Mahler Symphonies – Live in Concert The Klaus Tennstedt recordings
© Malcolm Crowthers
This boxed set documents the extraordinary ‘ I consider the interpretation of Mahler relationship between Klaus Tennstedt the most complicated activity a conductor and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, can indulge in. You have to know exactly which was characterised by life-affirming Mahler’s life, because he composed his concerts and a genuine connection between life. It was a terrible life, especially his musicians, conductor and audience. troubles in Vienna. He knew he was a great conductor, but he knew he only did it in Tennstedt’s particular affinity with Mahler’s order to get the money to allow him to works is on display in these live concert compose in his spare time. “Why should he recordings of some of the mightiest compose? Let him conduct!” the Viennese symphonies in the repertoire. For Tennstedt, said. It was a very tragic life. But this tragic Mahler’s works could only be approached life gave us these great works.’ with an acknowledgement and experience Tennstedt discussing Mahler in Classical Music Magazine, 1983 of life’s hardships, and this was always apparent in his performances.
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Recorded 1991) Symphony No. 1 (Recorded 1985) Gustav Mahler was not only a great composer but also one of the most celebrated and sought-after conductors of his age. This meant that his time for composition was severely limited (in later years to summer holidays in the mountains), and he was forced to concentrate on a small number of major works. These belong entirely to two categories, sometimes overlapping: one was the song-cycle or song collection with orchestra, a genre which he virtually invented; the other was the symphony, a form to which he brought an unprecedented expansion of scale and expressive range. And his first masterpieces in each category, composed within a few years of each other during his twenties, are closely related musically and emotionally. Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) was written towards the end of 1884, while he was working at the court theatre in Kassel; it was orchestrated early in the following decade, and revised before its first performance in Berlin in 1896 and publication the following year. The poems, Mahler’s own, reflect the failure of his love affair with a singer in the Kassel company: their protagonist, he said, is ‘a wayfarer who has met with adversity Programme notes
setting out into the world and wandering on in solitude’. The folk-like simplicity of their diction finds a counterpart in the simple melodic shapes of the vocal line; but in other ways the score is extraordinarily sophisticated, with minute indications of dynamics and expression in the orchestral parts, and restless inflections of tempo. In the first song, the wayfarer reflects on his sadness at his girlfriend’s marriage to someone else, but finds solace in nature. In the second, he expresses his delight at setting out through the fields on a fine morning, but concludes sadly that his joy will not bloom again. The third song, in which he describes his suicidal impulses, brings a sudden outburst of violence, in which (almost) the full orchestral forces are used together for the only time. In contrast, the last song is a restrained funeral march, as the wayfarer finds lasting peace in death under the linden tree. Mahler’s First Symphony constitutes an astonishing debut in the form, with its assured and imaginative scoring for very large orchestra, its unconventional formal construction, and its apparent eccentricities of gesture and mixing of styles. It was mostly written in a frenzy of creativity in six weeks in early 1888, while Mahler was working at the Leipzig Opera. At its first performance, in Budapest in November 1889, it was called ‘symphonic poem’; and for a performance of a revised version in Hamburg in 1893, 01
Mahler provided movement titles and an explanatory programme drawn from Jean Paul’s novel Titan. But by the time the work reached publication in 1899, it was called simply ‘Symphony in D major’ and had lost all its programmatic references (as well as losing one of its original five movements, an Andante called ‘Blumine’ which had been placed second). Nevertheless, it remains as autobiographical in feeling as, say, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique or Tchaikovsky’s later symphonies, and its cross-references to the ideas and moods of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen offer some clues to Mahler’s intentions. The first movement begins with a slow minor-key introduction, a nature scene of immense space and stillness with birdsong, distant fanfares, and pregnant stirrings of melody. A figure appears in this spring landscape with a paraphrase of the second of the Fahrenden Gesellen songs, which is repeated: it seems that the main allegro of the movement is under way. But the slow ‘nature’ music returns, to launch a wide-ranging development section which throws up new ideas en route to a fanfaring climax and the exuberant return of the song material. The second movement is an A major scherzo in rustic ländler rhythm, with a trio section full of lazy Viennese charm and a shortened reprise. The ‘solemn and measured’ D minor third movement was inspired by an engraving of a hunter’s 02
funeral procession accompanied by all the forest animals. The main rondo theme is a parodistic version of ‘Frère Jacques’, or to German children ‘Bruder Jakob’, in a grotesque round led by solo double bass; contrasting episodes bring echoes of Klezmer music, traditionally associated with Jewish funerals, and a paraphrase of the resigned ending of the Fahrenden Gesellen cycle. The last and most complex movement breaks in with what Mahler called ‘the sudden outburst of a wounded heart’, creating an impact comparable to that of the third Fahrenden Gesellen song (though with different music). This stormy F minor introduction leads to a resolute march theme and a yearning violin melody, followed by a development section bringing back ideas from the first movement and again generating new ones, in what becomes a tumultuous struggle to regain the Symphony’s home key. The first glimpse of it is short-lived, fading to the ‘nature’ music of the opening and disjointed fragments of themes including the yearning string melody. But the resolute march reasserts itself, to lead the way to a second fanfaring return to D major, consolidated this time in a triumphant conclusion. © Anthony Burton
‘ Tennstedt always told everybody how wonderful the LPO is and how much he loved us; we loved him for that.’ Nicholas Busch, Former Principal Horn, London Philharmonic Orchestra Programme notes
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’ (Recorded 1989)
a conductor whose concert work was highly sought-after, perhaps even more so than any of his contemporaries.
