Munich-based Profil is certainly releasing some fascinating
recordings - none more so than this live recording of the rarely heard
von Suppé
Requiem.
The Dalmatia-born Franz von Suppé found great fame for his operettas.
It seems that Suppé was given assistance in Vienna by Donizetti
who was a distant relative. Today he is most likely to be encountered
through
overtures
and marches such as
Light Cavalry,
O du mein Österreich,
Beautiful Galatea,
Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna
and
Poet and Peasant. Suppé did write in other genres
and composed a small number of sacred works including this
Requiem
in D minor. It is certainly neglected and if I was aware that he
had written a requiem I had forgotten. A check has revealed that there
are one or two recordings of the
Requiem but I have not heard
them.
The Philharmonie Festiva may be an unfamiliar name for many having been
established as recently as 2008 by the Bavarian conductor Gerd Schaller
who has a background heavily based in opera. This free-lance orchestra
comprises mainly musicians from the Munich Bach Soloists augmented from
ranks of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Münchner
Philharmoniker. In stark contrast to the young Philharmonie Festiva,
the choir was established nearly 120 years ago in 1895. This is a live
recording made in the glorious setting of the Ebrach Abbey the former
Cistercian monastery in Bavaria.
The
Requiem in D minor for soloists, choir and orchestra or the
Missa pro defunctis (
Mass for the dead) to give it its
official title was completed in 1855, a product of the composer’s
mid-thirties. Suppé wrote it in memory of his patron and friend,
the theatre director Franz Pokorny who had died in 1850. In addition
the score bears a dedication to ‘His Holiness, Pope Pius IX’.
The fact that the dedication was accepted by the pontiff should serve
as evidence of the score’s liturgical suitability. When the
Requiem
was introduced in 1855 at the Josefstadt Piaristenkirche, Vienna it
was initially well received. Later it became labelled too ‘Italianate’,
not containing enough of the solemn character of the more conventional
requiem. It seems that the score was lost following a performance in
Vienna in 1901 and only rediscovered in 1988 in a Vienna library. The
score requests four soloists: soprano, alto, tenor and bass and a divided
choir of at least 64 singers which can be doubled. The celebratory nature
of the scoring which was rather lavish for its time specifies 24 violins,
8 violas, 6 cellos, 6 basses, double woodwind, 4 horns, 2 trumpets,
3 trombones and kettle-drums. It is cast in thirteen parts including
the
Dies irae which is subdivided into six sections.
Schaller has engaged an excellent quartet of soloists who are all new
names to me. By far the busiest soloist is the perfectly chosen Austrian
born bass Albert Pesendorfer who performs his challenging part with
consummate ease. I find Pesendorfer unerringly consistent throughout,
displaying rich and reverentially expressive singing. His solos in the
Tuba mirum and
Hostias sections demonstrate that this
rock-steady bass is marvellously in tune. Making a fine impression,
Croatian tenor Tomislav Mužek exhibits his smooth and warmly expressive
voice in the
Recordare section with the words
Recordare,
Jesu pie. Mužek has a rather operatic quality but it doesn’t
impact too much. The alto part is sung by Franziska Gottwald a German
mezzo-soprano who excels in the
Recordare with
Quaerens me,
sedisti lassus: highly attractive singing of inspiring piety.
Gottwald and Mužek in their affecting
Recordare duet intone
the words
Juste judex ultionis and then
Inter oves locum praesta
complementing each other splendidly. In the section
Lacrimosa dies
illa Marie Fajtová, a Czech lyric soprano has a splendid
purity of tone. She performs with a sure sense of involvement whilst
managing to maintain utmost respect for the sacred text.
Right from the opening bars of the
Requiem aeternam the dark-hued
and tense writing reminded me of the sound-world to the
Preludio
of Verdi’s
Rigoletto. I was struck by this weighty music
heavy with dark foreboding in the short
Dies irae section - a
convincing and chilling evocation of the spectre of death. Giving emphasis
to certain stanzas that Suppé clearly found particularly pertinent
he repeats the words
Dies irae,
dies illa (
Day of wrath,
that fateful day) sixteen times and also repeats the words
Salve
me (
Save me) in the
Rex tremendae on eleven occasions.
For me the standout section is the
Recordare so dramatically
lyrical and affecting. Several of the sections feature striking brass
openings written with such assurance especially the opening of the
Tuba
mirum that sets the scene so magnificently. In addition I loved
the impressively played solo oboe part in both the
Recordare
and the
Lacrimosa.
It’s good to see Schaller gaining
high regard on the international stage. Here he underlines the score’s
glorious lyricism conducting with unerring assurance and attractive
sweep. The orchestral playing from the Philharmonie Festiva combines
so cohesively with the well blended tone of the Philharmonischer Chor
München.
As this recording attests Suppé’s
Requiem is undoubtedly
of high quality and certainly deserves a place in the repertoire. After
hearing the work several times it contains a number of impressive and
memorable sections none of which quite have that special unforgettable
quality one finds in the best known requiems by composers such as Mozart,
Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi and Fauré.
Profil is to be congratulated for providing full Latin texts with an
English translation. There is also a satisfactory essay about the work.
Great credit goes to the Bayerischer Rundfunk for ensuring excellent
recorded sound in the challenging reverberation of Abteikirche Ebrach.
I loved every second of Suppé’s splendid Requiem a real
discovery stunningly performed and so satisfyingly recorded too.
Michael Cookson
