Weil: The Seven Deadly Sins

 Day 311

Weil: The Seven Deadly Sins

Anne Sofie Von Otter

NDR Symphony Orchestra

John Elliot Gardiner

I’ve not much experience of Kurt Weil. I’ve never seen any of his pieces on the stage (though I do recall seeing the film of the Threepenny Opera at university) and I know only a handful of the popular songs. I’ don’t recall hearing any of his orchestral works, though I know that some people speak very highly of them.

I couldn’t quite get on the right wavelength for the Seven Deadly Sins. The music for the small group of male singers seems very weak and characterless. The protagonist Jenny (there are two Jennies - a singer and dancer) has more interesting music but I found the juxtaposition of styles difficult to reconcile. At times this was pure agit prop, at other times cabaret and then operatic. It didn’t hang together for me. I imagine that without the visual impact of seeing a dancer you only get half of the effect of the piece, so perhaps judging it on purely musical terms is unfair. But I didn’t feel much like exploring more Kurt Weil.

Mackenzie: La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Day 310

Mackenzie: La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Michael Laus

Alexander Mackenzie was one of those figures who did much to improve musical standards in Victorian England and pave the way for Elgar and those who followed him. Ironically he outlived Elgar by a year, though by the time of his death he must have seemed a figure from a distant age.

The only piece of his I knew was his short Benedictus , which is a beautiful elegiac piece which deserves to be better known. La Belle Dame Sans Merci is a symphonic poem dating from 1883, based on the poem by Keats.

Initially I thought that this was going to be really impressive work. The slow introduction was striking in its melodic ideas and set a suitably sombre mood. There was some highly effective chromatic harmony and a real ear for orchestral sonorities. But after that the faster music which followed was something of a disappointment. It fell into that rather ‘olde England’ 6/8 style of country dance music. Nothing wrong with that as such but it did seems a bit out of place after than introduction. It was all just a bit too jolly. 

British composers of this generation were largely learning how to create an orchestral style. it would take another generation before they had the confidence and experience to write music that was the equal of anything being written anywhere in the world. But the pioneering work of people like Mackenzie was an important part of that process even though ultimately his voice was not strong enough to remain a permanent part of the repertory. 

Scriabin: Two piano sonatas

Day 309

Scriabin: Two piano sonatas

No 7 -  White Mass

No 9  - Black Mass

Vladimir Ashkenazy

I don’t know much Scriabin. I did play in the orchestra for the piano concerto when I was university and have played some of the simpler piano music. I recall hearing the second symphony years ago but I don’t think that I have heard anything else of his.

These two piano sonatas were chosen because of their titles - contrasting black and white mass, although only the ‘black’ title is Scriabin’s own.  This is not really my sort of music - I find virtuoso piano music with fists fulls of chords and lots of flourishes rather off putting and certainly the 7th sonata fell into that category for me . I couldn’t see any shape or logic in - it did sound as if a gifted pianist simply sat down and started to hammer the keyboard and show off as much as possible.

The 9th sonata was rather different. It was restrained for much of the time and had a much clearer shape. You could see and hear the way that the material developed and there was real character in the music. But even given this I don’t think that I will spend much more time with Scriabin.

Hummel: Two Piano trios

Day 308

Hummel: Two Piano trios

Trio in E flat op 12

Trio in E flat op 96

Beaux Art Trio

Hummel was at the centre of musical life in Vienna in the transition from the classical to romantic eras. He seems to have know every important composer of his time and his music, particularly the works for piano (solo and orchestra) had an influence on the next generation of pianist composers such as Chopin and Schumann,

The only piece of his that I have played orchestral is the trumpet concerto, though I have attempted a few of his easier piano pieces. But he is not a composer whose music I know well.  He wrote seven piano trios and selected two of them at random. These are very much transitional works. For much of the time the cello takes a subsidiary part, as it does in the piano trios of Haydn, doubling the bass line of the piano and adding harmonic fill. But there are also some passages where the cello is given an independent voice with equal status to the violin. Both trios are extremely well crafted and show why Hummel was much admired in his day. Interestingly the earlier trio (op 12) seems a much more mature work that the later op 96, but as far as I can tell the opus numbers are chronological. Certainly the first movement of op 12 looks forward to Schumann - the main melodic material was reminiscent of the latter composer’s Piano Quintet. Buy contrast the final movement of op 96 - a spirited rondo - seemed a very close relation to Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turca. So some highly civilised music here which shows the piano trio format at its most elegant and refined.

