brief review of chamber version of "DLvdE" on Dorian

[barry guerrero]

Performers: John Elwes (Tenor), Russell Braun (Baritone)
Conductor: Kenneth Slowik
Ensemble: Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra

The Dorian label has been making its way back from the dead. To that end, they just reissued their recording of the chamber version of Mahler's "Das Lied", as arranged by Schoenberg and Riehn.  As some of you know, I've never been a big fan of having the lower part sung by a baritone (as opposed to a mezzo or contralto). However, the lighter textures of the chamber version help to counteract the additional weight and darkness of using a male voice. This Dorian recording is really good for the first five movements. Having said that, the chamber version proves once and for all, that it isn't particularly Mahler's dense textures and big dynamics that force a tenor to sound as though he's getting his head chopped off in the first song; this particularly tenor manages to sound that way without much competition from the greatly reduced orchestra - all on his own. In other words, it's a habit and an expressive affectation. No matter, he sounds just fine in his last two appearances. Baritone Russell Braun sounds something like Fischer-Dieskau, but without F-D's annoying habit of "barking" his words - something that became much worse in his latter years (sorry, won't listen to that). So what's the problem? Why am I not giving this a huge endorsement? Well, two things.

The biggest problem is taking the chamber business too seriously by eschewing the big dynamics that "der Abschied's" funeral procession requires at its climax (the sixth song). The tam-tam   -  a rather crumby sounding one at that - is barely allowed to sound anything above a piano, and the two horns barely reach above a mezzo forte as well. And no, it's not a question of the greatly reduced orchestration. Rather, it's simply an unwillingness to let go - a fear of sounding vulgar and too symphonic. But underplaying the climax of the procession has the strange effect of undermining the tranformation that our protagonist makes at the end of "der Abschied": an almost ecstactic embrace of death, as opposed to merely accepting the inevitable. It's the old, "in order to truly know heaven, one must also know hell" routine. From a purely musical standpoint, a 30 minute quiet movement needs a big climax or two. The other problem - for me, anyway - is that I sorely miss the mandolin; especially at the end of "der Abschied".

It's not like the mandolin part is particularly difficult. Therefore, couldn't it be arranged that somebody double on the mandolin at the end? Of course that could be arranged. It also wouldn't cost a fortune to hire a mandolin player for one rehearsal and the gig either. Too bad, because there are some really terrific things about this particular recording of the Schoenberg/Riehn reduction. Especially good is the sudden shift of mood and character in the fourth song: the spot where the young studs come bursting up to the pagoda upon their trusty steeds.  They even manage a fair amount of percussion at this point. So, why the wimpy tam-tam later on? For the most part, stick to the real deal. Mahler got it right the first time - without ever having heard it.

Barry

[Eric Nagamine]

Performers: John Elwes (Tenor), Russell Braun (Baritone)
Conductor: Kenneth Slowik
Ensemble: Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra

The Dorian label has been making its way back from the dead. To that end, they just reissued their recording of the chamber version of Mahler's "Das Lied", as arranged by Schoenberg and Riehn.  As some of you know, I've never been a big fan of having the lower part sung by a baritone (as opposed to a mezzo or contralto). However, the lighter textures of the chamber version help to counteract the additional weight and darkness of using a male voice. This Dorian recording is really good for the first five movements. Having said that, the chamber version proves once and for all, that it isn't particularly Mahler's dense textures and big dynamics that force a tenor to sound as though he's getting his head chopped off in the first song; this particularly tenor manages to sound that way without much competition from the greatly reduced orchestra - all on his own. In other words, it's a habit and an expressive affectation. No matter, he sounds just fine in his last two appearances. Baritone Russell Braun sounds something like Fischer-Dieskau, but without F-D's annoying habit of "barking" his words - something that became much worse in his latter years (sorry, won't listen to that). So what's the problem? Why am I not giving this a huge endorsement? Well, two things.

The biggest problem is taking the chamber business too seriously by eschewing the big dynamics that "der Abschied's" funeral procession requires at its climax (the sixth song). The tam-tam   -  a rather crumby sounding one at that - is barely allowed to sound anything above a piano, and the two horns barely reach above a mezzo forte as well. And no, it's not a question of the greatly reduced orchestration. Rather, it's simply an unwillingness to let go - a fear of sounding vulgar and too symphonic. But underplaying the climax of the procession has the strange effect of undermining the tranformation that our protagonist makes at the end of "der Abschied": an almost ecstactic embrace of death, as opposed to merely accepting the inevitable. It's the old, "in order to truly know heaven, one must also know hell" routine. From a purely musical standpoint, a 30 minute quiet movement needs a big climax or two. The other problem - for me, anyway - is that I sorely miss the mandolin; especially at the end of "der Abschied".

It's not like the mandolin part is particularly difficult. Therefore, couldn't it be arranged that somebody double on the mandolin at the end? Of course that could be arranged. It also wouldn't cost a fortune to hire a mandolin player for one rehearsal and the gig either. Too bad, because there are some really terrific things about this particular recording of the Schoenberg/Riehn reduction. Especially good is the sudden shift of mood and character in the fourth song: the spot where the young studs come bursting up to the pagoda upon their trusty steeds.  They even manage a fair amount of percussion at this point. So, why the wimpy tam-tam later on? For the most part, stick to the real deal. Mahler got it right the first time - without ever having heard it.

Barry

Don't forget that the original purpose of the chamber arrangements were to provide greater access to the music at a time before the works were popular or accessible. Also Schoenberg was working with the instruments he had on hand in his contemporary music group. If i remember correctly they didn't perform in large concert spaces so the chamber group was a must. If you keep adding instruments you'd soon have Mahler's original orchestration    I think the reductions work well in Das Lied & the 4th because in general these are not Loud works. The emphasis for the most time is on Mahler's  chamber like orchestrations.

Eric

[barry guerrero]

Agreed. But certainly, at the climax of the funeral procession in "Der Abschied" - the orchestral interlude -  the percussionist could easily make a bigger sound than just a piano. At the same time, the two horns could blow something closer to a fortissimo. Maybe it's just one horn, but he/she could still put some wind into the thing. It doesn't make much sense to me to play down that central, so important climax . And I'm say this in light of the fact that these same players manage to make the contrasting, fast section of the fourth song sound pretty darn exciting.

Barry