The highlight of this
interesting programme comes at the beginning,
in the form of the three songs by Berlioz.
First, they are marvellous songs, eclipsed
in the public popularity by Les nuits
d’été, perhaps, but
at least as fine. The performance of
Yvonne Naef could hardly be more idiomatic,
and the orchestral contribution is distinguished
too. Add to that compelling combination
the excellent recorded sound and the
disc is worth its price for these opening
items alone.
The artists choose
to perform Hans Werner Henze’s version
of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder rather
than the more familiar edition scored
by Felix Mottl. The colourful scoring
does have an edge of expressive intensity
in Henze’s version, and it never sounds
unnatural, but the performances do not
quite catch fire in the way that the
Berlioz songs do. Perhaps this is because
the singer is less idiomatic in the
German repertoire. She copes well enough
with the vocal demands, to be fair,
but the last degree of subtlety seems
to be lacking.
The two purely orchestral
items feature the same conductor, David
Heer, but another orchestra, the Pilsen
Radio Symphony Orchestra. These days
it seems strange to hear Mahler’s Adagietto
outside the context of the whole of
the Fifth Symphony. It is strong enough
to stand on its own, though any music
lover who knows it in context is likely
to be frustrated when nothing follows
the silence at the end. The range of
dynamics might have been more carefully
controlled, and while the Pilsen orchestra
plays more than capably, the climax
is over-lit and the tone lacks the warmth
of the world’s great orchestras.
In fact the Siegfried
Idyll of Wagner is sensitively,
even intimately, shaped across its 20-minute
span. When there are intensifications
of tone they work well, and the performance
brings much satisfaction.
The disc comes with
a nicely produced 28-page booklet, including
full texts and translations.
Terry Barfoot
see also
review by Chris Howell
Yvonne Naef (mezzo soprano) 