Tag: Sacred music

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Anima aeterna

CD cover Anima aeterna Jakub Jozef OrlinskiIl pomo d'oro

Jakub Józef Orliński countertenor Fatma Said soprano, Chorus and Orchestra of Il Pomo D’Oro, directed by Francesco Corti
80:21
Erato 0190296743900

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Polish countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński first came to notice in a YouTube video singing an aria from Vivaldi’s Il Giustino. Endowed with a ravishing voice of a pure golden sweetness, the looks of a young Hollywood star and an exceptional if not perfect vocal technique, Orliński’s video rapidly achieved cult status and a recent check showed it has received over 8 million viewings. A follow-up video of him break dancing did no harm either. Since then, however, he has shown himself to be more than an ephemeral boy wonder, producing fine CDs of both sacred and secular arias in addition to singing Ottone in what has to be referred to as Joyce DiDonato’s Agrippina.

Here Orliński returns to sacred repertoire in a programme that includes several rarities, though I suppose it is a sign of the times that the singer is quick to point out in his introductory note that it is not the religious side that is the principal focus. In a sense, there is some justification for that in that all this is music of the counter-Reformation, music that owes much to opera and is designed to appeal more to the senses than it does to the soul. Nothing better illustrates this than the opening motet by Zelenka, Barbara, dira, effera, Z 164, a furious outburst against the crucifiers of Jesus – the text reads uncomfortably today – driven by fierce, taut rhythms and melodic angularity typical of the composer. Consisting of a long, unusually structured opening aria, a short recitative and the final ‘Alleluja’ customary in motets, it’s a bravura piece well suited to displaying Orliński’s vituoso gifts, in particular the dazzlingly articulated passaggi. Less admirable is a reluctance to introduce trills, which as I’ve previously noted he can sing but appear still to be work in progress rather than a confident part of his technique.

The other side of the Orliński coin is strikingly in evidence on the following track, an aria for the Repentant Sinner from Fux’s sepolcro – oratorios staged at the imperial court in Vienna in Holy Week – Il Fonte della salute (1716). A beautiful continuo aria with an obbligato part for baryton, it provides the ideal vehicle for the singer to display the sheer beauty of his voice and unwavering sense of line and shaping. Another motet by Zelenka, a setting of the Vespers psalm Laetatus sum, ZWV 90 is a duet for which Orliński is joined by the bright, flexible soprano of Fatma Said. The opening duet has an entrancing, dancing lightness exceedingly well captured here, while succeeding movements including solo arias for both voices as well as further brief duets, in which the voices combine exquisitely, especially in the setting of ‘Gloria’, which underlining the point made above could in a different context well be a love duet. With the exception of the brief Handel antiphon with which the programme ends, the remaining items are by less familiar composers. ‘Giusto Dio’ by the Portuguese composer De Almeida (1702-1755) and is prayerful plea of great beauty from his oratorio La Giuditta, again allowing Orliński to demonstrate his legato and including a central section that calls for his impressively strong chest register. The da capo opens with a lovely messa da voce and although the aria is taken at an indulgently slow tempo, the overall effect is so beguilingly luxuriant I for one am not complaining. Even less well known is Bartholomeo Nucci (fl. 1717-c.1749), from whose oratorio Il David trionfante comes a rather conventional trumpet aria, the martial tones and virtuoso character of which tempt Orliński into a rather vulgar cadenza. Of greater substance is the setting of Laudate pueri by Gennaro Manno (1715-1779), a member of a family of musicians and for a period joint maestro di cappella at Naples Cathedral with the aging Porpora. Following a florid opening nicely contrasted sections also include choral interjections, the only work on the CD to do so.

Overall, the programme vividly enhances Orliński’s now-established credentials as a serious singer rather than a celebrity. Given the unfamiliarity of much of the programme, it is a pity that the notes are so unhelpful; Manna is omitted completely. I’m not sure what to make of a cover picture that seemingly finds Orliński in mid-Ovidian metamorphosis into some kind of greenery.

