August Enna was a Danish composer by birth, though his family
were from the Sicilian town of Enna. By a curious set of circumstances,
his grandfather ended up in Lolland, Denmark, after the battle of Waterloo;
one of his sons became a cobbler there, and in turn fathered August. Like
so many of his generation, he came strongly under the influence of Wagner,
and you can sense that in many parts of the works on this disc (a single
disc, by the way, even though, curiously, CPO have packaged it in a box,
presumably to deal with the reasonably large booklet.)
Enna’s music, particularly the opera recorded here,
Den lille pige med svovlstikkerne, or ‘The Little Match Girl’,
is held in affectionate regard in Denmark, and it’s not hard to understand
why. The orchestration is attractive, there is an easy tunefulness about
the music, and the expression is straightforward, sincere, not overdoing
the sentimentality that could ruin the affecting little Christmas story.
Some of the choral sections, with their bright, folksy rhythms, may
well have influenced Carl Nielsen, in works such as Springtime in
Fynen.
The action of The Little Match Girl takes place
on a snowy Christmas Eve, and the central character is Marie, a young
girl who tries to earn her living by selling matches. No-one will buy
them, however, and she is forced to burn her matches one by one to give
herself a little warmth, until the last match is gone and she dies.
Henriette Bonde-Hansen is wonderful as the Little Match
Girl. She uses all her artistry and the resources of her very fine voice
to bring out the pathos, and is very touching in the girl’s death song
on track 11. However, the music itself is very limited, and Enna seems
afraid of challenging his audience with anything too complex or powerfully
expressed. The overall effect is insipid and conservative, despite the
music’s prettiness.
The ballet music for The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep
occupies the final five tracks of the disc. The recording includes
the voice of the Danish actor Frits Helmuth telling the tale, which
concerns two pieces of porcelain – the said Shepherdess and Chimney-Sweep
– and their love for one another. The story (which is by Hans Christian
Anderson, as is The Little Match Girl) is whimsical, with lots
of opportunities for characterisation and humour, but you have to feel
that Enna’s music is very dull and disappointing. It never seems to
get going, and suffers from the same slightly apologetic tone that is
found in the opera. Again, there is very little of any substance here.
Bonde-Hansen’s contribution is well worth listening
to; but other than that, it’s hard to feel much enthusiasm for
this issue, I’m afraid, especially as the orchestral playing by the
Danish Radio Sinfonietta is lack-lustre and occasionally downright scrappy,
particularly in the violins.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
Danish Radio Sinfonietta/Roman
Zeilinger