Volume 26 Issue 1 - September 2020

the autumnal Der Einsame im Herbst, a
rollickingly lively Von der Schönheit and the
prolonged and deeply moving finale, Der
Abschied. This album brings Iván Fischer’s
estimable survey of the Mahler symphonies
to a close, with the notable and deliberate
omission of the Eighth and incomplete Tenth
symphonies.
Daniel Foley
Zemlinsky – Der Zwerg
Philip; Tsallagova; Magee; Mehnert;
Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche
Oper Berlin; Donald Runnicles
Naxos 2.110657 (naxosdirect.com)
! Watching
Alexander von
Zemlinsky’s one-act
opera Der Zwerg
(The Dwarf; 1921), I
was soon persuaded
of his dramatically
relevant gifts:
attractive melodic
contours, compelling
dialogue
and ensembles,
enchanting orchestration.
This DVD features strong individual
and group contributions, plus Tobias Kratzer’s
innovative staging. The latter includes an
added Prologue with Arnold Schoenberg’s
Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Scene
(1930) music, adding historical and biographical
context.
Given the plot of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tale
The Birthday of the Infanta, one expects the
unexpected; the Dwarf is a surprise “birthday
present” to entertain the Infanta Donna Clara
who ends up both playing with and mocking
him. In Kratzer’s modern-dress version the
Dwarf exists in two guises: a singer/composer
(tenor David Butt Philip) and a speaking actor
of small size (played by Mick Morris Mehnert).
This choice is highly effective, with brilliant
coodination between the two cast members,
and also with two women leads who have to
interact precisely with each. Vocally, I was
taken with both Philip and stellar soprano
Elena Tsallagova as Donna Clara, while the
warmth and concern her attendant Ghita
(Emily Magee) conveys contrasted effectively.
I recommend the women’s fine flower chorus
with glittering harp and percussion near the
opening; soon trendy choristers are manouvering
their pink phones to take selfies with
the Infanta! Later, music-induced feelings
warm between the Infanta and the Dwarf;
do not miss Zemlinsky’s soaring lyricism as
vocal lines and complex instrumental harmonies
entwine.
Roger Knox
Korngold – Violanta
Annemarie Kremer; Michael Kupfer-
Radecky; Norman Reinhardt; Orchestra
and Chorus Teatro Regio Torino; Pinchas
Steinberg
Dynamic 37876 (naxosdirect.com)
! Vienna, 1914:
the exotic, erotic
and ecstatic sonorities
of Salome and
Der Rosenkavalier
are in the air
and the Straussadmiring
17-yearold
Korngold
inhales and transforms
them into
his own personal
style, composing
both the comedy Der Ring des Polykrates and
the tragedy Violanta. In 1916, Bruno Walter
conducts the operatic double-bill’s world
premiere in Munich; that same year, performances
follow in Vienna and 11 German cities.
Violanta opens with spooky, harmonically
indeterminate ninth-chords spanning
over four octaves; the suspenseful,
feverish atmosphere will continue throughout
the one-act opera’s 82 minutes. Soprano
Annemarie Kremer is convincingly ferocious
as Violanta, persuading her husband
Simone (baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky) to
murder Alfonso (tenor Norman Reinhardt),
the seducer she blames for her sister’s
suicide. But when Alfonso arrives, Violanta
admits to herself, and to him, that she has
always loved and desired him. They join in
a rapturous duet before Violanta, shielding
Alfonso from Simone, is pierced by Simone’s
sword and dies.
Hans Müller’s libretto was set during
Carnival in 15th-century Venice. Surprisingly,
Violanta wasn’t staged in Italy until this
January 2020 Turin production, needlessly
updated to the 1920s by Pier Luigi Pizzi,
typical of today’s breed of opera directors
who simply can’t leave well enough alone.
Pizzi’s set and costumes, though, are suitably
lurid – black, white and blood red.
Bravo to conductor Pinchas Steinberg, who
draws from the 11 vocal soloists, chorus and
orchestra a truly impassioned performance
of Korngold’s impassioned, hyper-Romantic,
very, very beautiful music.
Michael Schulman
Shostakovich – Symphony No.13 “Babi Yar”
Oleg Tsibulko; Russian National Orchestra;
Kirill Karabits
PentaTone PTC 5186 618 (naxosdirect.com)
! In the absence
of a memorial
marking the scene
of one of the
many great atrocities
committed
by the Nazis in
WWII, Dmitri Shostakovich erected his
Symphony No.13, “Babi Yar” (1962). Initially,
Shostakovich set only the title poem by his
younger compatriot Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
Later, he encouraged the poet to provide
more, ending up with a total of five movements,
all of them choral settings.
This is post-Stalin Shostakovich, a time
when the composer allowed his musical
utterances to be “modern,” encouraged by the
“Khrushchev Thaw.” His choice to set a poem
that more or less accuses his compatriots
of anti-Semitism was nonetheless full of
personal risk, given how poorly the poem
had been received by critics and the Russian
public. Disturbing echoes can be found
when one reads the text in today’s context,
as nationalists again repeat the phrases that
disguise hate. The music that accompanies the
part of the text echoing Anne Frank’s diary is
heartrending.
On this recording the chorus, orchestra and
soloist are uniformly excellent. Oleg Tsibulko
has the classic Russian basso voice, warm and
powerful. The recording was made in a studio,
but one hears a reverberant hall. At times
overbearing, as one might expect given the
subject matter, there are lighter moments. The
second movement, for example: Humour is a
celebration of how mirth and mockery always
triumph over tyranny; it’s a scherzo where
Shostakovich pulls out all his favourite tricks.
The text of the other poems veers between
subversion and sloganeering, treading a
line between orthodoxy and rebellion.
The most interesting is the final poem, A
Career. Its ambiguity is matched quite cleverly
to the most tonal and tuneful music
in the symphony. Trust Shostakovich
to loose the arrows of irony toward an
unsuspecting target.
Max Christie
After Silence
VOCES8
Voces8 Records VCM129
(voces8aftersilence.com)
! Multiple-award
winning British
vocal ensemble,
VOCES8, has just
released a two-CD
collection rife with
diverse works
from Bach, Mahler,
Monteverdi, Byrd,
Britten, Dove, Fauré and more. Known for
their eclecticism, the ensemble performs in a
cappella format, in collaboration with a wide
variety of orchestras and specialized ensembles,
as well as with noted soloists. The title of
this ambitious project refers to a quote from
Aldous Huxley, “After silence, that which
comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible,
is music”.
The program here is divided into four
sections: Remembrance, Devotion,
Redemption and Elemental, with each
44 | September 2020 thewholenote.com