Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
Die Schöpfung (1798)
Elisabeth Speiser (soprano), Werner Hollweg (tenor), Karl Christian Kohn (baritone)
Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Bavarian State Opera/Karl Richter
rec. live, 8 May 1972, National Theater, Munich, Germany
Booklet with notes in German, English
HÄNSSLER CLASSIC HC20076 [39:31 & 71:28]
According to the notes accompanying Hänssler Classic’s new release of Die Schöpfung, Karl Richter had intended to make a recording of Haydn’s oratorio before his death at the young age of 55 in 1981. This live recording has been offered as a posthumous tribute of the “might have been” variety. The source tapes derive from a private recording held in the collection of his son, Dr Tobias Richter. The booklet clearly states that the technical quality of the recording is very poor and that it has been restored for this issue. On listening to the CDs, while I would agree that the source tapes are not ideal in any respect, the sound quality is far better than one would suspect from a private source where the microphones are not advantageously placed as they would be in a studio. There is definitely some overloading of the signal which occurs especially whenever the chorus is singing in the grander passages, such as in the creation of light crescendo. The soloists are also heard at more of a distance than is usually the case, but it is the tenor who seems to get the short
end of the stick in this regard.
Karl Richter offers a Creation that is in the traditional grand manner as was common in the post war period. Lovers of period performance practices must go and look elsewhere. Richter begins the chaos prelude rather too gently, in a subdued way but then it gradually grows in stature as the music develops. In general he favours slower, almost deliberate tempi. In the trios that conclude the first two parts Richter come across as heavy and almost ponderous, without sufficient lift to animate the music. There are some compensations however; Richter brings true elemental excitement to “Stimmt an die Saiten” and the great crescendo of light. With the proximity of the microphones to the orchestra, there is a small compensation from the ability to clearly make out the inner details of the various motifs that are competing within the string sections in some of the busier passages.
Vocally this seems to have been a strongly cast event. For the most part the voices seem to emanate from the left speaker channel unless the three singers are in an ensemble, where the voices are more evenly arranged. Werner Hollweg uses his light, airy sounding tenor to good effect although his voice is the most overwhelmed by the orchestra. He offers a sweetly sung, if occasionally shaky version of “Mit Würd’und Hoheit angetan”. Elisabeth Speiser, who made such an appealing Euridice in Raymond Leppard’s Glyndebourne based recording of Gluck’s
Orfeo ed Euridice, here offers a brightly sung Gabriel/Eve. The gentle flutter in her voice makes a brilliant effect in all of Gabriel’s music and her forthright delivery of “Auf starken Fittiche” makes one sit up and take notice of the fearless vocalising.
Karl Christian Kohn impresses as a reasonably steady counterweight to the two higher voices. His solid pithy tone is very pleasing on the ear.
This historic document ultimately doesn’t add up to a Creation that one must have on one’s shelves but there is enough to enjoy here to at least give it a listen and reflect upon the legacy of Karl Richter.
Mike Parr
