This issue of a German operetta rarely heard outside German-speaking
countries forms part of a series of recordings deriving from the
Seefestspiele Mörbisch issued on Oehms, of which six other issues in
the same vein are advertised on the back of the booklet. It is good to have
these works presented in modern recordings, but yet again I have to raise
issues about the presentation and in particular the severe lack of essential
information which is required to help the listener follow the plot.
In the old days of LP it could be taken more or less for granted
that an operatic issue would contain a frequently substantial booklet
providing a synopsis of the plot, the complete text as sung on the recording
and often translations into one or more languages. With the arrival of CD it
often became more difficult to provide such extensive information in the
smaller size of the booklets required, but many companies continued to do so
with the assistance of inserts into boxed folders containing the CDs. In
recent years however there has become an increasing tendency to neglect such
matters, and I have had occasion to comment unfavourably upon this on many
occasions. Most of the time such criticisms have fallen on apparently deaf
ears, but to do them justice some producers and companies have responded to
me with various reasons why the provision of synopses, texts and
translations cannot be sustained. These reasons possibly warrant some
exploration, and this review in a continuing series would appear be a good
occasion on which to do so.
1. “The texts are copyright and permission to reproduce
them cannot be obtained or would be unsustainably costly.”
This,
I’m afraid, just won’t wash. If a writer is having his or her
text provided as part of an issue promoting their works, it is surely
inconceivable either that they would refuse permission or seek to charge
excessively for the same.
2. “The costs of producing a booklet of the size required
would be excessive
.”
Well, one can understand this in the
context of a reissue of an existing performance, especially if the reissue
is being made available at bargain price. However many of these reissues
derive from recordings which
did have full texts and translations in
their original format, so at the very least one would expect the existing
material to be made available to purchasers, if necessary online.
3. “The texts and translations are available online
anyway
.”
This follows on from the previous rationale, and
it is true that many companies
do make texts (and sometimes
translations) available in this manner - and Naxos, for example, manage to
do this at budget price. This is especially important in the case of
operatic works which fall outside the mainstream repertory. It is also true
that there are sites on the internet which provide texts of operas which can
be printed or downloaded. However, and most particularly in the case of
full-priced issues, there seems to be no reason why purchasers of expensive
sets should be required to do this.
4. “Most people just want to listen to the music, and
don’t care about the dramatic context.” If this is true - which
I doubt -
I find it simply incomprehensible as an argument. If I am
listening to any dramatic work, I want to know what is going on. If any
listener is really not interested, one wonders what they are doing listening
to operas (or operettas) in the first place. No composer that I know of, no
matter how light-hearted the music they are writing, has ever contended that
the words are not important.
5. “There simply isn’t room for the material in a
CD booklet, or the typeface would have to be unreasonably
small.”
Well, some companies seem to manage all right, and even
small typefaces are better than nothing at all. This is particularly germane
in the case of the present issue of
Der Bettelstudent, where a
booklet of twenty pages finds over ten pages available to provide bilingual
biographies of the performers, but can make room only for a half-page
synopsis which is not even cued to the tracks on the CD. Track listing is
confined to the back of the box, with not even any indication of the voice
ranges of the individual characters to enable the listener to tell who is
singing what. The brief and chatty synopsis tells us that the plot enshrines
“a somewhat confusing situation” - and never was a truer word
written.
For those who do not regard such issues as unimportant, I should let
potential purchasers know that a text of
Der Bettelstudent is
available online, not from the record company but on the Swiss site
Opera Guide. You can use Google to translate
it for you from the original German into a fractured sort of English. There
is also a complete copy of the 1882 vocal score available from
IMSLP
although this gives only the text in German. In reviewing this set I have
had recourse to both online sources, but if Oehms are intent on selling
their issues outside German-speaking territories I would urge them to
consider making such material available online for download.
I already own a copy of an earlier 1958 release of
Der
Bettelstudent conducted by Werner Schmidt-Boelcke which has been
reissued several times - although its availability seems to have been patchy
- but it inevitably sounds somewhat dated. It must however be observed that
somewhat boxy orchestral tone in the
Introduction here hardly gives a
good impression and the chorus and solo voices are very forwardly placed in
the balance with plentiful added echo which gives the whole a similarly
rather old-fashioned feel. There is no evidence of any audience presence.
Although the issue seems to derive from a stage production - credits are
given to stage director and designer - the recording appears to have been
made in a studio with plenty of intervention from well-meaning engineers.
Judging by the vocal score, a number of items are cut, but we are given
plentiful repeats of strophic songs which make little sense if the purpose
of the issue is simply to give us the music - as indeed is testified by the
complete omission of any spoken dialogue.
The first solo voice we hear, Olaf Plassa, delivers his words in a
sort of voice which goes well beyond D’Oyly Carte G&S delivery
into something that more closely recalls Rex Harrison in
My Fair
Lady. This sort of stylistic confusion also extends to Henryk Böhm,
although he clearly has a naturally warm voice - in the Hermann Prey mould -
which is done no favours by the close microphone placing to which it is
subjected. Indeed the singing throughout is of a rather pop-orientated ilk,
although the following duet for Mirko Roschkowski and Erwin Belakowitsch
again gives us the chance to hear basically pleasant voices; their opening
duet is subjected to cuts and trimmings. Linda Plech has a rather matronly
style of delivery, none too steady of tone, which might just about be
acceptable for an elderly Gilbertian matron but contrasts unfavourably with
more charming
soubrette tone of Cornelia Zink in their concerted
passages.
The trimmings to which the music is subjected in this issue and the
omission of dialogue were presumably made in order to fit the score onto a
single CD - the earlier Schmidt-Boelcke issue extended to two discs - and
many listeners will probably feel that this is as much of
Der
Bettelstudent as they need to hear. Archiv currently lists no other
recording of the score which make any pretensions to completeness, although
at one time there appears to have been another two-disc CD reissue in 1989
of a set conducted by Franz Allers which contains a cast which seems to be
superior to either of the rival recordings including as it does Rita
Streich, Nicolai Gedda and Hermann Prey. I have not heard this issue, but
should point out that the reliable and informative Kurt Gänzl in his
Musical Theatre on Record regarded it as superior to any rival,
although he complained about “almost always tiny slimmings and
cuts” in the music. Copies of this presumably more naturally recorded
release are listed as available on Amazon and might well repay investigation
for those interested, although new copies advertised there seem to be on the
pricey side.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
Previous review:
Ian Lace
