What makes Marx’s orchestral songs and choral works so distinguished
is their lyric distinction, harmonic personalisation and their
extreme compression. The last is not necessarily a virtue in itself
but when wedded to such other qualities it most certainly is.
It reveals Marx to have had as acute an antenna for the currents
in German poetry as he had confidence in his own supple and concise
craftsmanship.
That said, it’s wise to begin
with the first ever recording of the biggest work here, the
1911 setting of Herbstchor an Pan. If elsewhere early
Marx might remind you of an axis situated somewhere between
Reger and Strauss here his emblazoned opus is richly, powerfully
and passionately Delian-Strauss. The writing reaches almost
voluptuary heights in the third section (Grämlich dahinter
dehnt sich der grosse Pan) and in the fourth the organ,
pealing winds and tremendously focused choral forces contribute
to an overwhelming experience – one reflected in the authority
and imaginative writing. It touches, true, at moments on the
religiose but it is moving and redolent in the orchestration
and curve of the writing of parts of Ein Heldenleben,
written a decade earlier. I’d strongly recommend this to you
if you have a reluctance to engage with Marx – not necessarily
because it’s the most obvious place to start but perhaps for
that very reason.
There are plenty more pleasures
to come including three further premiere recordings. Barkarole
is a luscious Straussian waltz – Richard not a Johann –
whilst Zigeuner seems to reflect more of Strauss’s influence,
specifically Der Rosenkavalier, which premiered at the
beginning of the same year, 1911, that Marx wrote his song.
Christine Brewer adds significantly to the success of the disc.
She sings with great control, the warmly floated line of Selige
Nacht is just as impressive as any of the more assertive
settings. She also sings with engagement both with the texts
and the vocal line; nothing vapid about her contributions at
all. The swooning strings and Brewer’s beguiling singing are
at their most wicked in Marienlied but it’s not as if
Marx couldn’t unbend - Und gestern hat er mich Rosen gebracht
is a light hearted but warmly textured setting, perfectly
rendered here.
There are moments when Marx
reaches for salon ease and that’s the case in a setting such
as Ständchen but Chandos has neatly followed this with
the previously unrecorded Hat dich die liebe berurht in
which Straussian flames blaze brightly once more. Morgengesang
is a powerful, stirring piece that ends in Wagnerian glow
and the concluding Ein Neujahrshymnus is a ceremonial
affair and vigorous.
The orchestral and choral forces
have been very well served by Chandos; this is a disc that frequently
blazes like a bark on the open seas. Editorial workmanship has
ensured that full orchestrations have been produced. I wouldn’t
want to pretend that all these settings are equally persuasive;
they’re not, and some do lag. But at their finest, in these
splendid performances, so well directed by Bělohlávek,
we can enjoy the best of them. Marx really does come alive here.
Jonathan Woolf
see also Review
by Rob Barnett
Christine
Brewer (soprano) 
