Keilberth’s classic Freischütz, long unavailable, returns
to the catalogue at budget price in EMI’s Opera Series. It is
most welcome to have it back again, but I wonder if its absence
has made it seem more precious than it merits?
Freischütz’s significance is well known. With this
work Weber virtually invented German Romantic Opera.
If its innovations seem unremarkable now that is because they
were adopted so wholesale by Weber’s successors. Without Freischütz
the works of Wagner would have been unthinkable. For all its
significance it has had very few successful recordings. This
is the first that has remained in the catalogue and it has set
a very high standard to live up to. The early stereo sounds
good for its age, though it is very bright to modern ears and
it can sound a little too brash, especially in big choral moments.
The best thing about the set is the solo
singing. The cast clearly love this opera and Keilberth has
trained them well. The crowning glory is the Agathe of Elisabeth
Grümmer. Her big voice suits Agathe’s stature well, but she
is not afraid to tone it down for her character’s moments of
nerves in Act 3. Leise, leise is extremely beautiful
and the purity of her tone translates into sound the white virginal
quality that Agathe is meant to represent. Next to her Lisa
Otto is a good foil, like Despina to Fiordiligi. She plays the
coy soubrette convincingly in Act 2, and she sounds truly nervous
when the funeral wreath arrives in Act 3, obviously trying to
put a brave face on the bad omen.
The men are just as good, especially the
Max of Rudolf Schock, a Heldentenor who is not afraid of subtlety.
He captures the character’s frustration in the opening scene
and his nervousness in Act 2 as he first deceives Agathe then
descends to the horror of the Wolf’s Glen. His big Act 1 aria,
Durch die Wälder, is a really insightful character study
rather than a mere showpiece. In the first half he is heroic
yet frustrated at his failure to shoot accurately, while his
voice darkens worryingly for the second half as he considers
the danger of falling to the powers of darkness. Kohn is a suitably
villainous Caspar, while Ernst Wiemann’s resonant bass oozes
authority as the old Cuno, rather shaming the somewhat bland
Prince Ottokar of Hermann Prey. Frick booms portentously as
the mysterious Hermit, making a convincing Deus ex Machina
of the role. The chorus rollick away happily, clearly enjoying
themselves hugely, and who wouldn’t in these numbers? The orchestra’s
contribution is well planned and expertly played too.
So what’s the problem? Well, Keilberth for
a start. The conductor has shot back to fame with the release
of the Testament Ring, forcing a reappraisal of his relatively
low status, but this recording just didn’t convince me. His
control of tempi is “flexible” throughout: the Overture is all
over the place, especially the slow opening section and, while
he pulls it together for the faster conclusion, this is difficult
to forgive in one who is held up as an authority in this sort
of repertoire. Furthermore, his grasp of structure, so crucial
in an opera which is broken up by so much dialogue, is sketchy
at best. The finale lacks a sense of drive or direction, and
even the Wolf’s Glen scene feels unstable where it demands the
hand of an expert to keep it steady. The production, so praised
by others, left me feeling cold. At no point did my scalp prickle
during the Wolf’s Glen scene, as it surely should. The balance
of sound is disappointing too, as the casting of the magic bullets
seemed merely to consist of shouting to little effect! Other
effects, such as Caspar’s whispering to Samiel or the Satanic
laugh after the eagle is shot, just sound daft. If my judgements
sound harsh then it’s worth remembering that this is being recorded
at the exact same time that John Culshaw was working wonders
in Vienna with the Decca Rheingold, and listening to
this I often found myself regretting that Culshaw never turned
his talents to producing this most atmospheric of operas.
So while there is much to enjoy here I can’t
abandon my preference of Carlos Kleiber’s DG recording, sporting
solo singing every bit as good as (if not better than) here,
with a much more atmospheric recording and Kleiber’s idiomatic
conducting. I’m afraid the years haven’t improved this issue,
but that shouldn’t stop you enjoying it for what it is, and
its price is very attractive.
Simon Thompson
