Volume 23 Issue 9 - June / July / August 2018

VOCAL
Beethoven – Missa Solemnis
Ann-Helen Moen; Roxana Constantinescu;
James Gilchrist; Benjamin Bevan; Bach
Collegium Japan; Masaaki Suzuki
Bis BIS-2321 SACD (bis.se)
!!
Masaaki Suzuki
has made a large
number of recordings,
both as a
keyboard player and
as the conductor of
the Bach Collegium
Japan. Many
of these are of
works by J.S. Bach (they include a complete
set of the cantatas) but Suzuki has ranged
further and has recorded Handel’s Messiah,
Monteverdi’s Vespers and, more recently,
Mozart’s Mass in C Minor.
Beethoven wrote two masses: the Missa
Solemnis Op.123 and the Mass in C, Opus 86.
In the past I have much preferred the latter
since the Missa Solemnis seemed to me
pompous and overblown. Well, one of the
advantages of being a CD reviewer is that it
forces one to re-examine what is often no
more than a prejudice. This is a passionate,
full-blooded performance leading up to a
beautiful Agnus Dei.
Hans de Groot
Schubert – Winterreise
Randall Scarlata; Gilbert Kalish
Bridge Records 9494 (bridgerecords.com)
!!
It was the great
lieder exponent and
baritone Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau,
who put possibly
the most indelible
stamp on one
of Schubert’s most
famous song cycles.
Over the course
of Wilhelm Müller’s 24 poems Winterreise
describes grief over lost love which progressively
gives way to more general existential
despair and resignation. The beloved is
directly mentioned only halfway into the
work and the literal winter’s journey is arguably
in part allegorical for this psychological
and spiritual one. Wintry imagery of cold,
darkness and barrenness consistently serve to
mirror the feelings of the isolated wanderer.
With wonderful control, Randall Scarlata’s
big dramatic voice clearly grasps every
subtlety of the various shades of gray and
black described by Müller’s dark poetry.
Scarlata breathes life into the rejected lover on
the verge of madness, as we follow his lonely
peregrinations through the snowbound landscape.
Several tenors have played the role, and
some believe the contrast between vocal tone
and meaning has enhanced the drama. But
Scarlata’s dark-chocolate-like baritone epitomizes
the darkness in the work perfectly.
Pianist Gilbert Kalish is no shrinking violet
either. Although one does not have to wait
very long to experience his fulsome participation
in the cycle, the Einsamkeit vignette is a
superb example of the perfect partnership he
strikes with Scarlata as Kalish emerges from
the shadows cast by the baritone to dramatize
the cruel and unsympathetic fate with
forceful emotional veracity.
Raul da Gama
Confidences
Caroline Gélinas; Olivier Godin
ATMA ACD2 2781 (atmaclassique.com)
!!
Mezzo-soprano
Caroline Gélinas,
having recently
received the honour
of Révélation Radio-
Canada in the classical
category, is, as
an alumna of Atelier
Lyrique de l’Opéra
de Montréal, already
known for her “magnetic stage presence,
rich timbre and authentic and moving interpretations.”
And listening to the emotively
complex repertoire chosen for this debut solo
recording, one couldn’t agree more. Having
chosen to sing the roles of strong women
acting ingeniously in difficult situations and
tragic circumstances, Gélinas demonstrates
an enormous dramatic range whilst maintaining
exquisite vocal tone. As the three
songs of Ravel’s Shéhérazade progress, the
singer increases the intensity to portray the
storyteller’s ingenious effort to prolong her
life. For Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Bilitis,
her voice floats freely as if in a dream over
a more structured accompaniment, beautifully
executed by pianist Olivier Godin.
Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart by Robert
Schumann is a song cycle which spans 26
years of Mary Stuart’s life, from young girl to
mother to imprisoned queen. Gélinas demonstrates
a poignantly exquisite tenderness
in the last movement as Mary prays while
awaiting execution.
As a final offering on this recording,
Gélinas tackles, and does great justice to, one
of Maureen Forrester’s favourite cycles, The
Confession Stone by Robert Fleming, based
on poems by playwright and teacher Owen
Dobson. Gélinas deftly changes character
with each segment, portraying Mary, Joseph,
Mary Magdalene, Jesus, Judas and God.
Dianne Wells
Sacred and Profane: Benjamin Britten;
William Cornysh
The Sixteen; Harry Christophers
CORO COR16159 (thesixteen.com)
!!
The music on this disc by The Sixteen,
the United Kingdom-based choir and period
instrument orchestra founded by Harry
Christophers,
includes work from
various recordings
that date back
to 1991. Guided by
Christophers, The
Sixteen displays a
technical command
of polyphony and
counterpoint matched only by the eloquence
of their singers, memorably arrayed in this
sacred and secular music from William
Cornysh and Benjamin Britten.
Sacred and Profane is a sublime exaltation
of the human voice in formal and more
adventurous settings. The work of Cornysh
(father and son) and Britten takes flight in
these voices. Christophers and The Sixteen
bring new renown to the Cornysh music
marked by their more old-fashioned florid
melodic style and Christophers and The
Sixteen bring new renown to the Cornysh
music, marked by their more old-fashioned
melodic style and proto-madrigalian manner,
as revealed in lucid and dynamic performances
of Salve Regina and the celebrated Ave
Regina, Mater Dei.
Britten’s choral music – the dark elements
are rarely far from the surface, especially
in the Sacred and Profane sequence – is
superbly cast and performed. The Hymn to
St Cecilia is quintessential Britten, with text
by W.H. Auden and a setting that emphasizes
not just the emotional and aesthetic power
of music, but its eroticism as well. Britten’s
music, like Auden’s poem, combines a classical
tightness of form with a complexity of
ideas about the role of the artist in the face
of a disintegrating civilization. The Sixteen’s
voices are clear and pure, and this acoustic
gives the music the right amount of bloom.
Raul da Gama
CLASSICAL AND BEYOND
Vivaldi – Concertos pour flûte à bec
Vincent Lauzer; Arion Baroque Orchestra;
Alexander Weimann
ATMA ACD2 2760 (atmaclassique.com)
! ! Vivaldi’s recorder
concertos have long
been respected –
and enjoyed. Enter
soloist Vincent
Lauzer, who comes
with a whole
slate of achievement
awards.
Lauzer tackles his
first soprano concerto with relish, meeting
the challenge of a demandingly fast Allegro
and Allegro molto; in between these two he
charms us with a soothing Largo, testing the
full gamut of the soprano recorder.
Turn now to the five movements of the
treble recorder concerto from the La Notte
suite. Once again, a Largo breathes intensity
78 | June | July | August 2018 thewholenote.com