Leonard BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)
Missa Brevis (1988) [10:31]
Symphony No.3 Kaddish - original version (1963) [42:32]
The Lark - Concert version of incidental music (1955) [16:34]
Claire Bloom (narrator), Kelley Nassief (soprano), Paulo Mestre
(counter-tenor),
Maryland State Boychoir, Washington Chorus, São Paulo Symphony Choir
Members of São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra/Marin Alsop
rec. Joseph Mayerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, USA, 28 and 30 September
2012 (Symphony), Sala São Paulo, Brazil, 29-30 November 2012 (Missa Brevis
and The Lark)
NAXOS 8.559742 [69:40]
Given that the Naxos catalogue already boasts one perfectly serviceable
performance - albeit in the revised version - of Bernstein's Symphony
No.3 (review) one can only suppose that the motivation for
this new performance/recording came directly from conductor Marin Alsop. As
a composer of 'serious' music Bernstein has always divided
opinion - some finding his style simply too eclectic and prone to perceived
lapses of 'taste'. For myself, I have always enjoyed all of
his music a great deal and I remember all but wearing out the grooves on a
much-loved CBS LP of the original recording of this particular work.
That being said, it is not a piece to which I have often or indeed
recently returned. The last time I did was to listen to the
previously-mentioned other Naxos disc from Gerard Schwarz and the
RLPO and Choir during his relatively brief tenure as principal conductor. My
recollection prior to receiving this new disc and making more specific
comparisons was of being rather underwhelmed - something the recent
re-listen confirmed. Symphony No.3 Kaddish is a work to provoke
widely varying responses. Liner-note writer Frank K. DeWald makes a strong
case for its sophistication as a composition. For sure, conductor Marin
Alsop is a passionate and convincing advocate and she is supported by the
virtuosic Baltimore Symphony Orchestra recorded with great detail,
atmosphere and impact by veteran Naxos producer/engineer Tim Handley.
However, it's that text that is the proverbial elephant in
the corner. Bernstein initially tried to collaborate with two poets before
deciding to write the text himself. Alsop grasps the potential nettle of
Bernstein's rather purple prose by recording the original version
rather than the 1977 revision. From memory this is the first time since the
original recording - this is the seventh I think - that the original has
been used. The revision cut substantial portions of the spoken narration and
used the orchestra actively to accompany more of that which remained. Hard
not to see those revisions as anything but a tacit acknowledgement that the
original text was "problematic". The problem is the rather
unselfconsciously gushing and confessional nature of the text. Rather like
being in a psychiatrist's consulting room witnessing a client
over-emote - look away now to avoid embarrassment. The 2004 Chandos
recording - which I have not heard - went even further and used a completely
new text written by the composer's son Jamie. Another version on Nimbus features another completely new text - this time written
and performed by Holocaust survivor Samuel Pisar. No matter how powerful
that might be - and another version I have not heard - these are
unauthorised revisions too far.
Before it sounds as if I am dismissing the work out of hand, I have to say
that once you accept that this is Bernstein's style and way with
words then it becomes rather a powerful experience. The original narrator
was Bernstein's then-wife and actress Felicia Montealegre. Bernstein
was inspired to write a piece for narrator and orchestral having heard her
perform Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher. Certainly
as far as her husband's music is performed Montealegre had a very
personal style verging on the melodramatic. In many ways the performances
since then have had to chose a style 'after-Montealegre' - to
emote or not to emote. Another of the weaknesses of the Schwarz disc was
Willard White's rather careful and placed performance - a singer
acting. A major bonus of this new performance is the presence of actress
Claire Bloom. Bloom is now in her eighties and brings a wonderfully poised,
natural and considered warmth to her performance. There is none of the
excess of Montealegre's approach; instead Bloom speaks with great
simplicity and clarity of both thought and enunciation. By some distance
this is the most effective re-imagining of the text that I have heard
'after-Montealegre'. Hard not to think that the text fitted
the original performer like well-tailored clothes; in the second section
Kaddish 1 the choir sing the words of the Kaddish ending with
ecstatic repeated 'Amens' which the narrator takes up.
Montealegre echoes the joy and energy of this paean of praise; Bloom does
not. There are similar examples elsewhere in the piece where Bloom chooses a
more intimate reflective interpretation as against Montealegre's
externalised outbursts.
I have dwelt on the spoken aspect of the work because it will define it
for many. Moving on; interpretatively Alsop sits very close to the original
Bernstein recording. The liner tells us as well as using the original
version of the text: "Marin Alsop has also returned - in the main - to
Bernstein's original score." Why "in the main" and not
completely and if not specifically what changes have been adopted. My
instinct is that we risk ending up with an in-between edition that was never
fully sanctioned. That being said, it would take someone with greater
knowledge of the score than I to hear the differences.
As previously mentioned two other assets of this disc are the playing of
the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Tim Handley's production. A
third is the relatively brief contribution by solo soprano Kelley Nassief.