Brian Robins

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Georg Philipp Telemann: Easter Cantatas

CD cover Telemann Easter Cantatas Willens Kölner Akademie

Johanna Winkel, Margot Oitzinger, Georg Poplutz, Peter Kooij, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens
71:40
cpo 555 425-2

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This label appears to be on a mission to explore the many varied facets of this prolific baroque master’s oeuvre, and here we have a fine selection of cantatas for Eastertide from some rather lesser-known cycles, notably the Lingen II and the “Cycle without Recitative”. There is also a work from the Brussels holdings which might just be in borrowed plumage of another’s colours or a “Cuckoo’s egg” in the nest as Prof. W. Hirschmann’s booklet note puts it. Hermann Ulrich von Lingen was court secretary in Eisenach; the first cycle was conceived in Hamburg 1722/23, the second in 1728/29. The show piece here is TVWV 1:1424, Triumph! ihr Frommen freuet euch, opening with a very fine Sinfonia for trumpets and drums, moving through some really resplendent and effective movements, concluding with two splendid choruses and a chorale. The triumphant sheen of Eastertide victory is delivered with extremely accomplished playing and singing. The CD opens with much more modest forces (two violins, viola and continuo*) which provide ample contrast from sepulchral textures to befittingly lively passages as per the text: Ich war tot und siehe, ich bin lebendig! [I was dead, and behold, I am alive!] The chorales here feel a tad rushed to my ear. Now to the possible cuckoo, Er ist auferstanden TVWV1:460. While it has some quite nice features, it is not as finely woven; it feels rather terse in expression and ends abruptly with the chorale, Nun danket alle Gott. The two remaining works fall comfortably back into home territory with some highly expressive writing for the strings. Brannte nicht unser Herz in uns TVWV1:131 (from the “Cycle without Recitative”) cuts along with some exceptional movements: the soprano aria “Ach wie selig” is a dazzling display of Johanna Winkel’s talent. The other soloists deliver cogent and most deft performances, notably Georg Poplutz, whose diction is amazing (just listen to track 30). Verlass doch einst, o Mensch TVWV1:1470 (from the Lingen II cycle) offers much to admire, even with modest forces.* The descriptive scope inspired by the text reveals a composer both musically and spiritually aware and able. These are tremendous explorations of lesser-known cycles outside the “Telegentzia”, and there’s plenty more where these came from. How some of these facets do truly sparkle!

David Bellinger

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Music for the King of Scots

Inside the Pleasure Palace of James IV
The Binchois Consort, Andrew Kirkman (conductor)
55:17
CDA68333

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This disc consists of the anonymous “Catherine Wheel Mass”, a modern nickname for the Missa Horrenda subdenda rotarum machinamento (previously known as Missa Deus creator omnium) and a Magnificat, also anonymous, both from the Scottish Carver Choirbook, plus Cornysh’s Ave Maria, mater Dei from the later English Eton Choirbook, prefaced by two chants, “Horrendo subdenda” itself and “Dilexisti iustitiam”. As such it is a logical successor to the Consort’s preceding release Music for St Katherine of Alexandria (Hyperion CDA68274), which I reviewed in EMR posted 31 May 2019. A seemingly huge amount of technological, architectural and scientific preparation has gone into the making of this recording, in order to give the listener an experience as close as possible to what it is thought would have been the case in the Chapel Royal at Linlithgow Palace during the 1490s, in the reign of the doomed James IV, killed by the English on Flodden Field in 1513. The project is described in detail in the accompanying booklet.

Now for the small matter of the music. During the week before the arrival of this record, I had the joy of listening to the masses and Lamentations of Alonso Lobo. The Catherine Wheel Mass is of course much earlier and is as audibly mediaeval as Lobo is audibly Renaissance. During a ruminative passage such as the opening of the Sanctus or the conclusion of the Hosanna to the Benedictus with its brief but effective moment of three against two, the Mass can sound as intense as Lobo, but some of its other music sounds clinical and mathematical. Lobo’s consistently ardent works include many passages which are intricately canonical and could also be called mathematical but in comparison, the Catherine Wheel Mass can at times sound like music which could be attractive perhaps more to musicologists, theorists and performers than to rank and file listeners. That said, there are also the likes of two stunning passages near the beginning of the Agnus: a wonderful sequence in two parts around 0’40” and the fabulously warm entry of all four parts around 0’50”. But Ockeghem it is not.

