#morninglistening: Hartmann by Committee

#morninglistening #Hartmann @challengerec @JamesGaffigan... http://t.co/aKHkikTHNx pic.twitter.com/tBFYrsizCr

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) January 22, 2015

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Best Recordings of 2015 (#10)

Time for a review of classical CDs that were outstanding in 2014 . My lists for the previous years: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, (2011 – “Almost”), 2010, (2010 – “Almost”), 2009, (2009 – “Almost”), 2008, (2008 - "Almost") 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004.

# 10 - New Release

Wartime Consolations, Linus Roth (violin), José Gallardo (piano), Ruben Gazarian, Württemberg CO Heilbronn, Challenge SACD

K.A.Hartmann, M.Weinberg, D.Shostakovich Concerto funebre, Moldavian Rhapsody, Concertino, Unfinished Violin Sonata Ruben Gazarian / Württemberg CO Heilbronn L.Roth, J.Gallardo (piano) (Challenge SACD)

Linus Roth has fared well with Mieczysław Weinberg. After a notable recording of the Violin Sonatas his recording of the Violin Concerto (coupled with Britten’s) was a hit that received glowing reviews from dozens of magazines, including an always coveted “Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice”. He’s done it again, as far as quality of performance and quality of incoming reviews are concerned. This time he has coupled the Karl Amadeus Hartmann concerto (a dark, war-anticipating masterpiece among 20^th century concertos) with two relatively lighter works by Weinberg, the Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes op.47 and the Concertino for Violin and Strings which displays lyrical sweep (subtly guarded by a wistful air against any joyous excess) and tender gracefulness. The purely orchestral Rhapsody was such a success that Weinberg also set it for violin and piano (included on Roth’s recording of the Sonatas) and for violin orchestra. That version (presumed to exist) is lost, so Roth performs Ewelina Nowicka’s re-arrangement from the chamber version. The “Moldavian” themes of this Rhapsody are of course decidedly Jewish themes from Moldavia… but Weinberg knew better than to advertise that openly, after the still recent attacks on his “cosmopolitanism” and imprisonment and state-murders of Jews around the USSR, including that of his father-in-law’s.

The disc is again a Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice (“an eminently collectable disc”) that arts editors took turns lauding as “a strikingly rewarding programme” (The Telegraph) and commending Roth for unearthing the “fascinating find” (The Observer) of the unfinished first movement of a Shostakovich Violin-Sonata-to-be. (Of which this is the world premiere recording.) I would pipe up to suggest that the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn plays nearly as well as the DSO Berlin did on the last disc, or that the soloist finds just the right balance between dark and light, sorrow and twisted joy. But I must recuse myself, having written the liner notes for this release. 

# 10 – Reissue

D.Shostakovich, A.Glazunov, Violin Concertos, Itzhak Perlman (violin), Z.Mehta, Israel PO, Warner

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Ionarts-at-Large: End-of-the-World-Music in Vienna

Within a few days, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orchestra (the opera’s orchestra) pitched their tents at the Musikverein in Vienna. I caught the second of those two concerts, with the Opera’s orchestra under their music director Kirill Petrenko, because I had to! It featured Berlioz’ Symphonie fantastique, but that wasn’t the reason. It opened with Ravel’s La Valse (Poème chorégraphique pour Orchestre), but that wasn’t the reason either. But in the middle lured a tremendous work: Gesangsszene to words from “Sodom and Gomorrha” by Jean Giraudoux for Baritone and Orchestra by Karl Amadeus Hartmann. (More Hartmann on ionarts here.) Not only that, but with the best possible baritone in that repertoire, too: namely Christian Gerhaher (More Gerhaher on ionarts here). That’s unmissable in my book – and everything else is mere bonus.

La Valse was a fine such bonus to start with: As the first low notes emerged, the upper strings just barely broke through to the surface, which made the work—buzzing, droning, pulsating—all the more strange than it already is. It was woodwind eeriness, and the harmlessness of the waltz theme was hard to trust. When the strings finally got there, and came to the fore at last, along with the battery of four harps, they didn’t revert to a pastoral naïveté, either: With transparency  and foreshadowing and every timpani burst ever more threatening, the orchestra inexorably waltzed along to the ensuing final, perplexing stage… fooling no one along the way. Typical Kirill Petrenko, one might say, and a nicely disturbing opening.

