Marin Alsop has already recorded the Brahms symphonies for Naxos,
though I have only heard her account of the First (
review). The symphonies were recorded with the London
Philharmonic but for
Ein deutsches Requiem Ms Alsop has moved to
Leipzig to conduct the choir and orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. She
conducted this work at the BBC Proms but unfortunately I missed hearing the
broadcast; intriguingly, that performance was given with the period
instrument Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
For this present performance I presume the MDR orchestra, which
plays very well, uses modern instruments. I don’t know if the chorus
is a professional one: since it’s a radio choir that may very well be
the case. Like their orchestral colleagues the choir makes a good showing:
there’s a solid bass foundation; the tenors have that slightly narrow
tone which one sometimes gets with German choirs - that’s not a
criticism by the way; the soprano tone is bright. Above all, it’s an
asset to hear the German text delivered by native German speakers.
For the most part the contribution of the choir is good. For
instance, they deliver the end of the second movement, ‘Die
Erlöseten des Herrn’ sturdily and energetically. Earlier in that
movement the singing at ‘So seid nun geduldig’ is light and
airy, helped, I’m sure, by a flowing tempo that has a distinct feel of
one-in-a-bar. In the sixth movement the singing in the passage ‘Denn
es wird die Posaunen schallen’ is biting and exciting. Some things are
less successful. In the third movement, the wonderful short passage at
‘Ich hoffe auf Dich’ doesn’t have the necessary radiance
and to my ears the tenors sound a bit strained. As a result what should be a
wonderful moment of optimism is a disappointment. One other thing that
bothered me was that sometimes I felt the choir wasn’t really
achieving as soft a dynamic as Brahms stipulates. That’s quite
noticeable, I think, at the start of the second movement and reinforced the
feeling I had while listening to the first movement. However, these are
details and overall there’s much to admire in the choir’s
singing.
Stephan Genz is an appropriate choice as the baritone soloist in
this Leipzig performance since his musical training took place in the city,
including time as a chorister at St. Thomas’ Church. He’s a fine
singer and he makes a good impression here except that once or twice I
wondered if he was not trying too hard to sound expressive. I’ve not
heard Anna Lucia Richter before. She’s a young singer (b. 1990) and
the initial impression she makes in ‘Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit’
is favourable for she sings with a bright silvery tone. However, as the solo
unfolded I came to think that she doesn’t offer a great deal more. I
hear little in the way of characterisation of the music and the tone itself
lacks roundness. The bottom line, I think, is that Miss Richter has been
asked to record this part too early in her career: I’d like to hear
what she’ll make of it in, say, ten years’ time when her tone
may well be fuller and richer and, with more experience, she can invest the
music with greater meaning.
Marin Alsop’s direction of the score is very good. For the
most part I found her pacing of the music to be intelligent and perceptive.
I like the way she keeps the music moving forward - a nice flowing tempo for
‘Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen’, for example - and she
ensures that the fugues that end some of the movements and which can sound
excessively long have purposeful momentum and don’t become heavy in
any way.
Overall, this is a good performance of this great work and I doubt that
anyone
purchasing it will be disappointed. That said, there are a good number of
recordings
in the catalogue that, in my experience, offer more. For instance, for not
much
more money you could acquire Klemperer’s great 1962 EMI recording. In
that
event then, judging by Rob Barnett’s
review
of the Alto issue, I would advise paying just a little more and getting hold
of
the EMI Masters issue (6783302). Klemperer’s is a version that will
last
you a lifetime.
John Quinn
Masterwork Index:
Ein
deutsches
Requiem
