Vocal and Choral

R. Murray Schafer – Apocalypsis
Various Artists
Analekta AN 2 8784-5

John Corigliano – The Ghosts of Versailles
LA Opera; James Conlon
Pentatone PTC 5186 538

The Ghosts of Versailles in retrospect makes for an impossible opera: a play within a play, with numerous principals. No wonder it graces the stage so rarely – it’s prohibitively expensive to produce, a fate shared with another grand opera, Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots. Initially commissioned for the Metropolitan Opera’s 100th season, it arrived…eight years late. This long gestation period is partially explained by its ambition: to combine a tribute to Mozart and Rossini with the pivotal episode of the French Revolution, the so-called Affair of the Necklace, which turned the French populace against Marie Antoinette.

The way to do all this is by the means of the Culpable Mother, Beaumarchais’ sequel to the Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. Corigliano references Mozart and Rossini cleverly during the staging of an opera for The Ghosts of Versailles, Marie Antoinette, her king and court. Though ostensibly an opera buffa, the score turns darker in Act II, reflecting the horrors of the Revolution. It is hard to believe that 25 years since its premiere, this is the first full recording of the opera. The credit goes to James Conlon, the artistic director of the Los Angeles Opera, who has also committed to record rarely heard operatic pieces by Schreker and Zemlinsky. Full marks go to the extensive team of this live recording, who manage, according to the composer himself, to recapture the greatness of the Met premiere. An additional bonus is the SACD recording, delivering on compatible players, incomparable resolution and dynamic range.

The Way of the Pilgrim
Toronto Consort
Marquis Classics MAR 81465 (marquisclassics.com)

The Toronto Consort was founded in 1972. Since then it has been recognized as one of the finest ensembles in the world specializing in medieval, renaissance and early baroque music. This disc is a reissue, first released by Dorian in 2000. The ensemble is essentially the same as that performing now, with one exception: the recording was made before the soprano Michele DeBoer joined the group.

Although the title of the CD emphasizes pilgrimage, the subtitle, “Medieval Songs of Travel,” shows that “travel” is taken in a wider sense: we have here songs about the Crusades, about the miracles performed by the Virgin Mary (linked to the Spanish pilgrimage Salas), about spring and love written by wandering monks (the Carmina Burana) and about the vicissitudes in one’s own life (the autobiographical poem by Oswald von Wolkenstein, one of the last minnesingers). Making these works ready for performance would have involved a considerable amount of work. While good modern editions are available, it must be remembered that the music has come down to us in the shape of monophonic songs. Everything added to the tune would have to be added by the performer.

The performances on the CD are always enjoyable. I was particularly taken with the soprano Katherine Hill’s performances in the Cantiga Ben pode Santa Maria, mezzo Laura Pudwell’s rendering of Bonum est confidere from the Carmina Burana and with Pudwell’s unaccompanied performance Jerusalem se plaint, a lament written in response to the retreat of the Crusader army from Egypt in 1221. A lively and informative essay by David Fallis, the artistic director of the Toronto Consort, is a valuable supplement.

Concert Note: The Toronto Consort’s season concludes with performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with special guest British tenor Charles Daniels, joined by tenor Kevin Skelton and Montreal’s premier cornetto and sackbut ensemble La Rose des Vents on May 6, 7 and 8 at Trinity-St.Paul’s Centre.

Monteverdi – Vespro Della Beata Vergine
Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists; Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Alpha 705

Sir John Eliot Gardiner has conducted Monteverdi’s Vespers many times. In the booklet that comes with this DVD he relates how he first conducted the work in 1964 when he was still an undergraduate at Cambridge. He also mentions that he received a great deal of cooperation from various academics. His tutor even arranged for him to have a year off from his work for the History Tripos so that he could concentrate on the Monteverdi. The performance was in the splendid late Gothic chapel at King’s College, Cambridge. Recently Gardiner was invited to conduct the work again in King’s College Chapel and the essay in the DVD booklet is clearly the program note for that performance.

Gardiner has conducted the work several times on CD and also once on an earlier DVD where the venue was the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice. The venue on this recording is yet another space, the late 17th century Chapelle Royale de Versailles. That church is not as spectacular as the Chapel at King’s College or St. Mark’s Basilica but the architectural space works well. The cinematographer has also made good use of the frescos in the church to heighten the baroque ambiance in which the work is performed.

In his introductory essay, Gardiner writes that already in 1964, he found “the smooth, polite euphony of the collegiate choral style of the early 60s” unsuitable for this work. He has not changed his mind: this performance is dramatic and vigorous. Apart from some rather ungainly entrances by the solo tenors in the concluding Magnificat, it is also beautifully sung and played.

Concert Note: As mentioned above, the Toronto Consort presents Monteverdi’s Vespers at Trinity-St. Paul’s on May 6, 7 and 8.

