This release has already been given some attention
on this site, with a comprehensive review by Gary Higginson covering
plenty of background and content (see
review).
This is a selection mixing movements from the
Opella Nova and
Fontana d’Israel, and while there are more complete programmes
of the latter are to be found the majority pick choice morsels and place
them amongst Schein’s contemporaries. The
Ricercar Consort
on the Ricercar label RIC254 have a nicely performed handful of movements
from
Opella Nova on a disc you will find under Samuel Scheidt:
Concertuum Sacrorum, and similar snippets have appeared on the
CRD
label.
With
Fontana d’Israel there is more complete competition
from Weser-Renaissance on the CPO label (see
review)
and in the form of Hermann Max’s recording on Capriccio C10290-91,
a little of which appears on a crazy compilation reviewed
here
but is examined more closely
here
by Johan van Veen. This is a beautifully sung version, but Laplénie’s
less homogenous sound is more intimate and lively, Max’s grander
scale very nice indeed but with a fairly generalised feel over the span
of the whole sequence. Even grander is Martin Flämig on Berlin
Classics 0090782BC though we’re comparing chalk with cheese with
these releases, the selections of movements by no means overlapping
for any kind of useful comparison. If you
are looking for a complete
version, 83.350 on the Carus label (see
review)
may well do the trick, though the emphasis is again here on the more
rounder sound of a larger choir rather than the emotional impact individual
voices can have. Take the rising chromatic lines of
Die mit Tränen
säen and you will hear what I mean. The Dresdner Kammerchor
makes this opening into more into a stately procession, and the quick
changes of mood from sorrow to joy are in many ways better suited to
the madrigal style of Michel Laplénie’s ensemble. The Dresden
voices do however create gorgeous dissonances, spending more time on
Sie gehen hin und tragen edlen Samen to great effect.
In the end this kind of release avoids pacing itself against rivals
through intelligent and sensitive programming, and of course highly
refined and at times strikingly effective performances. Schein’s
placing of female against male voices creates its own little dramas
and tensions, and a piece such as
Lieblich und schöne sein
shows this off to perfection. Beautiful clarity of tone and diction
make each piece special, and the sequence has been well chosen, the
more lyrical forms contrasting with those which have heartrendingly
extended passages, with polyphony both slow and swift rising through
the soloistic and more choral movements. Each piece explores its own
inner worlds of dialogue and variety of expression but in a programme
which works superbly. Little touches such as the bells at the end of
Vom Himmel Hoch also make all the difference. It pays to linger
on one or two pieces to see how Schein sets the texts and draws his
expression from the words, though playing the whole thing through is
in no way a punishing experience. All of the singers are terrific, and
instrumental support very well balanced and perfectly placed. The booklet
mentions the set-up for the recording, describing how the performance
space was used, at which point we all dive for the final track,
Komm
heiliger Geist, to hear the tenor singing from up in the gallery.
Dominy Clements
See also review by
Gary
Higginson
