Vocal and Choral

Puccini - Edgar

José Cura; Amarilli Nizza; Julia Gerseva; Marco Vratogna; Teatro Regio Torino; Yoram David

ArtHaus Musik 101 377

Ricordi, the great Milan music publisher and impresario must have been hard pressed to recoup the losses from his investment after the young Puccini’s second opera Edgar’s disastrous premiere at La Scala in 1889 a year before the overnight sensation of that true verismo masterpiece Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. Edgar was not to recover for over 100 years until rediscovered, with a lost 4th act added, in this performance. Ironically Puccini made a quantum leap of true genius, turning out nothing but masterworks thereafter, while Mascagni stagnated unable to duplicate his initial success.

Edgar is an unfortunate opera, an interesting failure as it were, suffering from a weak libretto, but it does contain some beautiful melodies, arias and choral scenes. Puccini already had a sense of theatre, knew how to create suspense, resolve tension and develop insight into character, mainly Edgar. I would call him a ‘poor man’s Tannhauser’ struggling between carnal and pure love, bringing tragedy upon both.

This performance, honouring Puccini’s 150th, is headed by the great Argentinean José Cura, so successful in Italian ‘heldentenor’ repertory (Trovatore, Otello). He is heartrending in his immersion into Edgar’s character. The two ladies representing two sides of love are soprano Amarilli Nizza and mezzo Julia Gertseva, both in spectacular voice and characterization. Gertseva perhaps steals the show in the role of the aptly named Tigrana, the gypsy girl who is somewhat reminiscent of Carmen. Noted Israeli-born Yoram David conducts with verve and passion contributing much to the success of this performance.

Handel - Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

Suzie LeBlanc; Jörg Waschinski; David Cordier; Lautten Compagney; Wolfgang Katschner

NCA New Classical Adventures 60188

This is a reissue of a 1997 recording from the Handel festival in Halle. Handel’s Clori, Tirsi e Fileno is a secular cantata composed in 1707 for the Italian nobility. Though a fairly obscure work, many of the arias sound familiar as they were indeed reworked as some of the central arias for the composer’s later operas. This sweet little pastorale tells the story of a shepherdess (Suzie LeBlanc, soprano) who strings along suitors Tirsi (Jörg Waschinski, sopranist) and Fileno (David Cordier, alto) until they tire of her two-timing machinations. The singers are suitably matched and the combination of the three treble voices paints a light and carefree comic impression. While the liner notes include an English translation, unfortunately, the text does not, although from the performance and musical language, it is easy to imagine the events. That the piece is an early piece of Handel’s is demonstrated by the fluid alternation of dialogue between characters, dialogue with the orchestra, arioso and da capo forms. Purity, vocal clarity, the expressiveness of obbligato sections and the precision of the seven-member ensemble are hallmarks of this performance, well worth its revival.

Sacrificium - La Scuola dei Castrati

Cecilia Bartoli; Il Giardino Armonico; Giovanni Antonini

Decca 478 1521

Castration is the final obstacle to truly authentic vocal performance of repertoire written for unwilling mutants. The ranks of early music zealots have, however, produced no volunteers willing to make the necessary sacrifice to reproduce the legendary qualities of the Castrato voice. Until then, the Castrato repertoire remains an unknown frontier explored only occasionally by adventurous counter tenors and female voices.

“Sacrificium” is a 2 disc collection of period arias written exclusively for Castrati. Decca has produced a miniature tome with fine historical notes and photographs documenting the age of the Castrato. The choice of Neapolitan and Venetian composers reflects the fact that the mutilation of young boys for the sake of music was principally an Italian phenomenon, albeit one that northern European courts eagerly imported.

Cecilia Bartoli’s hallmark vibrato and intense emotional style make these recordings (11 of them world premieres) truly impressive. She sustains long melismatic passages effortlessly and negotiates leaps from head to chest voice in rapid succession. And while her display of vocal technique is confident, even brazen at times, some of the finest moments in these 2 discs come in the tender passages of slow descending sequences where she draws out the beauty or anguish of the text in a way that is both simple and intense.

You’ll find familiar composers like Handel, Caldara, Porpora, Broschi and Giacomelli along with the lesser known names of Graun, Araia and Vinci. They all, however, share a gift for crafting both dynamic vocal lines and exquisite melodies that leave a listener wondering how the castrati must actually have sounded and understanding why they were worshipped.

Nicola Porpora - Arias

Karina Gauvin; Il Complesso Barocco; Alan Curtis

ATMA ACD2 2590

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Sic Transit Gloria Mundi – The glory of this world is fleeting. What an apt description of the current status of Nicola Porpora. At one time, creator (with poet Petro Metastasio) of some of the greatest triumphs of musical performance that pleased monarchs, delighted their courts and held sway over public imagination – today Porpora is little known and even less recorded. Six of 14 arias on this disc are world premiere recordings. How could the vocal teacher of castrati Caffarelli and Porporino, female superstars La Romanina, Nicola Grimaldi and Lucia Facchinelli, the man who discovered his most important protégé, Farinelli, be so thoroughly neglected? Well, there are two reasons for that: there are no more castrati and, secondly and most importantly, the music of Nicola Porpora was always meant to be a neutral background on which to showcase the castrato’s voice. His arias are not necessarily brilliant or groundbreaking – in fact, many of them seem repetitious. However, endowed with the sound of the castrato’s voice they must have been stunning. Such voice is impossible to replicate. Even for the film Farinelli, the producers digitally “mashed” the counter-tenor and soprano, to achieve a desired effect. The Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin continues to amaze with the beauty of her voice, increasingly focusing on Baroque music. Technically flawless, in this recording she is augmented by the “first leaguers” of period performance, Il Complesso Barocco and Alan Curtis. So if no single human being can reproduce the castrato’s voice, we owe Ms. Gauvin thanks for approximating it for us.

