Works of gravity and
loss are not often popular in any era.
It is always easier to bring an audience
a sense of happiness through positive
escapism than it is to ask them to want
to share in the pain of the world around
them, no matter how much more true that
world may seem. When a composer is able
to move an audience so much with the
tragic beauty found in his words and
music that they are truly touched, it
must be considered an accomplishment.
These two works must be considered among
the greatest of their genre, as they
accomplish their goal of leaving the
audience with a sense of loss while
not driving them away; rather engaging
them to experience sadness and loss
deeply but not dishearteningly.
The first of these
two works presented is Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder,
or "Songs for Dead Children"
in which the texts all deal with a parent’s
loss of a child. It is a fragile, mournful,
and demanding collection of music which
requires a certain singer in order to
be properly expressed and engaged. The
work is normally performed in its symphonic
realization which has a plethora of
sundry additional instruments, including
2 flutes, 4 double-reeds, 5 clarinets
of varying ranges, 2 bassoons, harp,
2 horns in F, glockenspiel, and timpani
in addition to the normal full orchestra.
Then in the symphonic version Mahler
adds further instrumentation to the
final movement of the cycle. He wrote
one other version, piano and voice.
In this rendition, however, Rainer Riehn
attempts to mitigate between the bombast
of the fully symphonic realization and
the piano work for a small ensemble
of piano, harmonium, string quartet,
flute, and clarinet, much as would have
been heard in chamber circles between
Mahler’s death and the 1960s. This was
frequently done by Arnold Schönberg
and his "Society for Private Musical
Performances", which would transfer
the works of the late romantic era to
chamber groups so that they could continue
to be enjoyed even in a post-war Europe.
Riehn’s arranging is adequate to the
cause, and does a fine job of approximating
the larger ensemble, although it does
lack something of the drama of the full
work. Even so, it does a fine job of
recreating the intimacy of the piano
arrangement without totally losing the
lush timbres for which Mahler is so
known.
The second work here,
Wagner’s Fünf Gedichte von Mathilde
Wesendonk, more commonly known as
Wesendonk Lieder, is named after
Mathilde Wesendonk, the wife of one
of Mahler’s patrons with whom Mahler
fell in love. The love was destined
for failure, as both he and she were
already married. Additionally Mahler
could not have survived financially
without her husband’s financial support.
The music reflects the words of love
that she had penned in a tragic melancholy
suggesting the impossible situation,
as he did so brilliantly in his opera
and "musikdrama". The original
work was composed for voice and piano,
but here was arranged for chamber ensemble
based again on the work of Arnold Schönberg
and his "Society for Private Musical
Performances" and completed here
by Schönberg expert Jan Maegaard.
Marianne Rørholm’s
dark mezzo-soprano is very well suited
to the drama and tragedy of star-crossed
love or children lost, and the ensemble
very good at evoking the darkness of
these songs. The renditions are quite
moving and beautiful, and the musicians
well suited to the challenge undertaken.
The person who tends
to purchase music from the Romantic
era for the expressed use of playing
at dinner parties or for non-offensive
background music would not be advised
to purchase this album. This is a very
somber recording, and attention-grabbing.
It has the potential to deeply move
the listener, and the recording encourages
active listening. It is deeply evocative
of a particularly introspective or melancholy
mood. However, for the listeners who
seek emotional depth and reflected reality
of greater truth in their music, this
album can be touching and beautiful
all at once.
Patrick Gary
Marianne Rørholm, mezzo-soprano 