Here we have two Christmas
oratorios – well, sort of. Both are
a little off the beaten track. The Saint-Saëns,
written in 1863, is firmly rooted in
late-Romanticism, although there are
many references to bygone times, first
and foremost to Bach. Respighi’s Lauda
is a late work, composed 1928–1930.
It could be described as post-Romantic
or even neo-classical. Like Saint-Saëns,
Respighi too finds inspiration in the
past but in his case even more distant.
The ancient voices are from the madrigals
of the Renaissance and from Gregorian
chant, his greatest interest. While
Saint-Saëns divides his music into
separate numbers, Respighi’s work is
through-composed. Within this long flow
one can perceive contrasting parts but
such is their logical inter-dependence
that they are not amenable to separate
performance.
Having bought the original
LP when it was first released just before
Christmas 1981, I was familiar with
the music and the performance, even
if it has been quite some time since
I last heard these recordings. In SACD
format the state-of-the-art recordings,
especially of organ and choir, make
for stunning realism. Such is the tangible
presence of the sound that, shutting
my eyes, I felt transported to the warm
and all-embracing acoustics of St. John’s
Church in the Saint-Saëns and the
more intimate and analytical sounding
Oscar’s Church in the Respighi. The
woodwind instruments can be almost exactly
pinpointed in the Respighi while the
strings in the Saint-Saëns are
wrapped in a subtle warm aura. The producer
Karl-Göran Linzander deserves praise
for such a creative choice of venues.
The choral sound is ideal in both churches,
and the singing of the choir, founded
in 1972 by Anders Eby and established
amongst the elect of the Swedish choirs,
is as near perfection as one can possibly
get.
Different people have
different ideals and I know people who
find the Swedish vocal ideal too cool,
too "sex-less" as somebody
once put it. Be that as it may the style
has both flexibility and a purity that
lets the music speak; one listens to
Saint-Saëns, not to the Mikaeli
Chamber Choir. To my mind this group
has the purity of an English cathedral
choir but with the added heft that female
sopranos can muster.
The chosen soloists
were selected from the pick of opera
and concert singers in Sweden and internationally.
It is interesting to hear Anne Sofie
von Otter in the beginning of her career:
perfect rounded tone, immaculate intonation
but just missing that personal ‘colouring’
that makes her so easily recognizable
today. On the other hand Britt-Marie
Aruhn, leading coloratura soprano at
the Stockholm Opera for many years,
cannot be mistaken for anyone else.
Her hallmarks are her glittering silver
tones and that fast vibrato: a stylish
singer in whatever she undertook. Baritone-turned-tenor
Erland Hagegård, cousin of Håkan
Hagegård, also had an international
career, singing in Vienna at the Volksoper
for several years and also at sundry
German houses. In Stockholm he only
appeared as guest singer. He was for
example an exceptionally lyrical and
weak Lenski. Here, though, he shows
some Italian glow, especially in the
Saint-Saëns quintet (track 9).
In the smaller parts Ing-Marie Landin
exhibits a true darkish contralto and
the versatile Ulf Lundmark is excellent
in the baritone solos. Ulf still sings
splendidly. I heard him just a year
ago singing Allan Pettersson’s Barfotasånger
(Barefoot Songs) with deep understanding.
Among the many good instrumentalists
it is nice to find Bengt Forsberg, for
many years von Otter’s regular accompanist.
Here we also meet him as organist in
the Saint-Saëns, the organ of course
pealing impressively against the roof
of St. John.
To sum it up then,
this is a disc that SACD owners should
try for the excellence of sound. The
music, although not standard fare, is
also well worth a listen and the performances
are of the highest order, not least
the Nordically cool-glowing choir.
Göran Forsling
Britt-Marie Aruhn (soprano); Anne Sofie von Otter
(mezzo); Ing-Mari Landin (contralto); Erland Hagegård
(tenor); Ulf Lundmark (bass); Karin Langebo (harp);
Bengt Forsberg (organ); strings from the Orchestra
of the Royal Opera in Stockholm (Saint-Saëns)
PROPRIUS
PRSACD 9057 [57:43] 