Puccini - Ritrovato

Violeta Urmana; Placido Domingo; Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmonic; Alberto Veronesi

Deutsche Grammophon 477 7745

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Process of artistic creation is commonly regarded as 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. This is also true in musical composition. There are very few composers like Mozart who hit upon perfection almost instantaneously, like Minerva springing out of the head of Jupiter.

Even Beethoven had agonizing struggles to arrive at perfection, as the 3 Leonora overtures show very clearly.

Puccini turned 150 last year and we still know his name, which is a considerable achievement, (I don’t think many of today’s pop celebrities will accomplish this). To celebrate, DG turned out this well researched, commendable and scholarly disc of Puccini’s discarded items, earlier versions and some unknown compositions.

I was immediately taken by the young Puccini’s compositional prowess in the beautiful Preludio a orchestra written as a teenager that contains an elegant, original melody I discovered somewhat similarly appearing in Sibelius’ 7th Symphony(!) and the Adagietto per Orchestra, an even more mature work now almost totally forgotten.

The above notwithstanding, most of the compilation is devoted to earlier, discarded versions of items in Puccini’s operas. One may be grateful that the gripping final scene of Madama Butterfly didn’t end up the way it was first written, it being too loose and unwieldy. “Too many notes” – as it were. Similarly, the earlier version of the 3rd act intermezzo of Manon Lescaut, elegant and well written as it may be, is simply no match for the poignant, heart rending final version we are accustomed to. As the greatest masterpieces, La Boheme, Tosca, Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot, are notably absent I may guess they did not need revisions. What we are offered is superbly sung by great opera stars and conducted by Puccini specialist Alberto Veronesi.

Mozart; Schubert; Beethoven; Wagner

Jonas Kaufmann; Mahler Chamber

Orchestra; Claudio Abbado

Decca 478 1463

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Jonas Kaufmann is no newcomer to the opera world nor to recordings, both audio and video. He has about 20 discs on the market, from Mozart, Beethoven, Richard Strauss, and more. However none of these struck the chord as this new disc has. Admittedly he shines in Madama Butterfly and in Der Rosenkavalier and various collections with other artists, but I haven’t heard them all and there may be the artistry equal to this new disc.

I was taken completely taken by surprise by the timbre and texture of the gentle melancholy that he conveys, without a hint of bathos, in the opening lines of both In fernam land and, more particularly, Mein lieber Schwann! This entire collection is a superb showcase for Kaufmann’s artistry revealed in the arias from Lohengrin; as Tamino from The Magic Flute; arias from Schubert’s Fierrabras and Alfonso und Estrella; from Fidelio, Gott! Welch Dunkel heir!; Wintersturme; and finally two from Parsifal, Amfortas! – Die Wunde and Nur eine Waffe taugt.

The well chosen sequence of arias on this CD showcase a beautiful voice with an unusual palette of colours, textures and dynamic range whose vocal canvas is enhanced by fine musicianship and intellect. He inhabits the roles and communicates them effortlessly, supported majestically by Claudio Abbado. The recording itself is of demonstration quality, naturally balanced, very clean and well-focused.

Kaufmann’s qualities and discernable originality make it difficult to pigeonhole him as a heldentenor or a similar generalisation. He emerges as in a class of his own.

Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde

Klaus Florian Vogt; Christian Gerhaher;

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal;

Kent Nagano

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

OSMCD-7436

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The Montreal Symphony Orchestra, well-known internationally in the happier decades of the recording industry for their many classic recordings of predominantly French repertoire, has joined the ranks of orchestral house labels with an excursion into what is for them relatively unfamiliar territory.    The primary allure of this performance is the finely wrought interpretation of baritone Christian Gerhaher. There is a natural, human warmth in his singing that is consistently compelling through a wide range of emotions, from the charming intimacy of Von der Schönheit to the stoical acceptance of fate in the final Abschied. Nagano is at his best in this half-hour finale, where his cool, understated approach and the white tone of the vibrato-less wind solos brings to light the Buddhist aspects of Mahler’s autumnal masterpiece. Gerhaher’s counterpart, the rising young tenor Klaus Florian Vogt, has a quite pleasant lyric tone to his voice, however Mahler’s initial vocal instructions (Mit voller Kraft; immer machtvoll) are simply beyond him. Though Vogt can be heard clearly enough over the orchestral maelstrom (thanks to a post-concert dubbing session in a Bavarian studio), his reading of his part, though elegant, is timorous and lacking in textural nuance. The audio quality is unexceptional, derived from a combination of live and studio sessions. I would gladly exchange the annoyingly speculative program notes for the full text and translations of the songs, whose absence here is unconscionable.