Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Essential Highlights of Jorma Hynninen
CD 1
Die schöne Müllerin D795 (1824)
Das Wandern; Wohin?; Halt!; Danksagung an den Bach;
Am Feierabend; Der Neugierige; Ungeduld; Morgengruß;
Des Müllers Blumen; Tränenregen; Mein; Pause;
Mit dem grünen Lautenbande; Der Jäger; Eifersucht und Stolz;
Die liebe Farbe; Die böse Farbe; Trockne Blumen; Der
Müller und der Bach; Des Baches Wiegenlied.
CD 2
Winterreise D911 (1827)
Gute Nacht; Die Wetterfahne; Gefrorne Tränen; Erstarrung;
Der Lindenbaum; Wasserflut; Auf dem Flusse; Rückblick;
Irrlicht; Rast; Frühlingstraum; Einsamkeit; Die
Post; Der greise Kopf; Die Krähe; Letzte Hoffnung;
Im Dorfe; Der stürmische Morgen; Täuschung; Der Wegweiser;
Das Wirtshaus; Mut; Die Nebensonnen; Der Leiermann.
Jorma Hynninen (baritone); Ralf Gothóni (piano)
rec. Järvenpää Hall, Helsinki, Finland, May 1988 (CD 1); Martinus Hall, Vantaa,
Finland, September 1988 (CD 2)
ONDINE ODE253-2D [64:44 + 72:21]
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Ondine, now distributed by Select
but still operating independently, have released five bargain twofers in “a
limited edition available in 2010 only.” Each comprises titles from their
best-selling backlist to showcase five of their star artists: sopranos Soile
Isokoski and Karita Mattila, violinist Pella Kuusisto,
clarinettist Kari Kriikku and the singer featured here, baritone Jorman Hynninen.
“Essential Highlights” is somewhat misleading, in that rather than offering
snippets, the programme provided here consists of telling accounts of Schubert’s
two most celebrated song-cycles, both recorded by Hynninen in his prime in
1988. “Die schöne Müllerin” is slightly unusual in that it is more often sung
by a tenor, although there have been many recordings made by baritones. “Winterreise”
is sung in its most familiar tessitura – but again, we have had highly successful
versions recorded by singers of other vocal categories, especially mezzo Brigitte
Fassbänder and contralto Nathalie Stutzmann. Not being much of a fan of Fischer-Dieskau,
I am unused to hearing a baritone in “Die schöne Müllerin” and take as my
yardstick recordings by tenors Aksel Schiøtz, Fritz Wunderlich and, more recently,
Jonas Kaufmann – although the latter evidently has more of a baritonal colouring
to his voice than his silvery predecessors. In general, I feel that this music
really demands a tenor voice to make its full impact, so I began listening
inclined to make disparaging comparisons between Hynninen and his tenor competitors.
I have to say that his singing wholly disarmed my prejudice, even if I still
persist in favouring a tenor version. A lot of his success has to do with
the brilliance and sensitivity of Rolf Gothóni his accompanist – perhaps the
wrong word, given the prominence and beauty of the piano part, but more of
that anon. Born in 1941, Hynninen has been one of the pre-eminent Finnish
singers of the last thirty years. He possesses a flexible, slightly grainy,
husky baritone with a light vibrato, an easy top and rich low notes. He has
performed very successfully in opera but is particularly renowned for his
interpretations of Schubert, making this bargain set indispensable to any
lover of Lieder or any of his fans who do not already own these discs.
His freedom and naturalness with the German text suggests that he is quite
at home in the language, without sharing Fischer-Dieskau’s propensity for
preciosity and for pouncing on words - although it is a pity that a second
take was not made to correct the gender error in the second stanza of the
opening Lied in “Winterreise”, when Hynninen sings “der” instead of “die Zeit”.
I also happen to think that he has a more beautiful voice than DF-D, but that
is a question of personal taste. I was surprised to find that the transpositions
Hynninen requires are often by no more than a tone downwards and sometimes
not at all. There are fleeting moments of strain or ungainliness in fast-moving
songs with higher-flying passages such “Der Jäger” – but tenor Kaufmann has
the same passing difficulties, inherent in a heftier voice having to take
on such music. Hynninen counteracts the possibility of a baritone being unable
to convey a sense of lost, bewildered youth by frequently lightening his voice
into a tender, touching mezza voce and employing falsetto for particular effects,
such as in the closing cradle-song “Des Baches Wiegenlied”.
Hynninen and Gothóni attack “Das Wandern”, the opening song of “Die schöne
Müllerin”, at such a pace that I was temporarily taken aback, but I suspect
that this was a deliberate choice to counteract immediately any effect of
lugubriousness which a lower-pitched voice might engender. Tempi in general
are brisk; both artists rely more on precise, calculated articulation of both
notes and texts to delineate emotion rather than an all-purpose melancholy.
They seem well attuned to poet Wilhelm Müller’s exploitation of that very
Romantic technique of pathetic fallacy; as the narrators contemplate the rippling
brook or trudge through the bleak landscape, their emotions are palpably embodied
in the interplay between voice and piano and the listener is drawn into this
world of metaphysical projection. Hynninen’s personae in both cycles emerge
as very real and very human, operating in a vividly realised, naturalistic
context.
Gothóni is simply the best pianist I have heard in this music since Gerald
Moore; his playing complements perfectly the singer’s emotional range, especially
in “Winterreise”. It is noticeable that its vocal topography suits Hynninen
slighly better than “Die Schöne Müllerin”; as he moves from a haunting half-voice
to a more extrovert and operatic register, Gothoni shadows him, unhurried
and sonorous in “Das Wirtshaus”, nervy and agitated in “Im Dorfe, defiant
and emphatic in “Mut”. Singer and pianist are equal partners, each varying
the dynamics, employing rubato and momentary hesitations to heighten or lower
the emotional temperature, particularly in “Der Lindenbaum”, a key, core song,
whose opening affords a moment of repose before the stark intrusion of “Die
kalten Winden bliesen”. The culmination of the cycle is “Der Leiermann”, that
most haunting and disturbing of songs; Hynninen and Gothóni combine to evoke
the strange beauty of the benumbed, trance-like state of a narrator “half
in love with easeful Death.”.
There are literally scores – hundreds? - of recordings of these two song-cycles
available at any one time to the collector and a top recommendation is impossible.
Just as many adore Fischer-Dieskau, there are some who swear by Ian Bostridge’s
version. I do not share their enthusiasm and as such am happy to endorse Hynninen’s
artistry as being at least on a par with theirs, if not superior, although
I would still turn first to a favourite tenor to hear “Die Schöne Müllerin”,
fine though Hynninen is.
Ralph Moore