Richard
Strauss: Suite Der
Bürger als Edelmann
(Le
Bourgeois gentilhomme),
Four Last Songs, Wiegenlied
Op.41/1, Zueigung
Op.10/1 and Morgen!
Op.27/2
Lisa
Larsson soprano, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Douglas Boyd conductor
MDG
901 1738-6 (SACD)
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Strauss'
middle period was dedicated almost elusively to opera, so his
incidental music for Le Bourgeois gentilhomme offers
orchestras a rare opportunity to savour the refinement and panache of
his neo-classicism in the concert hall. The music is fairly
straightforward, but some of the orchestration is unusual, and the
small ensemble requires a particularly acute sense of stylistic
engagement to balance the tastes of 17th century France
with those of early 20th century Germany.
The
Musikkollegium orchestra from Winterthur in Northern Switzerland may
be in the ideal position to do just that. There is plenty of life and
bounce in their reading of the suite. Strauss himself worked with
this orchestra, and they have clearly maintained strong links with
his music.
The
Suite appears here in its nine movement form, and is therefore more
complete than on some recordings, although the two dances added in
1917 are omitted. It is difficult to decide if the orchestra has been
reduced to the dimensions that Strauss stipulates. If we are hearing
a string section of just 16, then the players are giving an
impressively large and round tone, and the acoustic is unusually
supportive. Whatever the size of the orchestra, some of chamber-like
intimacy of the theatre orchestra is lost in this more symphonic
approach.
Fortunately,
the variety of styles, tempos and textures survives this more
expansive reading. Despite the resonance of the hall, the microphones
do a good job of focussing in on the more unusual instruments,
particularly the bass trombone and the piano. So even though the
Winterthur forces offer a lusher sound than the music usually
receives, all its quirks shine through.
The
Four Last Songs are even better represented in the catalogue, but it
seems unlikely that recordings of them are going to stop appearing
any time soon. The Swedish soprano Lisa Larsson sings them with a
focussed and precise tone, developed through her earlier work in
Baroque opera. She has a slow and shallow vibrato, which imparts the
longer phrases an impressive sense of tonal coherence. The balance
between singer and ensemble is ideal, and the orchestra never seems
obliged to reduce the colour or variety of its sound for the sake of
accompanying dynamics.
However,
Larsson has some tuning problems at the top, and in particular a
tendency to go sharp on the louder, higher notes. That's frustrating
given the accuracy of everything else about this recording. The
ordering of these songs is also puzzling. As well as the Four Last
Songs, we also hear Wiegenlied
Op.41/1, Zueigung
Op.10/1 and Morgen!
Op.27/2. The latter is placed after the Four Last Songs, which may
make programmatic sense, Morgen following Abend, but seems illogical
from a musical point of view. Otherwise, this is a disc well worth
hearing, if not the top choice for any of the works presented.
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