Rossini – Mosè
Raimondi; Kabatu; Ganci; Mihai; Polinelli; Veneranca Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano; Francesco Quattrocchi
Cmajor 735308

This was one of the events specially created for the Milan Expo 2015 that coincided with the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification and what better way to celebrate than to perform an opera in the magnificent Gothic cathedral, Duomo di Milano, that took 600 years to build. The majestic interior became awash in cascading multicoloured curtains of light giving an impressive backdrop to the action.

The original opera, well over three hours long, Mosè in Egitto by the 24-year-old Rossini, was written for Naples. He later revised it for Paris and turned it into French (Moise et Pharaon) thereby losing a lot of the originality and freshness of the original. The creators of this particular event in their wisdom used this second version (translated back into Italian) and condensed it into a one-and-a-half-hour “semi-staged sacred melodrama” of overblown and repetitive religious scenes of divine miracles, dispensing with much of the love story, the human drama and the wonderful music that made this opera a success and caused it to survive for nearly 200 years. Fortunately, the immortal Prayer Scene at the banks of the Red Sea was kept, ending the show on a positive note.

This being in Italy and especially Milan, the mostly young singers are all excellent, their voices gloriously resounding in the spacious acoustics of the cathedral. Isabelle Kabatu as Queen Sinaide is especially memorable in her highly emotionally charged scene, and in the title role the venerable Ruggero Raimondi at 74, amazingly enough can still sing the role although his voice is somewhat compromised by now. The young Italian conductor Francesco Quattrocchi, well attuned to the Rossini idiom, brings out beautiful sounds and sonorities. All in all the opera is severely truncated, but still an impressive, visually resplendent show for this special occasion.

Wagner – Tannhäuser
Seiffert; Petersen; Mattei; Pape; Prudenskaya; Sonn; Staatskapelle Berlin; Daniel Barenboim
BelAir Classics BAC122

The exiled and penniless Wagner’s first real international break came in 1860 when Emperor Napoleon III invited him to perform his Tannhäuser in Paris, an event that became the biggest scandal in the history of opera. Riots broke out, people were beating each other up, screaming, yelling and throwing things at the singers while the Emperor and his Empress were sitting in the royal box unable do a thing. Wagner quickly withdrew the score and hurriedly left Paris.

Tannhäuser, Wagner’s tortured dilemma between physical and spiritual love, however, not only survived 150 years but is triumphantly vindicated here in Berlin. The big problem facing directors today is how to make opera relevant in the 21st century; there have been many failures, stupidly conceived updated concepts by second-rate directors. Acclaimed choreographer Sasha Waltz was the Staatsoper’s unlikely but brilliant choice to direct, and with her emphasis on the poetry of movement to underline the drama – exquisitely composed scenes with dancers mingling with the singers – there is constant motion adding excitement and visual splendour.

There is musical splendour of the highest order as well. A superb cast: Peter Seiffert, a strong heldentenor as Tannhäuser, his voice rich, sensitive and expressive with no sign of fatigue through the gruelling four hours. Ann Petersen is a glorious Elizabeth both in joy and later in her suffering. Peter Mattei, probably today’s greatest lyrical baritone is a noble, elegant and aristocratic Wolfram. René Pape (Landgraf) and Marina Prudenskaya (Venus) are also memorable in their lesser roles. Maestro Barenboim conducts the entire score from memory with forward thrust and quickening of pulse in the resplendent and joyful scenes of the second act, broadening into sustained slow tempi in the tragic but sublime third. Wonderful performance, highly recommended.

Ravel – L’Heure espagnole; Don Quichotte à Dulcinée
Lombardo; Druet; Antoun; Barrard; Courjal; Le Roux; Orchestre National de Lyon; Leonard Slatkin
Naxos 8.660337

Maurice Ravel loved a challenge. Why else would he embrace the prospect of writing a new take on the comic Italian opera in French, on a Spanish theme? The Spanish Hour, filled with flirtation, comical characters and cuckolds, is far from being a bedroom farce. It is, instead, a great example of Ravel’s musical genius, especially when it comes to orchestration. While he pays homage to the Spanish musical idiom, he also respects the distinct musicality of the French language, whether scoring the straightforward observations of Ramiro, the rapid plotting of Concepción, or the over-the-top buffoonery of Gonzalve and Don Inigo. The result is playful, poetic and impressionistic.

The accompanying work, three songs of Don Quixote sung to Dulcinea, has a much less happy theme – and history. It is the very last thing Ravel composed (in 1933) and was commissioned by the celebrated film director, G. W. Pabst for a new film version of the story of the knight of La Mancha. Alas, as they say in the film biz, it ended up on the cutting room floor and was replaced by Jacques Ibert’s four songs on the same theme. This insult galled Ravel to the point of considering a lawsuit against the producers, but he eventually gave up on this…quixotic pursuit. The film’s loss is our gain, as these songs remain a popular vehicle for baritone voice, as rendered here by François Le Roux, one of the leading exponents of French chanson.