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’ (Recorded 1981)
The Tennstedt magic, live in concert, is hard to articulate but all his concerts were saturated with passion, power, and a deep love of the music. As a conductor, he made it clear that his role was primarily as the voice of the composer and his music, as a leading hand and guide to his chosen performers. Variables such as a hall’s acoustic, the atmosphere on any given day, or the state of his health all bore tangible results in his interpretations. The Tennstedt performances from the 1986–7 season onwards certainly conveyed a darker drama, in the context of his life-threatening illness, which in September 1987 led to his resignation as Principal Conductor and Music Director of the LPO.
Why, you may ask, are there two versions of Tennstedt conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in this collection? In short, Tennstedt had a particularly special relationship with Mahler’s works, as well as a very special relationship with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, resulting in an intensity and changeability in live concert hall performances that was impossible to replicate in the recording studio. To watch him conduct one might have wondered how on earth an orchestra could follow him, but with the LPO it was more telepathic than physical. Thus the live Tennstedt concerts were very much about the moment rather than a studio environment making a recorded document for posterity where his intensity was not so keenly apparent. The same Tennstedt concert programme on consecutive nights could lead to vastly different interpretations – indeed two performances of the Second Symphony which were performed on consecutive nights in 1989 (one of which is included in this collection, CDs 2 & 3), varied in length by 11 minutes in total. The proliferation of pirated CD releases of Tennstedt’s broadcast concerts is testament to Programme notes
This ‘Tennstedt magic’ is what makes the two versions of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in this collection so compelling. The two performances are separated by the best part of eight years. Reflected in the performance from 1981 is a conductor in good health, clearly revelling in his relationship with his ‘romantic orchestra’, the LPO. Move forwards to the 1989 concert and we have a last movement that is of truly epic proportions, and an interpretation some four minutes longer than in 1981. What we hear is that what Tennstedt lost in physical wellbeing 03
in the intervening years, he more than made up for in dark intensity and angst. We believe you will find the comparison a fascinating insight into the great conductor’s mind.
funeral three years later that he heard a setting of Friedrich Klopstock’s Resurrection Ode and recognised the verses as those he needed for the choral finale of his Symphony.
Mahler was Jewish by birth, but he was not reared in a religious faith and he struggled to achieve one. He knew much personal suffering and was acutely conscious of the often trivial character of earthly life. Yet he feared death, for the serene assurance of a convinced Christian was beyond his grasp, and his spiritual conflicts emerged in much of the music he composed. Asked to describe the programme behind this Symphony, he replied: ‘My need to express myself musically begins at the point where the dark feelings hold sway, at the door which leads into the “other world” – the world in which things are no longer separated by space and time’.
As a link between Scherzo and Finale, Mahler inserted another vocal movement, taking for text the poem ‘Urlicht’ (Primordial Light) from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth’s Magic Horn), the folk poetry collection from which he had already made a number of songs and which he was to use again in his Third and Fourth Symphonies. Beethoven in his Ninth Symphony had created the precedent for using voices to particularise a symphony’s message. In adding a movement to the normal four, Mahler was following the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz. That work also offered a precedent for grotesque passages and for using popular dance and march rhythms. He carried Berlioz’s innovations to new lengths, however, for he believed that a symphony should embrace the whole world.
The Second Symphony was composed between 1887 and 1894. Mahler completed the first version of the first movement in 1888, named it Totenfeier (Funeral Rites) and later said that in it he was bearing the hero of his First Symphony to the grave. His career as a conductor delayed further work on the Symphony, and in 1891 he was appointed First Conductor at the Hamburg Opera. When Mahler played a piano reduction of Totenfeier to Hans von Bülow, who directed that city’s concerts, the veteran conductor was mystified and scornful. Mahler was badly shaken. Ironically, it was at von Bülow’s 04
To convey the ideas that demanded expression in the Second Symphony entailed a timescale of around 80 minutes and an outsize orchestra, including extra woodwind, brass and percussion and, in the Finale, an organ and off-stage band, together with soprano and mezzo soprano soloists and a large choir. But as with Berlioz before him Mahler’s use of these large forces is often remarkably restrained. Programme notes
The three purely orchestral movements were first performed on 4 March 1895 in Berlin, and the complete Symphony was heard there on 13 December. Shortly afterwards Mahler reluctantly set down a ‘superficial indication’ of what he had in mind in composing the Symphony, and five years later for a Dresden performance he amplified his remarks. Quotations from them in the following notes are from the English edition of Alma Mahler’s book, Gustav Mahler: Memories and Letters (John Murray). According to the composer, then, the first movement asks: ‘What is life and what is death? Have we any continuing existence?
