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Nicolae
BRETAN (1887–1968) My Lieder-Land - The Songs of Nicolae
Bretan Vol. 1 Ludovic Konya (baritone)
Ferdinand Weiss (piano)(1-6, 15-22), Martin
Berkofsky (piano)(7-14)
rec. live, concert, Tirgu-Mures, Romania,
Autumn 1973 (1-6); live, Concert University
of Maryland, USA, 28 March 1976 (7-14);
Radio Cluj, Romania, 16 June 1974 (15)
and 23 June 1975 (16-17); Library of Congress,
Washington DC, USA, August 1974 (18-19);
live, concert, Cluj, Romania, 20 November
1975 (20-22)
Sung in Romanian (1, 3-8, 10, 13, 18,
19, 21, 22) and Hungarian (2, 9, 11, 12,
14-17, 20)
Texts and translations enclosed
NIMBUS NI 5637 [73:16]
1. Inima (The Heart) [3:51]
2. Hazamegyek a falumba (I will
return home to my village) [4:21]
3. Cucule, de ce nu vii? (Cuckoo,
why don’t you return?) [2:25]
4. În fereastra dinspre mare
(At the window on the sea) [2:14]
5. Cîntecul plugarului
(Lament of the plow) [3:23]
6. Pe dealul Feleacului (On the
hill of Feleac) [3:15]
7. Lasă-ţi
lumea ta uitată (Forget
your world) [2:38]
8. Peste vîrfuri (Above
the trees) [3:31]
9. A
fiam bölcsőjénél (At
my son’s cradle) [5:38]
10. Rea
de plată (The reluctant
debt payer) [1:36]
11. Kidalolatlan Magyar nyarak
(Unsung Hungarian summers) [5:38]
12. Legény
kesergője (A young man’s
outcry) [3:19]
13. În parcul Luxemburg
(In Luxemburg Gardens) [3:44]
14. Kocsi-út az éjszakában
(Night passage for carts) [3:26]
15. Húsz év mulva
(After twenty years) [2:51]
16. Gyermekkor (Childhood) [2:36]
17. Kisvárosok
őszi vasárnapjai (Small-town
autumn Sundays) [3:42]
18. Linişte
(Silence) [3:07]
19. Cînd amintirile … (When
memories …) [3:52]
20. Párisban
járt az ősz (Autumn
slipped into Paris) [3:37]
21. Somnoroase
păsărele (Sleepy
little birds) [2:25]
22. Şi
dacă ramuri bat în geam
(And if branches beat against the window)
[2:05]
It’s just a couple
of months since I reviewed two discs
with Ruxandra Donose (review)
and Alexandru Agache (review)
singing songs by Nicolae Bretan. Even
more recently I have listened to a disc
with sacred songs by Bretan (review),
sung by the somewhat older Ludovic Konya.
Those who have read my earlier reviews
will know that I almost boiled over
with enthusiasm – primarily due to the
songs themselves, which have a music
language all of their own, just as distinctive
as Schubert’s or Schumann’s or Mahler’s,
without in any way resembling those
or other leading exponents of the European
art song. Harmonically Bretan is firmly
rooted in the 19th century,
the accompaniments are mainly simple
and supportive rather than being contrapuntal
or leading an individual life of their
own. It’s the melodic inventiveness
and the direct communicative approach
of the songs that go direct to the heart
of the listener. After a few songs one
has learnt his very suggestive way of
turning a phrase, but that doesn’t mean
that he is predictable. His songs are
like the best folksongs: immediately
appealing, simple but organically connected
with the words. They are personal in
the same way that Schubert’s and Mahler’s
are and still full of surprises. Having
listened to five volumes of Bretan’s
songs I have to say that I have been
immersed in his tonal world and it still
fascinates me as much as it did when
I heard the first few of them. Listening
for hours is perhaps not recommendable,
since many of the songs are slow and
melancholy. Even though I hear turns
that I recognize from earlier songs
I never get a feeling that he is repeating
himself and the melodic naturalness
is so extraordinary, so stunningly beautiful
that I never tire of it.
Several of these songs
are also included in the programmes
of Ruxandra Donose and Alexandru Agache,
and this invites comparisons. Let me
say at once that my enthusiasm for Donose
and Agache has in no way waned but in
many respects Ludovic Konya is even
more inside the songs. He sings them
with such feeling and inwardness and
he has a way of caressing the melodies
with honeyed suaveness that is wholly
irresistible. He is sensitive to words
and deeply engaged but he never – or
rarely anyway – steps over the border;
there is nothing lachrymose about his
singing. In the songs where more robust
tone and power is required he is just
as apt and in the humorous songs, often
gallows humorous, he is expressive.
I haven’t been able
to find any biographical data about
Ludovic Konya but even in the mid-1970s,
when all these recordings were made,
he had an elderly ring. Don’t misread
me now – there is nothing worn or wobbly
about his voice production and the impression
varies from recording to recording,
since, as can be seen from the header,
the material is gathered from a number
of occasions, many of them live concerts.
For readers with an interest in singers
from an earlier generation the name
Heinrich Schlusnus might give an idea
about his singing: constantly musical
and expressive phrasing, exquisite soft
singing and that sense of a voice that
has been well nurtured throughout a
long career. Through intelligent choice
of repertoire he has retained the basic
lyric qualities even though one hears
that the singer may not be in the blossom
of youth.
Practically every song
has something special about it but it
is natural that one gets favourites.
Inima (tr. 1), for instance,
strophic, extremely beautiful; On
the Hill of Feleac (tr. 6); Forget
Your World (tr. 7), like a revival
hymn, the lullaby At my Son’s Cradle
(tr. 9), the powerful and intense
Night Passage for Carts (tr. 14),
When Memories … (tr. 19), where
the singer’s long legato phrases are
impressive and Sleepy Little Birds
(tr. 21). There is nothing artificial
about these songs, and the readings
are also very much alive, enhanced no
doubt by the presence of an audience
on most of the tracks.
This is however also
the main drawback, since there is applause
after almost every song. Nothing wrong
with that on a live recital, though
I prefer a well-behaved audience who
save the applause until the end of each
group of songs. For domestic listening
it will probably be annoying in the
long run and I believe that it would
have been quite possible to edit out
the clapping. The various venues with
varying acoustics may also be a drawback
to some listeners but this rarely detracts
seriously from the enjoyment of the
singing. The pianos are also a bit variable
and Martin Berkofsky is the more positive
of the pianists.
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Ludovic Konya (baritone) 
