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Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869) Te Deum Op. 22 (1847-49) [51:30] Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756-1791)
Kyrie in D minor K341 (?1780/81) [8:10]
Neill Stuart (tenor), Hans-Dieter
Schöne (organ)
Dresden State Opera Chorus, Dresden Symphony Chorus, Dresden Singakademie/Dresden
Philharmonic Children’s Chorus, Dresden State Opera Children’s Chorus
Staatskapelle Dresden/Sir Colin Davis
rec. 3-4 October 1998, Kreuzkirche, Dresden DDD HÄNNSLER
PROFIL PH06039 [59:40]
It
seems quite incredible that Sir Colin Davis will celebrate
his eightieth birthday on 25 September. It’s timely, therefore,
that this CD should be issued now as it lets us hear him
conduct music by two composers with which he’s been very
closely associated during his highly distinguished career.
Fittingly, the performances on the CD also marked another
important anniversary because they were given as part of
the second programme of the 450th anniversary
season of the Staatskapelle Dresden and this disc contains
live performances recorded then.
Sir
Colin has had a long association with the music of Mozart
and he’s been a great servant and interpreter of the music
of several other composers, among which we may number Tippett,
Elgar and Sibelius. But for all his distinction in other
composers’ music the one name with which he’s become pretty
much synonymous is that of Berlioz. I’m far from blind to
the excellence of several other conductors in Berlioz – Gardiner,
Monteux and Munch to name but three – but I think Davis stands
apart from all others not just on account of the consistent
excellence of his Berlioz performances but also on account
of the sheer range of the works he’s taken on. I can’t think
off hand of a single major work by Berlioz that he hasn’t
performed frequently, with the possible exception of the
early Messe Solenelle, and he’s recorded just about
every work of significance, in most cases more than once.
Such dedication to a composer is remarkable.
During
his tenure at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra Sir
Colin’s concert performances of most of the major Berlioz
pieces were issued on CD on the LSO Live label. A couple
of works – the Te Deum and the Grande Messe des
Morts – seem to have slipped through the LSO Live net,
though one lives in hope. Therefore, this fairly recent live
recording of the Te Deum was one that I was particularly
keen to hear, especially as I don’t have on CD Sir Colin’s
1969 recording for Philips with the LSO, the recording through
which, on LP, I first came to know the work.
The Te
Deum, which the composer himself referred to as the “little
brother” of the Grande Messe des Morts (see review of
the concurrently released Davis recording of this on Profil
PH07014), is firmly in the unique French tradition
of grand public
pieces
on
a monumental scale. It’s an inspiring work but to do it
justice requires substantial forces and a comparably large
performance space, which is what happens here. Thus concert
performances of it are relatively rare and, in fact, I’ve
only ever attended one as a member of the audience, though
singing in two performances of it as part of a large combined
Anglo-French choir in 1998 was an experience I shall never
forget. By it’s very nature it’s also difficult to “compress” into
a recording and then reproduce satisfactorily under domestic
listening conditions although, in fact, there have been
a few successful recordings over the years.
Even
if I’d had available to me the CD version of Davis’s first
recording of the work I’m not entirely sure I’d have used
it for comparisons since it was made under studio conditions.
For that same reason on this occasion I didn’t refer to Sir
Thomas Beecham’s fine 1953/4 recording. Instead I made
some comparisons with two other recordings that derive form
concert performances: Claudio Abbado’s 1982 reading for DG
and a Delos
version from 1996 on which Dennis Keene conducted the
Voices of Ascension
The
monumental aspect of the score is apparent from the very
start, where Berlioz achieves a great coup through the simple
device of huge alternating chords first on the organ and
then from the orchestra. Berlioz famously likened the effect
to “Pope [the organ] and Emperor [the orchestra]”. These
massive chords make their full effect here though the DG
recording – in the slightly smaller acoustic of St. Alban’s
Abbey – is also very powerful and the organ tone is a little
brighter, while the huge beast that is the organ of the Cathedral
of St. John the Divine, New York, the venue for the Delos
performance, makes a stunning sound. The first movement, ‘Te
Deum laudamus’, is a paean of praise and we may wonder how
much Berlioz expected the separate lines in his two three-part
choirs to be heard clearly or if, in fact, he sought more
of a tumultuous effect. Be that as it may, Sir Colin and
the engineers between them ensure that a considerable amount
of detail can be heard – with one rather important exception.
In
the first and last movements Berlioz included a separate
unison line for a third choir of treble voices, ideally comprised
of children. These have a crucial role to play but I’m afraid
that on this new recording it’s not easy to hear them – nor
is the line especially distinct on the Delos recording. In
the DG version the children’s choir cuts through the texture
like a knife. It’s an absolutely thrilling sound and I’m
sure it’s just what Berlioz would have wanted. An important
score in Abbado’s favour. Otherwise, Sir Colin controls the
vast first movement very impressively indeed. There’s power
and momentum and a great sense of occasion in his reading.