Villa-Lobos: Choros no 6

Day 307

Villa-Lobos: Choros no 6

Orquestra Filharmónica de Gran Carania

Adrian Leaper

I have only heard a few pieces of Villa-Lobos. I know a couple of the Bachianas Brasileiras and did play one of them many years ago. But he is not a composer whose works I know well. 

There are 14 pieces in the Choros series (some and unfinished and others lost). In their various ways they are all attempts to evoke the spirit of  Brazilian street music.  They are not a cycle as such: they are scored for various groupings from a solo instrument though to a full orchestra. No 6, which dates from 1926, is for full orchestra. 

I have to say that I found it a big disappointment. I was expecting something lively with lots of South-American rhythms, percussion and extrovert energy. But it was all rather insipid. None of the melodies really imprinted themselves on the memory and it never really took fire. It just seemed like a succession of short pieces very loosely joined together. All in all it had very little impact.

Gounod: Biondina

Day 306

Gounod: Biondina

Anthony Rolfe Johnson

Graham Johnson

In the splendid Hyperion song edition the Gounod edition is divided into two sections - France and England. Biondina  is in the ‘England’ section, which seems odd for a song cycle in Italian written by a French composer.  The explanation is that this work was written during a long stay by the composer in England.

This is Gounod’s only song cycle. It tells a typical romantic story of a young man falling in love, marrying and then mourning the death of his loved one. The style is rather simpler than many contemporary French art songs - indeed has many similarities with late Victorian ballads. It is quite possible to imagine this being performed in a domestic setting with good amateur musicians. But the music is more sophisticated than the typical ballad with some piquant harmonic touches particular as the piece progresses and the mood darkens. 

Gounod’s reputation has not fallen as far as Meyerbeer’s but Faust is no longer at the centre of the repertoire. I don’t know a huge amount of his music but I do enjoy what I have heard. The only piece of Gounod I recall playing is the petite Symphonie for wind instruments which is an absolute delight. I do want to get to know more of his operas - there are plenty to go at.  

Meyerbeer: Struensee - incidental music

Day 305

Meyerbeer: Incidental music to Struensee

NDR Radio Orchestra and Choir

Michail Jurowski

I’ve now reached the first of November and am very pleased not to have missed a day in this project. So for this month I intend to fill more of the gaps in coverage of important composers. I’ve already included more than 300 figures but there are still some notable absentees. Then in December I can do a final wrap up and perhaps chose some more obscure, even quirky figures to bring the project to an end.

I’ve always enjoyed the music of Meyerbeer. It is difficult to appreciate now just how dominant a figure Meyerbeer was throughout the 19th century. I have a poster in my apartment for the 905th performance of Les Huguenots at the Paris opera. This was given in June 1897 - that was only 60 years after the first performance so it gives an idea of how popular the work was - those sorts of statistics could be repeated across all of the major opera houses.

Meyerbeer’s dominant place in the repertory disappears almost overnight after the First World War and never really recovered although there are still occasional performances. At university we put on Robert le Diable. In truth the musical and dramatic demands of the piece were way beyond us but the opera still made a positive impression. I don’t think that anybody has ever bettered Meyerbeer’s mastery of creating lavish spectacle and thrilling musical tableaux.  That’s not to say that he belong at the highest table of operatic composers. The music is uneven, there is a lot of routine ‘painting by numbers’ and he was never good at transition - there are too many really clunky gear changes. Sometimes the melodic invention is weak. But despite all of this his operas are greater than the sum of their parts and are worthy of repeated listening.

This is not an opera but incidental music to a play by the composer’s younger brother. It is scored for full orchestra and male chorus - a reminder that in the 19th century large theatres could call on significant musical resources. It has a long overture - quite serious in tone which might to the blind ear have been thought to be by Schumann and then a series of miscellaneous short movement. These are more varied in tone and some of them are reminiscent of the lighter moments in Meyerbeer such as the dance scenes. 

It is not a masterpiece but neither it is negligible. There is some attractive music here which is well worth listening to. How effective it would be in the theatre is an unknown quantity. The chances of anybody reviving the play with full orchestra and choral forces seems remote. But Meyerbeer was a man of the theatre so I would hazard a guess that it is all worked well in context.