Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major (1906)
Barbara Haveman (soprano) - Magna Peccatrix; Orla Boylan (soprano);
Christiane Oelze (soprano) - Una Pœnitentium; Anna Palimina (soprano)
- Mater Gloriosa; Petra Lang (mezzo) - Mulier Samaritana; Maria Radner
(alto) - Mater Ægyptiaca; Brandon Jovanovich (tenor) - Doctor
Marianus; Hanno Müller-Brachmann (baritone) - Pater Ecstaticus;
Günther Groissböck (bass) - Pater Profundus
Mädchen und Knaben der Chöre am Kölner Dom; Chor des
Bach-Vereins Köln; Domkantorei Köln; Philharmonischer Chor
der Stadt Bonn/Vokalensemble Kölner Dom
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln/Markus Stenz
rec. 23-27 September 2011, Kölner Philharmonie, Germany. Stereo/multichannel
Latin and German texts included
OEHMS CLASSICS OC 653 
[77:01]
I was a little bit surprised to receive this disc for review at this
stage in Markus Stenz’s Mahler cycle. Many leave the Eighth
till last but we still await Stenz’s recordings of the Sixth,
Seventh, Ninth and, I hope, the full performing version of the Tenth.
Judging by the recording dates I suspect he opened the Gürzenich-Orchester’s
2011/12 concert series with the Eighth - previous issues in this cycle
have been set down in the wake of concert performances. In any case,
there’s no rule that says you
have to record the Eighth
last. Previous releases in the cycle have been variable, though never
less than good and, at their best, very good indeed (
Symphonies
2, 3 & 5 -
Symphony 3 -
Symphony
1) so the arrival of this latest instalment aroused my expectations.
Long gone are the days when recordings of this symphony were rarer
than the proverbial hen’s teeth. The
MusicWeb
International review index lists over twenty versions that we
have appraised over the years and even from this list there are some
versions that did not come to us for review. Not the least of these
‘ones that got away’ is the celebrated Decca recording
by Sir Georg Solti for which he took the mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra
and a stellar team of soloists to the Sofiensaal, Vienna where they
linked up with Viennese choirs. By an odd piece of symmetry that recording
was made in September 1971, forty years to the month before this Stenz
version. It’s been interesting to make some comparisons between
the Solti version and this newcomer.
Stenz launches Part I in fine style. Perhaps he’s not as tumultuous
as, say, Solti or Tennstedt (
review)
but it’s still energetic and very impressive. From early on
it’s clear that Stenz has assembled a fine roster of soloists
and the team is well placed on the aural stage so their contributions
are clear. The impetuous leap forward at “Accende” (track
2, 0:00) is brought off very well as is the hectic passage that follows,
though I would have liked the important children’s choir part
to have cut through more hereabouts. “Hostem repellas”
is delivered with real bite and the reprise of “Veni, creator
spiritus” is properly resplendent (track 2, from 5:06). Disappointingly,
the tone of the children’s choir is smooth rather than biting
at “Gloria” (track 3, from about 0:20) but the heaven-storming
end is thrilling.
At this point, and prompted chiefly by my slight disappointment over
the children’s choir, I put the Solti disc in the player. Wow!
Remember, this recording is
forty years older. The Decca team
of David Harvey (producer), Kenneth Wilkinson and Gordon Parry (sound
engineers) produced results that defy the years. The sound of Solti’s
forces fairly leaps out of the loudspeakers. Now, I mustn’t
give the impression that the Oehms recording pales by comparison;
it most certainly does not. In some respects it’s better; arguably,
the Decca sound is a bit bright and in-your-face, for example. However,
it’s interesting that while both recordings favour the orchestra
and soloists rather more than the chorus, Solti’s Viennese singers
come through with even greater presence when the entire ensemble is
flat out than do their Cologne colleagues. Time and again the Vienna
Boys’ Choir’s sound cuts through the texture - without
sounding raw - and they register much more strongly than do the Cologne
young singers. One other point to note is that the Decca organ (dubbed
in?) is more present than the Cologne instrument.
There’s also an extra bit of adrenalin overall in the Solti
account, excellent though Stenz is. Nowhere is this more apparent
than in the last couple of minutes of Part I. Solti conducts like
a man possessed - but always in control - the supermen (and women)
of Chicago play magnificently and Dame Heather Harper and Lucia Popp
ride the tsunami of sound imperiously. It’s music-making that
sweeps all before it and it’s viscerally exciting. At this point
Stenz, splendid though he is, doesn’t quite make the hairs on
the back of my neck stand up in the same way.
