Brilliant Classics does nothing by halves. This Hindemith collection
across 4 CDs draws together many of Hindemith's most prominent
orchestral works and adds a fifth setting out one of his works for
schoolchildren,
Wir bauen eine Stadt.
Herbert Kegel (1920-1990) presides over the first four discs with
recordings from the 1980s. He is hardly a celebrated figure from the
perspective of today. However he was a very major player in the music scene
of the DDR as can be gathered from the Kegel set put out by
Berlin Classics in 2002. He was principal conductor of the Dresden
Philharmonic from 1977 to 1985 but served three decades from 1970 with the
Leipzig Radio Orchestra with whom he is heard on CD 4 in a recording from
1969 of two works for viola and orchestra.
These accounts are good but not outstanding given the brightly lit sound
which is vivid but not especially refined. Kegel certainly pours ardour into
these scores with their monumental striding violin writing. This is heard to
typically sturdy effect in the
Symphony Mathis
der Maler. The latest work (1949-52) on CD 1 is for the
unpredictable pairing of trumpet and bassoon in a
Concerto
for those two instruments and strings. In fact those two instruments blend
and caper rather smoothly in this cheekily clever three-movement piece. It
relaxes for a haunting
Molto Adagio before returning to japes for a
very short
Vivace. The trumpeter, Ludwig Güttler, was renowned East
of the Berlin Wall and recorded extensively. His legacy can be sampled on
various discs from Berlin Classics, Carus and Capriccio. The suite from
Nobilissima Visione is brimful of character and
benefits from a cheery
Marsch. By coincidence Naxos has recently
issued the complete ballet.
On CD 2 the
Symphony in E flat from 1940 is rumbustiously
energetic, archingly severe, cheerily athletic and thoughtful. The
performance is nicely balanced but when it comes to burning intensity does
not equal that on Everest from Sir Adrian Boult with the LPO; pity about the
somewhat distressed Everest sound, but what a performance. Consistent with
its name the
Symphonia Serena, premiered by the
Dallas Symphony and Antal Dorati, is of elevated emotional content. Only in
the finale does Hindemith's predilection for a sort of heartlessly
clever hyper-activity cast a slight pall.
On CD 3 we encounter the
Harmonie der Welt
Symphony written for the Minneapolis Orchestra. This is
another big-scaled work based on an opera on the life of the astronomer
Johannes Kepler. This is a fine performance with an especially affective
middle movement,
Musica Humana. If you want to hear an even more
heatedly emotional reading then do try to track down the Mravinsky/Leningrad
performance on
B
MG-Melodiya. The
Harmonie symphony is followed by the strenuous
heroics of the 1958
Pittsburgh Symphony in a
hearty recording from the 1980s; as is the
Harmonie der Welt. The
long central
Slow March movement again taps Hindemith's gift
for sincere and thoughtful music. It's superbly done by Kegel.
Hindemith was often at his best when tackling adagios and andantes. His
faster music was prone to a certain hardness of heart.
CD 4 comprises a very forward and vivid sounding
Schwanendreher concerto, sounding more alive and
agreeably bright than the later recordings on CDs 1-3. It's a vivid
performance too from violist Alfred Lipka who here enjoys a Heifetz-style
spotlight - well, perhaps one step back from that. The recording is pretty
impressive for 1969. It's one of Hindemith's most humane and
emotional works, so impressive as music too. The compact
Trauermusik, written at speed, is also
affecting.
After these two concertante pieces we change conductor to Otmar Suitner
(1922-2010) whose light was once again hidden under a communist bushel so
far as the West was concerned. He too has been celebrated with a
Berlin Classics box and in a notable
Dvorak symphony cycle. His uproarious and cheery
1996
Weber Symphonic Metamorphosis is the most
recent recording here.
The last disc is one of a kind and of a very different kind from the other
four. About half of it is dedicated to Hindemith's charming guileless
musical play for children
Wir bauen eine Stadt -
with children's choir singing and children and adults having speaking
roles. There is no translation so you will need to be a German speaker to
get the specifics. Other instruments play a role including gong, and a small
string and woodwind ensemble. That's tracks 1-12 while tracks 13-25
are again for children's choirs but there the music is not by
Hindemith. The music is full of innocent humour and enthusiasm. Many have
been arranged/edited by the conductor Hans Sandig (1914-1989). Again there
are instrumentals to add decoration including xylophone, woodwind and
guitar.
The notes are a bit of a patchy affair. They're quite serviceable
and read as if they have been fluently translated but there are absolutely
no notes for the works on CD 4.
This is an unusual and inexpensive collection with decent rather than
glorious sound. It should not be forgotten that there are Hindemith boxed
sets in modern sound from
Decca (Blomstedt and the SFSO) and in good vintage analogue from
the composer on
DG and
EMI although older than these DDR examples. If
top-flight audio on a tight budget is a high priority then go for the
Blomstedt. Hearing the composer's own approach - at least in older
age - means settling for mono and analogue. If you are OK with good to
acceptable sound and want to explore Hindemith then the present pretty
wide-ranging set is not a difficult choice.
Rob Barnett
Contents list
CD 1 [64:55]
Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’ [27:21]
Concerto for Trumpet, Bassoon and Strings [16:29]
Nobilissima visione, Orchestral Suite [21:05]
CD 2 [65:42]
Symphony in E-Flat Major [33:06]
Symphonia serena [32:36]
CD 3 [61:54]
Symphony ‘Die Harmonie der Welt’ [34:36]
Pittsburgh Symphony [27:18]
CD 4 [55:58]
Der Schwanendreher for Viola and Small Orchestra [26:18]
Trauermusik for Viola and String Orchestra [7:52]
Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber [20:48]
CD 5 [49:25]
Wir bauen eine Stadt [23:39]
I. Marsch und Chor “Wir bauen eine Stadt”
II. Chor “Gibst du mir Steine”
III. Musik, das Bauen darstellend
IV. Chor “Erst kommt der Bäcker”
V. Chor “Mit dem Autobus”
VI. Musik “Ankommende Leute”
VII. Chor “Ich bin ein Schaffner”
VIII. Mehrere Kinder “Guten Tag, Frau Bergmann”
IX. Chor “Jetzt ist’s Nacht”
X. Chor “Bei uns haben die Erwachsenen nichts zu sagen”
XI. Das Konzert. Kanon - Violin-Duo No.2 from Vierzehn leichte Stücke für
zwei Violinen in der ersten Lage - Lügenlied from the collection ‘Wer sich
die Musik erkiest’
XII. Chor “Wir bauen eine Stadt”
Kinderlieder (
Not by Hindemith) [25:46]
“Der Vogel singt, die Katze schnurrt”
Lied vom Angler “Frühmorgens geht der Fischer Hans”
Miezekatze “Eine weiße Miezekatze guckte in ein Ofenrohr”
Die Bimmelbahn “Kommt, wir spielen Eisenbahn”
Der Container “Ein riesiger Container”
Was Autos alles können “Ein Brief ist angekommen”
“Es flog ein Auto in die Luft der Nachts bei Mittagshitze”
Der Pfennig und das Sparschwein “Es war einmal ein Pfennig”
Vier Ecken hat das Zeitungsblatt “Nun ratet mal, was Ecken hat”
Kleines Zirkuspferd “Ich bin ein kleines Zirkuspferd”
“Meine Mutter schickt mich her”
“Wir sind die Apfelkinder”
“Kleiner Käfer, fliege”