Hartmann was the student of Anton Webern, an admirer of Arnold Schoenberg, and a liberal quoter from Alban Berg, but he was anything but a mindless disciple of the 12-tone cult: “Those who compose slavishly in acquiescent dependency on tone rows can certainly crank their bits out at a nice clip. But… you cannot just skirt the burden of tradition by replacing old forms with new ones. We have to accept that our path has become more difficult than that of our great idols before us.” Hartmann consequently developed a musical voice that makes him one of great if lamentably unsung composers of the 20th century.

K.A.Hartmann, Gesangsszene et al., K.A.Rickenbacher, Bamberger Symphoniker, S.Nimsgern Koch H.Berlioz et al., Symphonie Fantastique, M.Jansons, BRSO BR Klassik

Hartmann wrote his very last, unfinished work—the deeply pessimistic, apocalyptic Gesangsszene—for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. It was premiered a year after Hartmann died in 1963. It is uncomfortable listening, disturbing and stirring, relentless, but with glimpses even of conventional beauty amid the ruins. Fischer-Dieskau remained loyal to Hartman’s swansong and, between the premiere and 1987, performed it twenty times all over Europe. The premiere performance under Dean Dixon never made it from LP to CD, but recordings with the Bavarian and Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestras led by Rafael Kubelik (Wergo) and Lothar Zagrosek (Orfeo) respectively let us eavesdrop on this bitter parting gift of Hartmann’s for which Fischer-Dieskau’s controlled urgency is apt.

If the performance with Petrenko and Gerhaher sounded very, very different from Dieskau’s attempt (especially with Kubelik), it’s because Gerhaher, unlike the albeit poignant Dieskau, opted to sing the work as written, not just an approximation thereof. The review of the concert in Munich promised much. In fact, Egbert Tholl of the Süddeutsche Zeitung was so destroyed afterwards, he had to leave at intermission (and communicated this in the review). The clarinet and flute pre-lament, to get us set up properly. Then one becomes witness to the colorfully illustrated Sprechgesang/singing, always at the edge of what is either just still or already no longer comfortable Sew-saw, sew-saw… as through bone with a surgeons’ saw... followed by impotent exclamation marks. Silence. Gerhaher amidst this like a pale horse. And then the flute again, piping up as if to see if things might not have turned around. They have not. This is End-of-the-World-Music! It even says so. The last words are: “It is the End of the World. The saddest possible of them all!” Indeed. Tholl called Gerhaher’s role in this that of the “Evangelist of Doom”, and it’s right-on. Then Tholl went out into the night, alone. As I might have, even though I was missing a bit of that solemn focus I had expected and hoped for… either a product of my lacking concentration or the less than perfectly concentrated, incomprehensive surroundings in the Goldener Saal.

I stayed. But what can you play, after hearing Hartmann? Nothing, if you take it seriously… if you really took it in, if you made it your own. Anything, of course, if it was just music… more or less impressive, to be listened to, more or less, and then dutifully applauded; a prosecco at intermission, a chat with the Feldhubingers and, oh look, Dr. Waldner is here; we haven’t seen the Gugler’s in weeks, and Hello Herr Professor Doktor Geigerl, Frau Professor Doktor Geigerl. How was the week at Lake Hallstatt? Why, then it’s no problem at all continuing with Berlioz’ self-indulgent tone poem of many ownders… the showy, effective, and not universally loved Symphonie fantastique.

