Nicolai GEDDA
Johann Sebastian BACH*
Cantata no. 55: Erbarme dich, Cantata no. 96: Ach, ziehe
die Seele
Franz SCHUBERT
Lied des Florio D.857, Der Schiffer D.536, Du bist die Ruh D.776, Wandrers
Nachtlied D.768, Die Allmacht D.852
Gabriel FAURÉ
Nell op.18/1, Ici-bas op.8/3
Francis POULENC
Air grave, Air champêtre, A sa guitare, Voyage à Paris
Hermann REUTTER
Epitaph für einen Dichter
Richard STRAUSS
Liebeshymnus op.32/3, Die Nacht op.10/3, Freundliche Vision
op.48/1
 Nicolai Gedda (tenor),
Aurèle Nicolet (flute)*, Hermann Reutter (pianoforte)
Live recording, NDR Hannover, 19.03.1964
ORFEO C 508 011 B [66.45] |
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Over a long career Nicolai Gedda maintained a high reputation for the range
of his repertoire, both in the theatre and in the concert hall. A perfect
Mozart tenor, he could extend himself to Lenski in Eugène Onegin
and to at least some of the Italian verismo roles (he sang alongside
Callas in the Karajan Butterfly). Heldentenor he was not, nor was
he a typical ringing Italian tenor. Those who flock to "Picnic with Pavarotti"
would not have been attracted by "Grub-up with Gedda" for even at his most
dramatic he excelled where a vein of elegance, even aloofness, was most
appropriate. Hear his opening Bach items and you will hear how his firm,
bright, even tones carry him through two lengthy and extremely taxing pieces
(for most singers, starting baroque means "singing in" with an innocuous
aria antica or two).
That said, there are a couple of pieces here where he seems over-parted,
as if he is trying to be a heldentenor after all. Not Du bist die Ruh
where the cruel vocal line in the second part (it starts high and just goes
up and up) is triumphantly managed in spite of a phenomenally slow tempo
(almost a minute longer than Fischer-Dieskau). But Die Allmacht is
best left to those with a voice large enough to encompass it effortlessly
and so is Liebeshymnus. It sounds like hard work (the other two Strauss
songs are exquisitely done).
Perhaps as a result of having just performed Die Allmacht the two
Fauré pieces are sung surprisingly strongly (more so than one would
have expected from the honeyed tenor of so many famous operetta recordings);
this rather dramatic manner is well-suited to the Poulenc group. I find it
difficult to comment on the Reutter for this is where I have to point out
(not for the first time nor, I fear, for the last) that the lack of texts
is a real stumbling-block to a proper appreciation of a disc of this kind,
and most particularly in a work whose post-Bergian expressionist style seems
intended more as a vehicle for the words than an independent musical discourse.
So if we don't have the words/translations and one doesn't know more than
a word of German here and there, then we're in for a weary ten minutes. I
also find it most reprehensible that the jewel-case (which shop browsers
will presumably see factory-sealed) says "English text enclosed" (also French
and German) when what they mean is there are notes (not particularly
useful) in the three languages.
All in all, this is not one of Orfeo's more essential issues. It will certainly
be desired by the wider collector who will readily accept the less successful
tracks alongside those which add to our knowledge of a much appreciated singer.
Christopher Howell