Stenz leads an excellent account of the extended orchestral introduction
to Part II. He and his musicians generate plenty of atmosphere and
not only is the playing very good indeed but also the Oehms engineers
report it with great clarity. Now we hear the soloists by turn. First
out of the blocks is Hanno Müller-Brachmann as Pater Ecstaticus.
He’s excellent, singing with firm, pleasing tone and lots of
expression. The quality of his singing is such as to make one regret
that his solo is relatively short. Günther Groissböck (Pater
Profundus) impresses. His is a potent vocal presence and his solo
is imposingly dramatic.
After the Pater Profundus solo the light, airy music that follows
is expertly handled by Stenz, reviving memories of his way with the
inner movements of the Third symphony and also with the Fourth. The
singers who serve as the various strata of angels do so charmingly.
Having been a little disappointed by the children’s choir in
Part I it’s good to report that they excel here. In these pages
the music doesn’t require them to sing with as much bite as
earlier and their sound has a disarming freshness and clarity. I was
very taken with Brandon Jovanovich as Doctor Marianus. The passage
in his solo beginning “Höchste Herrscherin der Welt”
is cruelly demanding: both the line and the tessitura are daunting
but Jovanovich doesn’t flinch and sings the music very well,
floating “Plötzlich mildert sich die Glut” nicely.
The solo becomes particularly demanding at “Jungfrau, rein im
schönsten Sinn” but he rises to the challenge very well.
Leaping ahead briefly, he also does the “Blicket auf”
solo very well indeed, singing with a fine sense of line and bring
the solo to an ardent conclusion. That said, I’d rather forgotten
how fine a job René Kollo does for Solti.
The ladies all do very well. Petra Lang and Maria Radner both sing
with notable expressiveness while Christiane Oelze’s silvery
tone is heard to good advantage. Later, when Anna Palimina makes her
brief appearance as Mater Gloriosa the engineers achieve an excellent
effect: she’s been placed at just the right distance from everyone
else and the effect is splendid. To make matters even better she sings
very well indeed.
After the tenor solo, “Blicket auf” the whole passage
leading up to the Chorus Mysticus is done brilliantly. The chorus
sings extremely well, the orchestra plays with fine sensitivity and
Stenz shapes and moulds the music expertly. The transitional clarinet
solo leading to the hushed entry of the choir is magical and the chorus
takes up the challenge with a beautifully soft and controlled delivery
of “Alles Vergängliche”. The final choral apotheosis
is resplendent and the orchestra, left to conclude the symphony by
itself, does so superbly, offering majestic, sonorous playing which
is capped thrillingly by some immense strokes on the tam-tam. Solti’s
conclusion packs a real punch too but here, I think, Stenz matches
him for splendour.
The booklet calls for comment. Not only are the sung texts provided
but also the words that Mahler omitted are included, though these
are crossed through. I’ve not seen this done before. I suppose
it’s interesting but the value is negated due to Oehms’
failure to provide an English translation of the words - though I
note they offer a German translation of “Veni, creator”.
This is consistent with their practice in previous issues in the series
but it does seem to me to be perverse - and cheeseparing - to provide
an English translation of the notes but not of the texts.
This is a considerable recording of the Eighth and it’s a splendid
addition to the Stenz cycle. Indeed, I believe it’s one of the
best issues in the series to date. If I want visceral excitement or
inspirational zeal I’d probably still turn first to Solti or
Tennstedt. However, Markus Stenz, in offering us a clear-sighted approach
to this mammoth score manages to keep his sense of proportion and
objectivity without sacrificing excitement. He really has the measure
of this music and he puts it across very well indeed. His soloists
may not
quite match the Solti team - still unrivalled overall
on disc in my experience - but there isn’t a weak link among
them and they deliver their demanding parts expertly and with ringing
conviction. The choirs do very well indeed and the orchestral playing
is perhaps the best I’ve heard from the Gürzenich-Orchester
in a cycle during which they’ve always offered committed and
fine playing.
It must be a colossal challenge for the engineers to capture this
huge symphony which ranges from the tumultuous passages in Part I
to the spare textures that open Part II. In truth, it’s a score
that is always going to be difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce
for domestic listening. I’d say the Oehms team have done a very
creditable job indeed; I listened in conventional CD format but SACD
should unlock even more sonic splendour. It’s been fascinating,
however, to compare what the Decca engineers achieved in 1971, producing
results that can still stand comparison with the best that the twenty-first
century has to offer.
John Quinn
Tony Duggan’s synoptic survey of recordings of
Mahler’s
Eighth
Masterwork Index: Mahler
8
