Jean SIBELIUS (1865-1957)
The Captive Queen, Op.48 [10.11]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
Invocation (1893)* [7.36]
Richard STRAUSS (1864-1949)
Tageszeiten: Mittagsruhe, Op.76/2 [6.25]
Anton BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Helgoland (1893) [12.06]
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, D714 [10.19]
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
Landkjenning, Op.33+ [6.40]
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883)
Das Liebesmahl der Apostel (1843): closing section [8.58]
Mikhael Stenbaek (tenor)*; Daniel Hellström (baritone):
+ Lund Student Singers
Malmö Opera Orchestra/Alberto Hold-Garrido
rec. Luftkastellet, Malmö, 7-10 June 2011
NAXOS 8.572871 [61.54]
Works for male choir and orchestra are not terribly thick on the ground, but
this presents a number of works that deserve to be much better known than
they are. The earliest piece here, Schubert’s Goethe setting, is perhaps
fairly well established in the repertory, but is more often heard in the versions
for choir and piano, or for unaccompanied chorus, than in the version given
here for choir and string quintet (two violas, two cellos and double-bass).
Most of Schubert’s many pieces for male choir were written for amateur
performances with limited or no accompaniment, but this setting and the contemporaneous
Nachtgesang im Walde with its four horns show him reaching out beyond
the realm of the normal male choirs of his day. The Lund singers are an expert
body who sing with great feeling for the idiom. Many male choirs tend to be
bottom-heavy in nineteenth century repertory, when the standard arrangement
by composers tended to divide the tenors in two while leaving the basses in
either unison or octaves; the Lund choir do not fall into the trap of allowing
the lower lines to overpower the melody.
The German male choir tradition was exploited by Wagner to its limits in his
massive Das Liebesmahl der Apostel, originally written for a very large
group of choirs divided antiphonally into several distinct parts. The sleeve
notes here inform us that “The work opens with an unaccompanied section,
here omitted.” In fact the unaccompanied section constitutes rather
more than two-thirds of the whole work, and it is in these passages that Wagner
is most imaginative in his use of spatial effects, if more conventional in
his use of harmony - it is an early work, after all. To have the final section
presented as an isolated torso means that the sense of the Holy Ghost descending
on the Apostles is lost, and this is altogether an unfortunate choice of the
final track for this CD. And the final section really does need more voices
than we are given here.
The same unfortunately must be said of Bruckner’s massive and heroic
Helgoland, one of his very last works. The thunderous opening recalls
the world of the Te Deum with stentorian brass and plunging string
figurations, but here the strings are somewhat underpowered and the work really
demands a choir of considerably larger size if it is to make its proper impact.
The tenors sound fine in their quieter passages, but need more body in the
heavier moments where the brass have an unfortunate tendency to overpower
the remainder of the forces. Helgoland has received a number of recordings,
of which the most exciting of all - if somewhat rough-edged - was probably
the pioneering disc (Pickwick PCD1046) by Wyn Morris - coupled with a properly
complete performance of Wagner’s Liebesmahl. Unfortunately this
no longer seems to be available. Indeed the only currently listed alternatives
are two by Daniel Barenboim, of which his more measured Chicago version (reissued
on DG Galleria) is preferable to his very rushed Berlin
one which is over two minutes shorter, and a minute shorter than the one under
review here. There are currently no listed versions of the Wagner at all.
In the past there have been been versions from Coviello COV30408 (2005) and
Plasson’s 1997 Dresden version on EMI Classics 55635822; the latter
on the point of reissue in The Other Wagner EMI 7055142).
Fortunately the rest of this disc is a considerable improvement, and the works
are most interesting too. There seems to have been little tradition of male
choir singing in France during the nineteenth century - unlike Britain and
Germany - despite the example of Cherubini’s D minor Requiem.
Some French works, such as Adam’s Companions in arms, Gounod’s
By Babylon’s wave and Laurent de Rille’s Martyrs of
the arena, were still popular in male choir circles as late as the 1970s;
but they seem to have been almost totally neglected in France itself, where
the operatic repertory reigned supreme. Debussy’s Invocation
written for one of his attempts at the Prix de Rome therefore comes as somewhat
of a surprise. As a student work one would not expect much in the way of Debussian
style, but in fact there are hints of somewhat later works such as La demoiselle
élue in the writing. It appears only to have ever received one
recording - in the version for chorus and piano published after the composer’s
death. Although Naxos do not claim as much this would appear to be its first
appearance in the original orchestration. Mikael Stenbaek is a superb soloist,
his high notes ringing out full-bloodedly without a trace of French reticence.
I don’t know if Debussy would have altogether approved, but I like it.
This is also only the second-ever recording of Sibelius’s The captive
queen in the version for male choir and orchestra, the first being recorded
as part of volume 4 of BIS’s massive ‘Sibelius Edition’
(review).
Sibelius wrote a great deal of music for male choir, some of it of the very
highest quality such as the tone-poem The origin of fire and the Kullervo
symphony; but The captive queen, hardly more familiar in its original
version for mixed choir, is also a masterpiece which is not worthy of the
neglect in which it has languished.
Perhaps more familiar is the Grieg Landkjenning, first recorded by
Per Dreier (LP RHS364 reissued on Unicorn Souvenir series CD UKCD2056), then
Ole Ruud (review,
review)
and later by Neeme Järvi (review)
as part of their surveys of Grieg’s choral music, although neither of
their recordings appear to be currently available. The only disc listed is
part of a miscellaneous recital by the Mormon Tabernacle choir. This is also
a work which deserves to be better known than it is, and Daniel Hellström
is good in his solo.
Strauss’s Tageszeiten is available in a number of currently available
recordings, of which the best is Plasson’s reading as part of a collection
of Strauss choral music with orchestra; but Strauss’s choral music is
hardly well known even today, and the inclusion here of the second song from
the cycle - the only one written for male voices only - is most welcome.
So, rather a mixed bag, then, but there are some superb things here - and
if you don’t know any of these pieces you have a real treat in store.
Also many of the recommendable alternative recordings of these works appear
to be no longer available. The choir, as I have indicated, are well-balanced
and have plenty of strength in tone; the recording and conducting are both
excellent, too. Texts and translations are, alas, only provided online.
Paul Corfield Godfrey
A mixed bag, some superb things here, a real treat in store.