Nor is it Carver. As a member of the Carver Choir of Aberdeen throughout its existence, which included commercial recordings of two of the great man’s masses, I was bitterly disappointed to see that none of his music is included, given the presence of two works from his eponymous Choirbook. At only 55 minutes of music, there was scope for more, and the reason given for the inclusion of Cornysh’s famous motet seems like special pleading when perhaps one motive was to include a well-kent work to partner the premiere of the mass. There is nothing wrong with the recording by Cappella Nova (Gaudeamus GAU 124/6/7) of the complete surviving works of Robert Carver (1487-1565) – still the finest of Scottish composers with all due respects (and there are many of them) to Sir James MacMillan – but such is the quality of Carver’s music that there is room for more interpretations by different sorts of ensembles: for instance, it would be exhilarating to hear the Choir of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, tackle his Missa Fera pessima a5, not to mention the ten-part Missa Dum sacrum mysterium quoted by Sir James in his excellent fourth symphony (Hyperion CDA68317). Obviously, an ensemble such as the Binchois Consort with seven members was not going to perform O bone Iesu with its nineteen parts, but Carver’s other surviving motet Gaude flore virginali a5 could have replaced Cornysh, which receives a wiry, almost muscular performance with some quirky musica ficta, or better still it could have been added.

The Magnificat is probably English, or it could have been influenced by contemporary English style. There are two such works for four voices in the Carver Choirbook. (The other has been recorded by The Sixteen on their fine disc of Carver’s ten-part mass and O bone Iesu both mentioned above, Coro COR16051). It is an alternatim setting with the chant “harmonised” a4 according to the contemporary Scottish “fourth kind of fabourdoun”; these sections sound enjoyably like mediaeval barbershop … though of superior quality.

Scientifically this is a remarkable project and music has been chosen that is appropriate to it. The singing is technically as good as it could be. Just when the performances seem to be becoming slick, as in some frenetic sections of the Credo, this tendency is trumped by sensitive passages such as the “Dona nobis pacem” concluding the Agnus, besides others in the Credo, plus those also in the Agnus and in the Sanctus, already mentioned. Unlike the unerringly high standard of performance, the quality of the music is uneven, seeming to vary between routine note-spinning and breath-taking inspiration. “The pleasure palace of James IV” sounds somewhat tacky, but the project is driven by an admirable aspiration, at odds with this subtitle, to enable us to hear the music in the way that the monarch would have done. It is a fascinating glimpse of sacred music in Scotland between the famous Scottish Lady Mass c. 1230 (Red Byrd, Hyperion CDA67299) and the phenomenon that was, and is, Robert Carver. As such it is a project well worth investigating.

Richard Turbet

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Graupner: Das Leiden Jesu

Volume 3 of Graupner: Das Leiden Jesu CD cover

Passion Cantatas III
Ex Tempore, Mannheimer Hofkapelle, Florian Heyerick
69:27
cpo 555 230-2
GWV 1119/41, 1124/41, 1126/41

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This is the third instalment of a series of selected Eastertide cantatas by Christoph Graupner to appear on CPO, based on the refined texts of the pastor, theologian, polymath Johann Conrad Lichtenburg (1689-1751) who besides interests in philosophy, mathematics, astronomy and architecture, was a very gifted religious poet – librettist, who wrote some 35 annual cycles, I. e., over 1500 sacred texts! He studied at Leipzig and Halle, the latter a bastion of pietism, which took hold in Germany in middle of the 18th century. Of the 1400 extant Graupner cantatas, some 1190 are from the most able quill of J. C. Lichtenburg; obviously a fruitful collaboration was at work! These cantatas from the 1741 cycle described as “Betrachtungen” (contemplations/reflections) on the circumstances surrounding the “Versöhnungsleiden” redemptive/propitiatory sufferings of our Saviour. The definition used here for “Reflections” shows alert respect for the prevailing Passion-oratorio format, and feels equally influenced by the text of B.H.Brockes’ Passion-oratorio set by many composers of the age; there are also hints of the other famous theologian, librettist, pastor Erdmann Neumeister (1671-1756) who had previously helped shape the incipient cantata for.

The CD opens with the work for the last Sunday (Estomihi) before Passiontide itself, with some strikingly original strokes of declamatory expression, more akin to an actual Passion’s chorale workings than a mere cantata. Some very bold, original writing, one might say in a hybrid style?

