Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 99

The women fare better. Eleonora
Buratto sounds good in the almost bluesy
‘Crucifi xus’ (the comparison with jazz has
been more than once drawn) and her voice
blends exquisitely with Sara Mingardo’s
dark alto in the deeply felt ‘Qui tollis’,
which is very much the emotional fulcrum
around which Gimeno’s interpretation
swings. Mingardo, meanwhile, really
comes into her own in the haunting
‘Agnus Dei’, singing with restrained
intensity and wonderful evenness of
tone. The recording itself is handsomely
engineered and scrupulously balanced. If
you care for the work, you will probably
want to hear this, for the choral singing
above all, though Chailly’s performance,
with its stronger solo quartet, still leads
the fi eld. Tim Ashley
Selected comparisons:
Chailly (2/95) (DECC) 444 134-2DX2

C Schumann

Complete Songs
Miriam Alexandra sop Peter Gijsbertsen ten
Jozef De Beenhouwer pf
Dabringhaus und Grimm F Í MDG903 21146
(71’ • DDD/DSD • T)

It’s good to be able
to welcome a survey
of Clara Schumann’s
songs for the
composer’s anniversary – they more often
than not appear coupled with those of her
more bankable husband. MDG’s release
faces some stiff competition precisely from
those mixed recitals, especially when it
comes to the three published sets of
Opp 12, 13 and 14, but scores points in
being marginally more complete than
Naxos’s ‘Complete Songs’ from a decade
ago, including also the premiere recording
of ‘O thou my star’, an English version of
‘Mein Stern’.
There’s an advantage, too, in having
the songs split between two singers, with
tenor Peter Gijsbertsen bringing ringing
heroic tone and dramatic urgency to his
numbers – at his fi rst entry you might
even be forgiven for mistaking him for
a baritone – as well as touching tenderness.
There’s a great deal to enjoy in his account
of the fi ne songs that make up Op 13,
although I wouldn’t want to be without
Wolfgang Holzmair’s superb account
of three of them with Imogen Cooper
(Philips, 5/02 – coupled with Robert’s
Kerner Lieder) or Barbara Bonney’s of the
complete set. Gijsbertsen makes a no less
persuasive case for the precocious works
of the early 1830s – the charming, slightly

parlouresque ‘Walzer’, for example, and

the terrifi c, pointedly Schubertian ‘Der

Wanderer in der Sägemühle’.

I wish, though, I could be more

enthusiastic about Gijsbertsen’s soprano

colleague on the album. Miriam Alexandra

is clearly as formidable a researcher as

performer (her PhD was on Pauline

Viardot), but the voice, as captured

here, lacks fi rmness and projection,

her performances too often marred by

intonation issues. It’s a shame, since she

has some gems to sing, but a quick

comparison with the likes of Miah Persson

in Op 12 or ‘Loreley’ show what’s missing.

A useful album, then, with alert piano-

playing from Jozef De Beenhouwer; but

seek out performances on those mixed

recitals to hear how persuasive these

songs can be. Hugo Shirley

Complete songs – selected comparison:

Craxton, Djeddikar (NAXO) 8 570747

Op 12, etc – selected comparison:

Persson, Breinl (11/11) (BIS) BIS-SACD1834

Op 13 – selected comparison:

Bonney, Ashkenazy (6/97) (DECC) 452 898-2DH

Schütz

‘Psalmen & Friedensmusiken’

An den Wassern zu Babel, SWV500. Auf dich,

Herr, traue ich, SWV462. Danklied, ‘Fürstliche

Gnade’, SWV368. Da pacem, Domine,

SWV465. Das ist mir lieb, SWV51. Gesang der

drei Männer, SWV448. Herr, der du bist

vormals, SWV461. Herr, unser Herrscher,

SWV449. Herr, wer wird wohnen, SWV466.

Mit dem Amphion zwar, SWV501. Osterdialog,

‘Weib, was weinest du’, SWV443. Syncharma

musicum, ‘En novus Elysiis’, SWV49.

Teutoniam dudum belli, SWV338. Trostlied,

SWV502. Tugend ist der beste Freund,

SWV442. Vater Abraham, erbarme dich mein,

SWV477. Veni Sancte Spiritus, SWV475. Wo

der Herr nicht das Haus, SWV473. Wo Gott,

der Herr, SWV467

Dorothee Mields, Gerlinde Sämann, Isabel

Schicketanz, Maria Stosiek sops David Erler,

Stefan Kunath countertens Tobias Mäthger, Georg

Poplutz tens Martin Schicketanz, Felix

Schwandtke basses Dresden Chamber Choir;

ensemble / Hans-Christoph Rademann

Carus F b CARUS83 278 (139’ • DDD • T/t)

Over a decade,

19 volumes and

many hours of psalms,

anthems, Passions,

madrigals and motets later, Hans-

Christoph Rademann’s recording of the

complete works of Heinrich Schütz for

Carus is at its end. It’s an end that brings

us full circle.

Thecomposer’sOp 1 – hisItalian

madrigals–launchedhiscareerwithan

elaboratehomagetothenationalstyle

Schützlearntduringhisformativeyears

inVenice.ThatItalianeducationwasthe

product,asOliverGeisler’sbookletnotes

remindus,ofthepatronageofLandgrave

MoritzofHessen-Kassel.Whatwehave

hereinthisfinalvolumearethemature

fruitsofthissamepatronage–thepublic

commissions,large-scaleItalianatepsalms

andanthemsdesignedtoreflectthe

patron’ssplendidgenerosityandpower

backathim.

It’sashamethatthenotesgiveussuch

selectiveandbriefguidestotheselesser-

knownworks(manyofwhichareomitted

fromthecursorydiscussionaltogether),

oftenleavingusguessingastocontext.

Whatwedoknowgivesusafascinating

portraitofanageinwhichmusichada

keypublicrole.Anthemsherecelebrate

aristocraticbirthdays,accompanycivic

andreligiousceremoniesandprovide

courtlyentertainments.

Rademann’sforcesbringallthewarmth

andsoft,grainybloomwe’vecometo

expectthroughthisseriestothelarger-

scaleworks,aswellasarhythmicand

expressivelightnessthathelpsgiveclarity

rightthroughsomeverydensevertical

textures.Highlightsincludetheminiature

oratorioVaterAbraham,erbarmedichmein,

anattractive,richlydramaticpiecewitha

delightfulclosingquartetfortwoangels,

AbrahamandLazarus,andthe12-part

Syncharmamusicum,‘EnnovusElysiis’,

whichoffersamagnificentsonicpageant.

Soloistskeepthingscleanandcrisp,their

slighter,tightertonebalancedbythe

grumblingbreadthofperiodtrombones

andkeeningbrillianceofcornettos.

Butmostmoving(perhapsinevitably)

arethehandfulofprivateworkstucked

inattheendoftheseconddisc:thetiny

Trostlied–asimplechoralecomposedto

markthedeathofababy–andthemore

extendedMitdemAmphionzwar,written

onthedeathofhisownbelovedwife.

Violentlyexpressiveverseismatchedby

musicwhichwearsitsgriefmorelightly,

passingchromaticscuttingdeeplyintenor

GeorgPoplutz’srestrainedperformance.

It’sasplendidendtoRademann’slabour

oflove,andthosefinalpersonalworksoffer

alovelypartingglimpseoftheprivateman

behindsomuchpublicmusicalspectacle.

AlexandraCoghlan

Tchaikovsky

Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op 41.

Nine Sacred Choruses

Latvian Radio Choir / Sigvards Kļava

Ondine F ODE13362 (77’ • DDD • T/t)

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