HK Gruber is best known as the
composer of the celebrated 'pandemonium' Frankenstein!, which has received hundreds of performances and broadcasts
worldwide. Here he directs and recites a new version in English,
though Chandos offers the original German version as a download.
With the formal title ‘A pan-demonium for chansonnier
and orchestra after children’s rhymes by H.C. Artmann, the music
goes back beyond these version to 1971 and the Frankenstein
Suite, which was a sequence of songs and dances written
for the Vienna ‘MOB art and tone ART Ensemble’. Full programme
notes by the composer are included in the useful booklet, proving
that he writes in a manner as engaging and entertaining as he
composes and performs.
The poet H.C. Artmann has described
his verses as ‘covert political statements’, whatever that may
mean. To quote Gruber: ‘The monsters of political life have
always tried to hide their true faces, and all too often succeed
in doing so. One of the dubious figures in the pandemonium is
the unfortunate scientist who makes so surprising an entry at
mid-point. Frankenstein – or whoever we choose to identify with
that name – is not the protagonist, but the figure behind the
scenes whom we forget at our peril. Hence the exclamation marks.’
The results are nothing
if not absorbing. The combination of entertaining and witty
vocal delivery, of somewhat manic, and delightfully pointed
orchestral playing, makes a strong impression. The Chandos recording
is both pleasing and natural, allowing the orchestral colours
to maximize their impression. That said, it remains difficult
to quantify exactly what Gruber’s Frankenstein! is supposed
to be. It is an odd mixture: part Pierrot Lunaire, part
Façade, part children’s nursery rhyme, though with sinister
overtones. As performer Gruber clearly relishes his task and
is over-the-top. It’s hard to know how a more deadpan approach
would feel, since he has tended to keep the musical performances
to himself. He still excels in this English version, though
many will feel that the more idiomatic inflections of the original
German intensify the effect.
Excellent orchestral
playing can also be experienced in the other music featured
here. The Austrian homage which is the basis for Charivari
is strongly apparent in its first phase, which delivers Johann
Strauss II’s Perpetuum Mobile. Gruber then explores beyond
this well known and immensely assured style, exhibiting a rich
imagination and a ready wit in the process. Again the recording
is exemplary.
Dancing in the
Dark
is a more recent piece, written in 2002 and first performed
at the Musikverein in Vienna the following January. It is altogether
darker in both manner and imagery, reflecting the Vienna of
Mahler and Berg rather than the Strauss family. This more intellectually
demanding work gains immeasurably from the incisive insert note
by Paul Driver. In the fullness of time I suspect that it will
be recognized as the finest of these various compositions.
Terry
Barfoot
BBC
Philharmonic Orchestra/HK Gruber (chansonnier/conductor)
