1. Ş-acele
dulci păreri de rău
(And that sweet remorse) [1:23]
2. Die Botschaft (The emissary)
[1:44]
3. Pădurea
(The forest) [2:52]
4. Gazel (Gazel) [1:26]
5. La groapa lui Laie (At the
grave of Laie) [5:12]
6. Lună,
Lună, stea vicleană
(Moon, Moon, you wily star) [0:59]
7. Pe
līngă Plopii fără soţ
(Where mateless poplars grow) [2:53]
8. Steluţa
(Little star) [4:17]
9. Crisanteme (Chrysanthemums)
[2:23]
10. La steaua (Toward the star)
[3:04]
11. Ce te legeni, codrule?
(O forest, why do you sway?) [4:16]
12. Din noaptea …(From the
night …) [2:42]
13. Srelele-n cer (Stars in
the sky) [3:08]
14. Mammon-szerzetes zsoltára
[Psalm of Mammon’s monk] [4:56]
15. Singur (Alone) [3:18]
16. Prea
sus aţi fost! (So
far above!) [3:40]
17. Septembrie cu roze (September
with roses) [5:10]
18. Új könyvem fedelére
(On my new book) [2:13]
19. Es war ein alter König
(There was an old King) [2:08]
20. In memoriam E. (In Memoriam
E.) [2:39]
21. Zilahi ember nótája
(Ballad of a man from Zilah) [2:55]
22. Casa
noastră (Our house)
[2:25]
23. A maradandóság
városában [In the
city of Permanence] [5:23]
24. Mi-am
făcut un cīntec (I
fashioned myself a song) [4:02]
The arguably most
important works of Nicolae Bretan
are his operas, in particular Horia,
a recording of which I hope to review
within a couple of weeks. This will
be followed by three further operas.
Bretan’s operatic writing was limited
to a period of less than twenty years
between the two world wars, while
composing songs occupied him throughout
his life. The collection "My
Lieder-Land" alone contains 218
songs, which means that the two volumes
with Ludovic Konya (Vol. 1 see
review) plus the discs with Ruxandra
Donose (review)
and Alexandru Agache (review)
– also on Nimbus – cover only about
one third of his oeuvre. Naturally
one wishes that some adventurous company
would grasp the opportunity to issue
further volumes, but we must be extremely
grateful for what is available, especially
since all three singers are such committed
advocates of Bretan’s music – none
more so than Ludovic Konya, who also
has a disc with Bretan’s sacred songs
to his credit.
As in the previous
volume Konya’s singing is wholehearted
and musically nuanced. He obviously
relishes the texts, whether in lyrical,
dramatic or humoristic vein. He can
muster tremendous power when needed
but it is his soft singing that impresses
the most. Sometimes close to crooning,
he never steps over the border and
sentimentalizes the songs. On the
other hand he avoids investing too
much artfulness in music that is basically
simple, melodious and of a kind that
is close to the folksong. In many
ways he reminds me of the great German
baritone Heinrich Schlusnus, who was
one of the foremost interpreters of
German Lieder between the wars. Schlusnus
continued singing into the early 1950s,
recording some Richard Strauss and
Mahler with orchestra only a year
or so before his untimely death in
1952. He can be seen and heard on
youtube link
in a Strauss song recorded in 1944.
Even though his baritone was more
lyrical, lighter and higher than Ludovic
Konya’s, his unaffected way of performing
is similar.
One can buy this
volume for the sake of the singer
but the main reason is the songs themselves.
Melodious, expressive and highly personal
utterances they should be known and
performed just as often as many of
the songs that appear over and over
again in recital and on disc. I have
played some of them to music-lovers
who were quite stunned. ‘Who is this
Bretan and why haven’t we heard of
him and heard this wonderful music?’
has been the recurring reaction. There
are many possible answers. One is
that the languages – Romanian and
Hungarian – are not easily accessible
to the rest of the world. However
he also set about fifty German texts.
Another answer is that since he was
declared a non-person by the authorities
in Romania after the war, since he
refused to join the Communist Party,
his music has not been available.
I have no proof for this, but it might
well be that the live and radio recordings
by Ludovic Konya from the 1970s on
this and the companion discs, were
the first attempts to re-establish
him as composer. If so, these are
events of the greatest historical
value – besides their self-evident
intrinsic musical worth.
On this disc there
are two German songs: the light and
humoristic Die Botschaft (tr.
2) and Es war ein alter König
(tr. 19), both settings of Heinrich
Heine. They could be good starting
points before one explores the rest
of the programme, which is literally
littered with gems. At the grave
of Laie (tr. 5) – noble and solemn
but achingly beautiful. Then there
is the superb Crisanteme, the
suavely sung Stars in the sky
(tr. 13), the yearning but melodically
catchy September with roses
(tr. 17) and In Memoriam E.
(tr. 20), a setting of his own poem
on visiting the graveyard where his
younger brother lies buried. These
are just the brightest shining pearls
in this necklace.
As in the previous
volume the sound varies from venue
to venue – but nothing untoward. More
of a nuisance is the applause after
practically every song in the live
recordings. This could have been edited
out but its presence is not disturbing
enough to lessen the importance of
this issue. The accompaniments are
mostly of a simple, supportive kind
and are discreetly played to bring
out the singing.
Texts and translations
are essential for the appreciation
of the songs and Nimbus don’t let
the listeners down in this respect
either.
Summary: marvellous
songs, melodious and expressive, congenially
executed by the eloquent Ludovic Konya.
Göran
Forsling
see review
of Volume 1
Other Bretan reviews
My
Lieder-Land Volume 1
My
Lieder-Land Volume 2 RECORDING
OF THE MONTH (April)
SONGS
Ruxandra Donose (sop)
SONGS
Alexandru Agache (baritone)
Sacred
Songs
Horia
- Opera
Golem,
Arald - Operas
Ludovic Konya (baritone), Ferdinand Weiss
(piano)(1-6, 9-24); Martin Berkovsky (piano)(7-8)
