks to Thee), sung passionately by tenor soloist Charles Castronovo. Later Qui tollois peccata mundi, a march with alternating male and female choruses, is very effective, but Verdi’s influence is noticeable. (Puccini saw Aida at age 18 and was very impressed.) His great talent for the dramatic (shades of the later Tosca) emerges in the deep voices of the tragic Crucifixus but we soon are comforted by the Resurrection (Et resurrexit tertia die Secundum Scripturas) with a joyful chorus of the sopranos. The two concluding sections are radiantly beautiful. Benedictus is sung by Ludovic Tézier a master of Italian bel canto baritone, who then joins Castronovo for Agnus Dei, which in a gentle rollicking 3/4 time ends the Messa in heavenly peace.

Puccini – Turandot
Sondra Radvanovsky; Ermonela Jaho; Jonas Kaufmann; Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Antonio Pappano
Warner Classics 3394009 (warnerclassics.com/release/turandot) 

Where does Puccini’s genius lie? Apart from his exceptional melodic gifts it’s his tremendous versatility and ability to create atmosphere. No other composer has been capable of conjuring up a Paris waterfront, the American Wild West or contemporary Japan, all so different, with equal ease and with music that feels fully authentic. Such is the case in Turandot, Puccini’s last and sadly unfinished opera where the scene is ancient China. The music is oriental, brutal and dissonant, heavy in percussion for the inhumanly cruel despotic Imperial Court but intense, lyrical and beautifully melodic for the protagonists, two extreme elements resolved very successfully.

In this new studio recording the obvious motivating force is Maestro Pappano, his unbridled enthusiasm, deep insight, overcoming COVID limitations yet creating an optimal sound world this opera demands. It’s beautiful to watch him on YouTube wildly gesticulating to inspire the singers who respond with equal enthusiasm, body and soul.

Turandot, the ice princess, is Sondra Radvanovsky, an American-Canadian soprano of the highest calibre who copes wonderfully with this very strenuous role full of spectacular high notes in fortissimo. Her famous aria In questa Reggia is absolutely ravishing. Her hopeful lover who has to solve three riddles (shades of Oedipus Rex) otherwise he dies, is today’s leading helden tenor Jonas Kaufmann. His faultless Italian and intense bel canto is a worthy successor to the iconic, unforgettable Pavarotti who single-handedly turned the world’s attention to opera with his Nessun dorma, the opera’s most beautiful aria. The unfortunate servant girl Liu who sacrifices her life for love is Albanian mezzo soprano sensation Emanuela Jaho. Her totally engaged emotional singing is heartbreaking and a real asset to this extraordinary recording.

Man Up / Man Down
Constellation Men’s Ensemble
Sono Luminus DSL-92266 (sonoluminus.com) 

Everything about this recording is dramatic, even to the idiomatic cover, with a feather from which hangs a stone. The image and the imagery of the cover together with the quite bitterly sardonic repertoire has Promethean connotations and therein lies the ingenuity of the whole project. Not least, of course, is that the Constellation Men’s Ensemble is a truly fine all-male a cappella group, unafraid to allow the power of their voices to expose the myth of masculine power in the music of Man Up/Man Down. 

Three composers contribute to this extraordinary debut album. They are Jeffery Derus, whose composition HOME sets up the whole recording. Derus’ work takes its cue from a poem by Carl Sandberg who writes at night as he “listened… to a mother signing softly to a child restless and angry / in the darkness.” Perhaps unwittingly (or otherwise) this song sets up the Madonna and her unquiet child who grows into his uncomfortable manhood. 

This is the kind of man we encounter in Robert Maggio’s monumental, 11-part work Man Up/Man Down. Expectation and the harsh realities on man/woman inequity collide in Maggio’s work as the composer peals and chips away at the hollowness of male role modelling which – as the narrative prosody of the words tell us – has resulted in the near-destruction of contemporary body politic.  

The disc concludes with a work by David Lang. His song manifesto makes for an uplifting utopian dénouement after some brilliant, yet otherwise dark music.

William Byrd
Stile Antico
Decca 485 3951 (stileantico.co.uk/recordings/william-byrd)

England under Elizabeth I was a dangerous place for Catholics. William Byrd was fined for not attending Anglican services, his movements monitored and restricted owing to his connections with known Catholic dissidents. Yet there’s evidence he received official dispensation to practise his faith, albeit covertly, perhaps because Elizabeth loved music and was a keyboard player herself.

Most of the music on this richly rewarding CD comes from Byrd’s later years, all composed for small groups of singers. The main offering is the 26-minute Mass for Four Voices, printed in the late 1590s with no title or composer identified, intended for secret services in clandestine chapels. This gorgeous music is gorgeously sung, from the tender, affectionate Kyrie and Gloria to the earnest, complex Credo, fervently reverent Sanctus-Benedictus and, most strikingly, the haunting Agnus Dei.

The CD concludes with the grandiose, 13-minute Tribue Domine for six voices, a work from Byrd’s younger years. The nine shorter selections include examples from Byrd’s publicly issued songbooks, music that appealed to singers and listeners of all persuasions, widely performed and appreciated. I particularly enjoyed the elegiac Retire, my soul, the jubilant Gaudeamus omnes, the prayerful Turn our captivity (Psalm 126) and the celebratory Laudate Dominum (Psalm 117).

The 12-member, London-based Stile Antico, performing without a conductor, has won raves from its worldwide tours and numerous awards for its recordings; this latest CD will add to its well-deserved laurels. Texts and translations are included.