Once upon a time, a country once renowned for its cultural life
and relatively enlightened government policies on the arts and
education held a general election. This election was held in
a time of financial crisis; and in an atmosphere of artificially
induced fear and resentment towards people from different countries
propagated by people in nice, neat suits. The people in nice
neat suits won, and set about rescuing their citizens from the
financial crisis by getting rid of ‘elitist’ organisations in
the arts. They stopped short of burning books in the streets,
but only just ...
This release is part of the Netherlands Broadcasting Music Centre
or MCO’s attempt to remain in existence. Imagine a government
deciding overnight to do away with, say, all of the BBC
orchestras and choirs. It doesn’t take much imagination to see
how far those ripples would spread into British cultural life,
but if there is one thing the anti-intellectual leadership of
The Netherlands lack it’s imagination and forethought. The MCO
website is in Dutch, but does
have links to its orchestras whose sites have English versions,
including the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in this
Berlioz recording, a superb orchestra which has acclaimed releases
on the Hyperion and BIS label – yes, that Shostakovich symphony
cycle with Mark Wigglesworth. Let’s just do away with it all,
OK everyone?
Well, erm, no – not OK, not by a long way. At the time
of writing this situation is by no means resolved, and we are
in no way out of the woods. The booklet for this CD contains
an open letter from Bernard Haitink which uses terms such as
“shameless outrage” and puts the nature of this very idea in
a nutshell: “The moral condition of a society can generally
be gauged by its flourishing cultural life ... Such a measure
is therefore a bad omen for the state of things to come in The
Netherlands.” I’m not going to stay on my soapbox much longer,
but, given this subject is pretty much the entire raison d’être
for this release I couldn’t let it go unsaid, and I’m pretty
amazed at how few reviewers elsewhere mention all of this. It’s
not as if this is a super deluxe release with all texts given
in nine different languages, because it ain’t. Former director
of the Concertgebouw and current chairman of the Holland Festival
and more Martijn Sanders does also write in the booklet, outlining
the reason for choosing this remarkable live performance of
La Damnation de Faust, which had been one of the 1999 ‘Carte
Blanche’ concert series for Bernard Haitink: “...a magnificent
document with two top-level ensembles, four phenomenal vocalists
and a conductor of world fame who started his career before
the Radio Philharmonic.” This is therefore presented as a kind
of Exhibit A. of what Dutch cultural life can and has achieved
in recent years. It is also evidence of the lack of consultation
and discussion which was engaged in before the decision was
taken to discontinue the MCO. If musicians have no voice other
than in presenting concrete examples of the success of their
productions, then here you have it: Exhibit Berlioz.
So, is this recording worth having? The simple answer is an
emphatic yes. Even without a desire to support our beleaguered
colleagues, this is a stunningly vivid live recording of what
must have been an electrifying evening at the Concertgebouw.
French native speakers may turn their noses up at a few touchy
corners of pronunciation, but all of the soloists are good and
at their best they are brilliant. Thomas Quasthoff is a particularly
fine Méphistophélès, and the chorus also seems to adapt its
sound to create quite a convincingly French, at times almost
nasal sound, and certainly with plenty of passionately expressive
vibrato. The recording is on the cooler side, a touch more ‘blue-filter’
in the balance than one might expect from the Concertgebouw
acoustic, but this trades off into a sound which has terrific
immediacy and a fine sense of openness and refreshing clarity.
The orchestra provides a superb sonic texture and more than
just a backdrop for the singing, with very fine solos and sectional
work throughout Berlioz’s remarkable scoring. Favourite moments
such as the Marche hongroise in the first part are done with
terrific verve and blazing brass, pushing all the right buttons
and carrying us forward on waves of exhilaration.
Everyone seems to rave about Sir Colin Davis’s ‘LSO Live’ recording
of this work, but while I agree it is very good and the French
diction of the soloists is frequently a few degrees more convincing,
I always find it rather hard to live with the stuffy Barbican
acoustic and feel the music opens out more and creates a more
physical reaction in this live version from Bernard Haitink.
Giuseppe Sabbatini is more operatic and melodramatic than Vinson
Cole in his more lyrical approach in the role of Faust, and
which of these you prefer will be a matter of taste. Thomas
Quasthoff is also less inclined towards dark suggestiveness
than David Wilson-Johnson as Méphistophélès, and Charlotte Margiono’s
soprano is more fruity in the lower octaves than Enkelejda Shkosa,
whose vibrato is a touch tighter and more intense – all pretty
much cases of swings and roundabouts, but if like me you prefer
more expressive melodic lines as well as plenty of drama then
Haitink is the man. Sir Colin also creates his own accompanying
vocal role from the conductor’s rostrum, which becomes intrusive
and irritating after a while. No, I’m very happy to have made
the acquaintance of this performance from Bernard Haitink, and
prefer its sappy vitality to the rather dry sounding LSO version.
Summing up, I was initially afraid I would have to defend this
‘non profit initiative’ release from hot competition, but in
the end it’s been easy to welcome it as a top-level production
in its own right, and one which need have no fear in standing
alongside any of its rivals in the current catalogue. It doesn’t
have texts or informative booklet notes, but that’s not the
point. This release makes it easy to support a worthwhile cause
by giving you a tremendous listening experience. Don’t allow
the Dutch government to sweep an entire set of national and
internationally valuable cultural institutions into the cold
and dirty North Sea. You know what will happen: if they succeed
it will only give other governments bad ideas ...
Dominy Clements
Die-hard music professional in The Netherlands
Faust – Vinson Cole (tenor) 