Not only are the thematic details well-observed with pertinent word-painting, but the attention to deftly applied instrumental colours depicting each of the subsequent tableaux, is most befitting, from two oboes, strings* and continuo in GWV1119/41, next we have flute, two oboes, bassoon and strings in GWV1124/41, and finally flute, three oboes and strings in GWV1126/41; the oboes are richly sonorous and plaintive.

At turns these works feel conventional, then surprise with clever twists, almost in a casual, experimental way, yet never straying far from elegiac or edifying. The chorales deserve a special mention, coming across as beautifully woven final flourishes; as with the famous last one on the CD (O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig am Stamm des Kreuzes geschlachtet). With more explorations of Graupner’s cantatas, we are beginning to see why he was indeed a worthy choice for the Leipzig post in 1722, and why his employer, the Landgraf of Hessen-Darmstadt, wanted to hold onto him. Florian Heyerick is a very alert and sensitive conductor, bringing the very best out of his choral and instrumental forces; the sopranos and basses seemed to me to really shine and excel.

This is a warmly recommended, third instalment of the Graupner/Lichtenburg cycle for Easter 1741 with some noteworthy additions to the Passiontide repertoire.

David Bellinger

(*Graupner specifies “Violette”, possibly a smaller member of the viola family; the Mannheimer Hofkapelle use violas)

NOTE: Apologies to the performers, the record company and the reviewer; this somehow fell through the cracks and is being published A YEAR LATE! Keen fans of Graupner may already have the 4th instalment in the series, since cpo released that to coincide with Easter 2020!

 

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Charpentier: Histoires sacrées

CD cover of Charpentier Histoires sacrées Daucé

Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé
160:51 (2 CDs + Bonus DVD)
harmonia mundi HMM 902280.81

There is a cornucopia of riches packed into this slim-line presentation, so much so that its full worth will surely only became apparent after it has been lived with rather longer than the demands of reviewing time allow. At its heart lie three of the Latin oratorios, or histoires sacrées (neither incidentally terms used by Charpentier himself), biblical or historical religious dramas that follow the format of a narration – which might be sung solo, by a small vocal ensemble or even a chorus – into which characters are given their own voice. It’s a model Charpentier adopted from the three years he spent in Rome (1662 to 1665) and particularly from what he learned from his close contact there with Giacomo Carissimi. The three works are Judith, sive Bethulia liberata, H 391 (1674-76), Cæcilia, virgo et martyr, H 397 (1677-78) and Mors Saülis et Jonathae, H 403 (1681-82). The two former, along with works appertaining to Mary Magdalene, form the contents of the DVD. This presents staged versions recorded in a concert held in the sumptuous surroundings of the Chapelle Royale at Versailles, providing a theme of three greatly admired women whose moral strength was held up as exemplary by the Counter-Reformation, a strong influence via the Jesuits on the works of both Charpentier and Carissimi.

There is no evidence that the Latin oratorios were staged, but strongly dramatic writing and, at times, content makes them a tempting proposition for a producer. The Versailles performance employs a single set with large Roman arches left and right of the back of the stage and two (rather too easily) movable rocks on which some rather ungainly clambering takes place. The same costumes, a mix of vaguely middle-Eastern influence and modern dress are used for both works. There is no attempt at period production, perhaps fortunately given that much of what action takes place is not convincingly projected. Not infrequently what we see conflicts with the text, most obviously at the critical moment of Holofernes’ decapitation, where the Biblical text tells us the Assyrian King ‘lay on his bed fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk’, but we see Judith pawing a half-naked figure who is very much awake. Conversely there are moments, often helped by excellent lighting, that are highly effective, the union of the martyred Cecilia with the crucified Christ creating a Bernini-like image totally in accord with the Counter-Reformation spirit of the piece. The performances of both oratorios feature outstanding solo and ensemble singing, Charpentier’s at times piquant or tortuously dissonant harmonies emerging in the latter with unusually telling force. The eponymous protagonists of the two oratorios, Caroline Weynants (Judith) and Judith Fa (Cecilia) are especially good, the former finding real sensitivity in the prayer before the extraordinary night scene in which she visits the camp of Holofernes. The highest praise also goes to the richly-toned alto Lucile Richardot, a deeply affecting Mary Magdalene in the tender elevation motet O sarcramentum pietatis, H 274 and Magdalena lumens, one of three motets composed by Charpentier for Mary’s feast day. To complete the programme’s dramatisation all three women are brought together in the three-part a cappella motet ‘Sub tuum praesidium’, in actuality an antiphon to the Virgin

