Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 95

Iwouldrecommendthisdisc

unreservedly,notleastforthewindow

itopensontothevarietyofperformance

contextsforwrittenpolyphonyinthe

Renaissance(andBockler’swillingness

toornament).Twoobservations,however:

first,theslowspeedtypicaloflute

intabulationsrubsoffontherecitalas

awhole,whichistosaythattheodd

changeofpacewouldn’thavegone

amiss.Second,onehastopointoutthat

Josquin’sauthorshipofseveralofthese

piecesisseriouslydisputed.(I’vealready

mentionedthemostfamouscase,thatof

Milleregretz.)Mostbizarreofall,there

isnotashredofevidencelinkingthe

beautifulQuantdevousseul(withouta

doubtoneoftherecital’shighpoints)to

anyonebutOckeghem.Intherun-upto

the500thanniversaryofJosquin’sdeath,

onehopesthatperformersandproducers

will(astheysay)dothehomework.

FabriceFitch

Leifs

EddaII:TheLivesoftheGods,Op 42

HannaDóraSturludóttirmezElmarGilbertsson

tenKristinnSigmundssonbassScholaCantorum;

IcelandSymphonyOrchestra/ HermannBäumer

BISFÍBIS2420(65’• DDD/DSD• T/t)

IfWagner’sDer

RingdesNibelungen

istheglossed-up,

‘Hollywood’version

ofWotan’sshenanigans,thisistheurtext.

ElevenyearsonfromHermanBäumer’s

ReykjavíkrecordingofEddaI(2/08)–

thefirstchapterinJónLeifs’sgargantuan

oratoriothatdealswiththecreationofthe

worldastoldinthe 1270 CodexRegiusand

othersources–herewehaveEddaII,

tellingofWotan(OK,Odin),hissons,

thegoddesses(Frigg,Freyka,Sigyn,etc)

andtheValkyries,NornsandWarriors.

(EddaIII,thesaga’sGötterdämmerung,

knownintheNordiccountriesasRagnarök,

whichrecountsthesubmersionofthe

worldinwaterandthedemiseofthegods,

wasnevercompleted.)

ThisisLeifsinconceptmode,

reactingagainstWagner’s‘terrible

misunderstandingoftheNordiccharacter

andartisticheritage’bygoingintheother

direction.Thefirstmovement,‘Odin’,

openswithhorncallsthatcouldalmost

beWagnerminusthesheen;but

fundamentallythemusicallanguage,

like the narrative, is one of recitation. Leifs

sweetens little and makes no concessions to

comfort for performer or listener. It’s part

ofthe thrill, even if the language is both

richer and rawer than that in Edda I.

The gait and texture change across

the six movements but what we hear is

hewn from the same rock: short-breathed,

angular, riven with modulations and

rhythmic displacements, utterly physical,

curiously invigorating and wholly primitive

(sung, spoken, shouted), even with its

passing subtleties. We are listening

tothe earth here, much as we are in

comparable passages from Adès’s America,

ofwhich, uncannily, there are a few.

AsGuy Rickards observed with reference

tothe work’s predecessor, the texts read

like compendiums of information, full of

runic repetitions.

In trying to put the work in context,

Iam reminded of AA Gill’s words on

barbecuing: ‘It is to cuisine what

Stonehenge is to architecture – a start.’

Vegetarians beware, but there is meat

aplenty here, even if some of it is on

the raw side. Questions remain over

Leifs’s return to primitivism, which was

undeniably connected to his fascination

with medieval Norse literature but can feel

VOCAL REVIEWS

Solemn yet dramatic: Laurence Cummings directs Handel’s Brockes Passion at the 2017 Göttingen Handel Festival

PHOTOGRAPHY:

ALCIRO THEODORO DA SILVA