The performance: Amazing details, finely traced and with great dynamic control and dramatic execution thereof and playing that you’d expect from an AAA concert-orchestra on a good day, but not not necessarily from an A opera-orchestra like the Bavarian State Orchestra, Munich’s nominal No.3 (after the obvious No.1 BRSO and the fluctuation our-concerts-are-like-a-box-of-chocolate No.2 Munich Philharmonic). So far, so good. But the performance was also detailed to the point of disconnect and incoherence. Maybe “AAA”, but not my cup of tea. In any case, it was entirely nixed by a squeaking double-bass chair that would not stop adding its gruesome, unwanted sound to the mix. Strange that Petrenko didn’t stop after the first movement, to remedy the ill. But disconnect and squeak aside, the Symphonie fantastique is also a frightfully self-important work (even if Petrenko wanted to downplay exactly that aspect), and the contrast to the earnest humility of the Hartmann reveals this mercilessly. It’s not my favorite work to begin with (although the BRSO recording from last year got me very excited), and once one isn’t in the mood for this Symphony, it gets annoying and tedious really fast, however impressive the circumstances. No matter: No one can take the gloomy delight of Hartmann away from me. 

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Notes from the 2011 Salzburg Festival ( 12 )

Camerata 1 • Mahler Scenes 8

Picking my program for Salzburg, the first of the Camerata Salzburg concerts with Kent Nagano and Maria João Pires was one of the two, three most immediate choices. With Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Fourth Symphony and Mozart’s last Piano Concerto (K.595 in B-flat) as the main ingredients, it virtually selected itself. When the—presumably sole—opportunity presented itself to attend the Riccardo Muti / Peter Stein Macbeth the same day, I faced a dilemma. Attend the show that was the hottest ticket of the summer, or go with where my heart was, musically? Even before I knew that I would get to attend an earlier performance of Macbeth after all (review here), I opted for Nagano-Hartmann-Pires-Mozart. If I figured after attending Macbeth that it was the right choice; I knew after the Camerata Salzburg concert that there isn’t any Macbeth I wouldn’t have missed this concert for, and gladly.

It started with Ives’ Unanswered Question, a work impossible not to be moving. The space of the Mozarteum’s Grand Concert Hall had the solemn strings sit on stage, not outside, and the four answering woodwinds segregated to the back. The questioning trumpet went around the outside of the hall, from door to door, until it didn’t get an answer to its seventh question.

Elephant Graveyard of String Quartets

K.A.Hartmann, Symphony No.4, Cto.Funebre et al., Poppen / Munich CO / I.Faust, Petersen Q4t et al. ECM

Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Fourth Symphony for String Orchestra sounds like the place where string quartets go to die. Its opening is instantly reminiscent of the opening of the Mahler 10^th Symphony, but without the immediate bleeding-heart eruption that Mahler places after the reoccurring string laments. Instead the climax builds slowly, the textures are sparse and haunting, like an overwhelming, oversized string quartet for orchestra. The language is that of the post-romantic tonality that saw itself squeezed out of the Western classical repertoire—courtesy of the post war embrace of the avant-garde and complexity. The angular aspect of Hartmann’s music comes out in the second movement, rhythmically compelling like a Bartók quartet. Dark and narrative, like a walk through the scary forests of German fairy tales.

Ruined to fame by Bernstein & Visconti

Mahler’s Adagietto was performed as a prelude to the Mozart Concerto, with Pires already sitting at the piano which gives a visual clue to how piano-like the rising harp figures are. Ruined to fame by Visconti and Bernstein, the Adagietto has become clad forever in the garb of mourning, associated with the solemn steps along the hearse. It was played like that—lingeringly, funereal—too, but ‘my Gawd’: how gorgeous that can be, at least or especially outside the context of the whole symphony. That’s not what the Adagietto is really about, but it worked well enough in this case, and taking it virtually attacca from the movement’s key of F into the B-flat (subdominant) of K.595, was a gimmick—yes, but one that worked very well, indeed.

Subject to the Swansong Industry

W.A.Mozart, PCs nos. 20 & 27, M-J.Pires / A.Jordan / Lausanne CO Warner/Apex

It also gave the wistful air of hindsight to the Piano Concerto—Mozart’s last, as if it were the softly singing announcement of the composer’s leave-taking. Pires hits just the right (pardon) note between matter-of-factly playing (I love[d] Alicia de Larrocha for that) and unbleeding sentimentality: Classical restraint and a romantic-sensitive touch—to employ these wonderful, useful clichés—in tasteful, unmannered union. Her dynamic range roughly starts at mezzo-piano and ends at mezzo-forte, but her even, round tone is so sublime that it can make even constant mf sound sexy. It perfectly capped a concert that left one back into the busy post-performances streets of Salzburg with a feeling of gratification and elation. Ideal, in short.