Although
the Big Moments in the Te Deum are hugely exciting
I find some of the quieter moments even more original and
impressive, in the same way that I think the Offertorium
movement, ‘Domine Jesu Christe’, is in many ways the most
original section of the Grande Messe des Morts. So
the movement in the Te Deum which
I most admire is the second one, ‘Tibi omnes’. Here the quiet
chords on the word ‘Sanctus’ [track 2, from 2:02 in this
recording], against which the wind chatter, are most atmospheric
and Berlioz builds this material, each time it comes, to
a huge and impressive climax. Sir Colin brings these passages
off splendidly and he realises perfectly the marvellous quirks
in Berlioz’s orchestration such as the gentle strokes on
bass drum and cymbal and “hairpin” notes on the trombones
that colour the second singing of ‘Sanctus’.
I
thought the performance of the third movement, ‘Dignare’ was
just a little less successful. It seems from the booklet
photograph taken during the performance that the Kreuzkirche,
where these concerts were given, is a huge building and I
imagine that it must have been a challenge to co-ordinate
the ensemble. I suspect that lies behind the occasional slight
imprecisions of ensemble that I detected in this movement.
It’s the most difficult music that the choir has to sing
but there were some occasions in the first few pages when
I thought that the sopranos and tenors of Choir I were marginally
out of synch with each other and with the orchestra. Another
very slight imperfection comes with the choir’s attack on
the very first chord of the fourth movement, ‘Christe rex
gloriae’, which some singers anticipate by a whisker. It’s
only a small thing in itself but it’s the sort of thing that
might become wearisome with repeated listening – and such
slight slips are absent from the Abbado and Keene versions,
both of which are also live. However, I must say immediately
that this is the only blemish – and a tiny one at that -
on Davis’s account of the fourth movement. Overall it’s magnificent,
achieving a blazing climax at cue M in the vocal score [track
4, 4:12].
The
fifth movement, ‘Te ergo quaesumus’, introduces the tenor
soloist in a role that’s not dissimilar to the tenor solo
in the Grande Messe des Morts, not least in the often
cruel demands made on the singer. Neill Stuart has a firm,
ringing tone and I admired the clarity of his diction and
the accuracy of his pitching – every note is hit bang in
the middle. Unfortunately, his singing is pretty one dimensional
in the sense that there seems to be little attempt at dynamic
variety and contrast. I think that, in fairness, two points
should be made. Firstly he’s clearly working hard to project
into a very large acoustic. Secondly I don’t think the engineers
have done him any favours for I strongly suspect the microphone
was placed too close to him; a little bit of distance might
have worked wonders. For Abbado, Francisco Araiza, also singing
live in a big church it must be remembered, gives an object
lesson in how this solo should be delivered. He too has the
necessary heroic ring but he shades the music beautifully
and imparts a good amount of sensitivity to the dynamics.
Furthermore, it doesn’t sound as if he’s singing straight
into the microphone. John Aler, on Delos, is somewhere between
the two. The movement ends with a rapt unaccompanied choral
passage, which is marked ppp in the score. Sir Colin’s
singers, though very good, don’t quite achieve this. Keene’s
wholly professional choir are superb here and Abbado’s chorus
runs them close.
The
final movement, ‘Judex crederis’ is like an implacable juggernaut.
Sir Colin keeps the music moving very well, achieving the
grandeur – and, in one or two places, the menace – without
sacrificing rhythmic precision and drive. His male singers
are impressively strong at ‘Per singulos dies’ [track 6,
3:38] and the whole movement is superbly brought off. One
very small point is that there’s a crucial part for side
drum (s) as this movement rolls on its way. The Dresden drums
are conventional side drums. On the Abbado and Keene recordings
either the snares are relaxed or tenor drums are used. However
the effect is achieved one gets the feel of a dull military
tattoo and I find that adds an extra frisson to the
texture.
One
or two slight reservations aside, Sir Colin’s performance
of the Te Deum is a hugely impressive account of a
great pièce d’occasion. It’s one that I shall be very
glad to add to my shelves as a more or less up to date representation
of our greatest Berlioz exponent in this superb score. Pressed
to choose amongst those versions under consideration, however,
I’d say that on balance the Abbado version still represents
the best choice. It’s tighter overall than either of its
rivals and Abbado has the very significant advantage of the
best tenor soloist and the most telling children’s chorus.
The
Profil disc contains a filler in the shape of Mozart’s D
Minor Kyrie. I assume that the full adult choral forces
took part (the booklet notes tell us that there were some
four hundred performers involved in the Berlioz.) It’s certainly
a big scale Mozart performance and Sir Colin does very well
to keep the performance on the move. I gather that in the
concert itself the Mozart preceded the Berlioz and I think
that ordering might have been preferable on disc as well.
The
recorded sound derives from a radio tape made by Mitteldeutscher
Rundfunk and it’s of very good quality indeed. It must have
been a significant challenge to the engineers to capture
the vast ensemble employed in the Berlioz but they’ve made
a most convincing job of it. The booklet notes, in German
and with an English translation, are serviceable but no texts
or translations of either work are provided.
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