Although the audio recording also includes the two oratorios, the motets are only on the DVD. The major addition to the CDs is Mors Saulis, a masterpiece on the subject of the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, the latter deeply mourned by David. It’s a topic to which Charpentier would return in his 5-act tragédie lyrique David et Jonathas, H 490 (1688). Despite not having a dramatic context the oratorio carries extraordinary theatrical power, most spectacularly in the scene between Saul and the Witch of Endor, superbly carried off here by bass Étienne Bazola and, again, Lucile Richardot. The mourning of David, ‘Doleo super te’ is in the tradition of the great 17th-century laments and done with great sensitivity by tenor Davy Cornillot.

Among the smaller works on the CDs are the impressive 8-part funeral motet ‘Plaintes des âmes du purgatories’, and three works belonging to the dialogus type, smaller dramatic works generally cast for two or three characters and continuo, the most impressive here being between Christ and Mary Magdalene (H 423), an exquisite little masterpiece than makes great use of Jesus’ famous words ‘noli mi tangere’ (touch me not).

As I said at the outset, such are the riches here that they demand much greater acquaintance; Charpentier is one of those rare composers to maintain an astonishingly high quality over the course of a large output. These marvellous performances – and I realise I’ve said nothing about instrumental playing (employing 17th-string technique) of the highest quality and completely idiomatic direction – will unquestionably repay deeper investigation and could well take their place at the core of a Charpentier collection.

Brian Robins

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Telemann: Christmas Oratorios

Floral design

Monika Mauch, Nicole Pieper, Georg Poplutz, Klaus Mertens SATB, Kölner Akademie directed by Michael Alexander Willens
76:50
cpo 555 254-2
TVWV 1:745, 926, 1251, 1431

It is both hugely rewarding and insightful when the spotlight turns on a little-known cantata cycle alongside progressive musicological studies. This fine recording does just that, with three delightful, seasonal examples from the librettist Albrecht Jacob Zell (1701-54), who gave his name to a cycle known as either “Zellischer” or “Oratorischer” Jahrgang from 1730/1. The latter definition is quite telling, as these resplendent works have seemingly imported qualities from the opera, and perhaps more appositely the Passion-oratorios of the time, with the clever use of allegorical figures to add pertinent commentaries to the festive drama unfolding before us. These are quite unconventional cantatas in form, and offer the composer a broad palette of musical expression; Telemann required no more prompting, responding to the hybrid stylistic elements with some ravishing and inspired “Tonal Painting”. The opening work with its dazzling chorale medley: Dictum-Aria-Recitative-Dictum-Recitative, wrapped around the familiar “Uns ist ein Kind geboren” is an excellent festive intro, and displays a compositional freedom, possibly promoted by the quasi-operatic, oratorial style. The aria, “Mein Herze wallet vor lechzendem Vergnügung” (My Heart swells with languishing delight, Track 8), sung by Andacht (Worship) is truly enchanting! The second “Oratorio” opens with a most perfect musical depiction of the shimmering glow of the “Sun of faith”. As an old conductor friend used to say, these are works filled with such “niceties” i. e. charming and clever (alert) responses to the textual content and drama; here with bright sheen and imagination. The final cantata (from a later Neumeister cycle of circa 1742-1744 (Musikalisches Lob Gottes (in der Gemeinde des Herrn), published in Nürnburg in 1744), is set with much more modest forces, only soprano, alto, bass with strings and continuo. It feels more adherent to the conventional formal layout than the first three works, and yet it finds its sequential seasonal placement, and typical expression of humble joy, found in similar pieces from this time of year. All in all, an inspired and inspiring exposition of three wonderful cantatas from one of the lesser-known of the 20-odd cycles Telemann managed to pen during his extraordinarily productive lifetime, ending with a modest work from the later cycle. These are most welcome seasonal delights with a definite musical sparkle, to which all the soloists and instrumentalists respond with notable skill!

David Bellinger