Best Recordings of 2010 (# 5)

This continues the “Best Recordings of 2010” countdown. You can view the choices so far here. The lists from the previous years: 2009, (2009 – “Almost”), 2008, (2008 - "Almost") 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004.

# 5 - New Release

K.A.Hartmann, “Simplicius Simplicissimus' Youth”, Munich RSO / Ulf Schirmer / Nylund, Gerhaher, Volle et al., BR Klassik 900301

K.A.Hartmann, Simplicius Simplicissimus' Youth, Munich RSO / Ulf Schirmer / Nylund, Gerhaher, Volle et al. BR Klassik 900301

Karl Amadeus Hartmann is one of the great composers of the 20^th century; among those composers who were hampered in his career first by the Nazi takeover and then by the severe post-war avant-garde aesthetic, he was probably the most successful. Not the least because he was wise enough to fully embrace the new music. Not in his own musical language, but administratively by founding the Music Viva series in Munich which was and probably still is one of the most important contemporary music institutions.

“Simplicissimus” (subtitled “Developmental pictures from a German destiny according to H.J.Chr. Grimmelshausen”, with a libretto by Hermann Scherchen and the composer) was written between 1934 and 36 (“an homage to Prokofiev”) and then extensively revised in 1955/56, now dedicated to Carl Orff. It is the original version of the opera that is performed on this recording, but considerably edited and amalgamated for radio broadcasting by composer Wilfried Hiller. Unconnected scenes guide us from Simplicissimus the naïve youth to the wizened fool, shaped by living through the 30 Years War.

The result is a fantastic and uncomfortable, intriguing-compelling 90-minute opera. I don’t enjoy the spoken chorus that follows the overture (pointing to the fact that Germany’s population was decimated by three quarters between 1618 and 1648) but that’s due to the funny pronunciation of “DEUTSCH-land” (German)… the rest is Hartmann’s angular and organic language that someone who thinks highly of Stravinsky’s “Rake’s Progress” and “Histoire du soldat”, or Britten’s operas would have an easy time loving. It helps having two of Germany’s best baritone complement the cast around Camilla Nylund and Will Hartmann; the live recording of the ‘little’ Radio Orchestra in Munich (also part of the Bavarian Broadcasting but not to be mistaken with the flagship BRSO) under Ulf Schirmer is first rate.

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Dip Your Ears, Addendum 48a

K.Höller, Orchestral Works, E.Jochum / BRSO DG Musica Nova K.A. Hartmann, Symphony No.6 et al., F.Fricsay / RIAS DG Musica Nova

“Musik… Sprache der Welt” is now on its second volume of a 10-CD box (DG 4775494, ~$100). These boxes are like a trip into the past of continental European recordings in the 50s. Since getting the entire second volume does not entail any savings over collecting the titles individually (try to make sense of that, if you will), I don’t know why anyone would want to go the way of the box -- especially since it contains some choices (Grieg conducted by Fritz Lehmann) that will appeal mostly to Euro-nostalgics. I’d pick the cream of the crop -- and apart from interesting Böhm and Jochum in standard fare like Dvořák or Bruckner, it contains a Jochum-conducted Höller CD (Symphonic Phantasie for Orchestra, op. 20 and the Sweelinck-Variations - DG 4775488) as well as the Karl Amadeus Hartmann 6th symphony (plus the final movement of the 4th, the finale of Wolfgang Fortner's 4th, and a good version of Blacher's excellent Paganini-Variations - DG 4774587), both of which I like very much. The sound is surprisingly vivid and the music is very intriguing. Anyone interested in music from that time, a music that combines Romanticism with the experience of war and destruction while working on a new (third) musical language that never really succeeded amid the struggle between pantonal modernism and anachronistic Romanticism, might like to dip his or her ears. At ~$10 or less a pop, it’s a wonderful off-the-beaten-path snag.