Franz SCHUBERT (1798-1828)
Overture Die Zauberharfe D644 [9:57]
Incidental Music to Rosamunde D797 [48:18]
Serena Malfi (alto)
Schweizer Kammerchor
Musikkollegium Winterthur/Douglas Boyd
rec. Stadthaus Winterthur, 5-8 October 2010, DDD/DSD Stereo/Surround
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM 
MDG
901 1633-6 [58:15] 
Douglas Boyd and his Winterthur forces are proving to be a reliable signing
for MDG. This disc follows an excellent recording of the Rheinberger organ
concertos. In both cases, we are talking about music that has made very few
outings on CD, let alone SACD, so to find them presented at this quality is
a treat.
Schubert, according to the liner-note, put great energies into improving his
reputation as a composer for the stage, but of the ten stage works he completed,
only three were preformed in his lifetime. Rosamunde was one of them,
and its poor reception was apparently one of the reasons why later stage projects
failed to find a home. Problems with the work's dramaturgy have been blamed
for its failure, rather than any inadequacies on the part of the music. And
the music is good. It falls somewhere between the Schubert the chamber composer
and Schubert the symphonist. There is plenty of drama here, but for the most
part it retains the civilised formality of the Classical era. Performing the
incidental music – and great as it is, the word 'incidental' is definitively
appropriate – poses a few challenges. A choir is required, but they only put
in a few appearances, as does the alto soloist. Schubert writes trombone parts,
but he only uses them to support the choir. So the whole project is a bit
impractical, and while you need a range of talented musicians, none is given
the opportunity to really show off those talents.
Fortunately, the Musikkollegium Winterthur musicians have what it takes. There
is some elegant woodwind writing, all of which is beautifully presented. And
those trombone parts, brief as they are, are played with enviable precision
and tonal focus. Douglas Boyd achieves a good balance between the composer's
aspirations to drama and his innate sense of musical elegance. There are a
number of points where the music builds up to a thematic statement through
a swell on an upbeat or a short crescendo, and Boyd is able to create just
the right sense of anticipation, and without excessive intervention.
It is probably worth noting that this is very much Schubert on modern instruments.
There is nothing wrong with that but it seems to be rapidly becoming the exception
rather than the rule. The textures are warmer and more homogeneous than you
get from period instruments, but - unlike in the later symphonies for example
- there is little in the way of contrapuntal or textural detail to lose in
the weave. That also limits the potential benefits of the SACD audio. The
audio quality is good, and it brings a sense of warmth and intimacy to the
quieter textures, especially the woodwind solos, but there is little in this
score to bring out in terms of pertinent incident and colour.
The disc opens with a bonus track of sorts. It turns out that Schubert wrote
the Rosamunde music to a tight deadline and did not have a chance to
write an overture. Instead, the programme opens with the overture to Die
Zauberharfe. The liner-note assures us that the overture is very much
in the spirit of the Rosamunde music, and so it is. However, the Rosamunde
movements are thematically interconnected - though a theme better known
from the quartet of the same name. The overture does not share this link and
so stands out from what follows. That's not a big grumble, but it does call
the logic of the programming into question. Even with this imported overture,
the running time is still under an hour. So why not include a few more overtures
and incidental movements too?
Gavin Dixon
Elegant writing beautifully presented.