She faces stiff competition on disc from other more famous singers - most
notably Montserrat Caballé on Bernstein's re-recording - of the
revised version - with the Israel PO for DG. Ms Nassief acquits herself very
well indeed singing the awkwardly lying part with exactly the kind of
rapture that eludes the choir.
Returning to the original CBS disc I was pleasantly surprised how well it
still comes across half a century after the event even if elements of the
instrumental placement and stereo spread of the antiphonal choirs sound
rather synthetic. Even so it's no surprise that in the final
reckoning as a technical achievement the new disc is a significant advance.
The closeness of the New York Philharmonic recording does give the bite and
virtuosity of their playing extra impact which pays dividends in the
work's third section - Scherzo/Kaddish 3/Finale/Fugue. This
is the section of the work that distils Bernstein's genius as a
composer; brilliantly orchestrated, jagged cross-rhythms and jerky energy
all dissolving into a 'big-tune' of the kind that Bernstein
seemed able to conjure at will. In a moment of pure theatre at the climax of
the passage Bernstein brings in an angelic host of the boys choir.
'Pure theatre' often describes Bernstein's music at its
best and here Alsop cannot match the sense of release the earlier disc
manages. In no small part this is because Alsop's choirs lack the
presence and attack of the earlier group who although they sound smaller -
and more closely miked - have an energy and confidence the current choir do
not. Worth noting that the symphony was recorded live and although there is
not the slightest hint of audience noise perhaps there is an element of
caution in the choral contribution dictated by the context of it being
'in concert'. Indeed it is this lack of choral impact that
would ultimately mean that for all my pleasure in the orchestral and
technical brilliance of this disc as well as Ms Bloom's many insights
I would not prefer this performance to the original.
Then again, there are two considerable fillers to consider. The symphony
is book-ended by two rare Bernstein works. Indeed whatever admirers of his
work think of the main piece and its performance they are likely to want
this disc for the fillers. The programme opens with the Missa
Brevis that Bernstein forged from the disc's other work - the
incidental music from the 1955 play The Lark - Lillian
Hellman's adaptation of Anouilh's play about Joan of Arc:
L'Alouette. This music used pre-recorded choral settings of
folksongs and parts of the Mass. Bernstein took the liturgical elements and
expanded them to be a full setting of the mass which could be used in
church. This is still a relatively rare work on disc - it is one of the
couplings on the previously mentioned Chandos/Slatkin disc as well as a
recording with Robert Shaw in Atlanta for Telarc alongside
Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Walton's
Belshazzar's Feast. The legacy of its origin as incidental
music is reflected in its sparing use of percussion and a modern/archaic
feel to the harmony and vocal writing. This is further reinforced by the
presence of a solo counter-tenor underlining a sense of faux-medievalism.
The singers here are The São Paulo Symphony Choir and they sing with far
greater fire and attack than their Washington counterparts. At only just
over ten minutes for the entire Mass this is skilfully concentrated and
impressive writing. It shows that Bernstein the composer could write tightly
organised and effective music. Paulo Mestre is the impressive counter-tenor
with a very pure and unaffected singing style that suits the music well.
I am guessing that the incidental music to The Lark was placed
last since it also features a narration by Ms Bloom and the disc programmers
wanted her contribution to the major work to take sequential priority. Her
narration was recorded separately in Baltimore on the day between the
Symphony's performances but has been well-integrated into the musical
performance technically and artistically. It is unclear whether the text Ms
Bloom speaks is directly lifted from the play or is a précis of the action
where music is used as an underscore. The juxtaposition of the folk-like
songs and the more austere liturgical settings makes for an interesting and
effective juxtaposition reflecting Joan of Arc herself; the country girl
commanded by God to save France from the English. Again the singing of the
Brazilian choir is quite excellent - idiomatic and dramatic - all recorded
in excellent vibrant sound - I do wish they had been part of the
symphony's performance. This concert edition re-orders the published
songs back into their theatrical order with the narration linking the
sections. Ms Bloom's narration is again a model of insight and
restraint - beautifully judged and in no sense is there any anachronism in
an actress of more than eighty speaking the words of a young French maid.
Possibly I would have been happy to hear the music in isolation without
spoken text particularly for repeated listening.
Overall this is a very well produced disc. Full English texts with
translations are supplied with the exception of St. Joan's words from
the incidental music. The liner apologises for the fact that Naxos were
unable to secure the print rights. I remain an unrepentant admirer of
Bernstein's Symphony No. 3 although I completely understand why some
might be infuriated by it. With the passing years it does feel that it is a
work of its time. Probably to Bernstein's enduring annoyance I tend
to feel that his abiding legacy as a composer will rest more upon his works
for the Musical Theatre stage than any of the 'serious' music
by which he put most store. That being said all the time he has as skilled
and devoted disciples as Marin Alsop supporting his cause it remains a
legacy that demands serious attention.
Nick Barnard
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