Is it all an empty dream, or has this life of ours and our death a meaning?’ If we are to go on living, he adds, we must answer these questions. Now obviously music cannot really ask questions, and Mahler knew it. But distrustful though he was of trying to explain his music, he gave helpful clues. This movement is a big C minor sonata structure with conflicting elements, and even without Mahler’s guidance it would be evident that anger, hope, fear and longing are vying for expression. The music is dominated by the funeral march that grows out of the initial onslaught from cellos and double basses. This is an angry protest against death’s dominion. After a climax it
‘ You cannot make music like geometry, otherwise you are a machine.’ Klaus Tennstedt Tennstedt at the piano, aged 12 Family archive
Programme notes
05
yields briefly to an idyllic rising theme, which foreshadows in its opening bars the Finale’s faith theme. The march resumes, admits what sounds like a short funeral oration to the unnamed hero, and then bears the exposition to its close with a mournful passage for horns and woodwind over a quietly tramping bass. The development begins with further consideration of the idyllic second subject, followed eventually by a sorrowful theme on cor anglais and bass clarinet. After more development of the two main subjects this is heard again on trumpet and trombone and followed by another new theme, the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) from the Mass for the Dead transformed into a hopeful chorale for horns. This theme, which will figure in the Finale, is permitted a short triumph in E flat, but the funeral march supervenes and its violent C minor climax seemingly extinguishes hope. A shortened recapitulation leads to a coda of resignation and finally – a C major triad for trumpets turning bitterly to C minor – despair. Mahler conceived the next three movements as intermezzi, and described the Andante moderato as ‘a blissful moment in the hero’s life and a mournful memory of youth and lost innocence’. Its principal theme in A flat is a long thread of melody in minuet rhythm. After a restless trio section in the minor key, the minuet returns with a counter-melody on 06
cellos. The trio music reappears and recalls the fierceness of the first movement, but a second reprise of the minuet restores peace. In the Scherzo ‘the world and life become a witch’s brew’, resulting in ‘disgust of existence in every form’. The main C minor theme comes from Mahler’s ironical Wunderhorn song about St Anthony of Padua’s futile sermon to the fishes; they listened with pleasure, then swam off to behave the same as before. Here the moto perpetuo theme represents the futile ‘dance of life’ and is made more sardonic by squeals from an E flat clarinet and other woodwind. The trio section alludes to life’s trivialities by a country dance and a sentimental trumpet tune. The scherzo repeat leads to what Mahler called ‘a cry of disgust’, a piercing chord of B flat minor over C. A peaceful C major vision follows, anticipating the finale, but the scherzo music has the last word. Without a break the mezzo soprano soloist enters with ‘the morning voice of ingenuous belief’, expressing in a solemn but simple D flat setting of the folk poem the conviction that God will light our way to eternal life. The ‘cry of disgust’ from the scherzo breaks in upon the close of ‘Urlicht’ to launch the gigantic finale. ‘We are confronted once more by terrifying questions’, says Mahler, ‘the Last Judgement is at hand.’ The first Programme notes
part of the movement is for orchestra alone ‘a last tremulous echo of earthly life’. Out and draws largely upon themes from the of the silence steal choral voices, singing earlier movements (except the second) in hushed tones Klopstock’s first lines: or developments of them. After the initial ‘Rise again, yes you will rise again’. The solo tumult a rising horn theme is heard in soprano voice soars out of the choral texture the distance, eventually to become the in the last line of each stanza. Here is the declaration ‘I shall die so as to live’. answer to the first movement’s questions, Then from afar there sounds a horn call and Mahler emphasises it with added solo that Mahler described as the ‘voice in the stanzas of his own: ‘O believe, you were not wilderness’. After a quiet recall of triplets born in vain’. The music gathers strength from the Symphony’s introduction the as it moves towards E flat, in which key Dies Irae chorale returns (woodwind over (the major relative of the work’s opening plucked strings), followed at once by a new C minor) the proclamation of Christian but related horn theme, the first outlining of faith crowns the Symphony. Bells ring out. the Resurrection chorale. An agonised flute In Mahler’s words: ‘An overwhelming love and cor anglais motif, later to be associated lightens our being. We know, and are.’ with ‘O believe’, rises to a hysterical climax. © Eric Mason Again comes the Dies Irae, solemnly on deep brass, and again the Resurrection chorale follows. Joyful fanfares sound, yet once again the music fades. A tremendous percussion crescendo launches a tumultuous F minor march based on the Dies Irae and counterpointed by the Resurrection theme on trumpets: ‘The dead arise and stream on in endless procession.’ Desperate supplications ensue; cellos and violins ‘ I doubt whether I shall ever encounter plead for salvation with the ‘O believe’ motif another conductor so capable of embodying while menacing fanfares overwhelm all. both the frailty of man and the greatness of mankind. To journey with Tennstedt Suddenly the tumult yields to the rising theme through Mahler or Beethoven – the of faith. The horn call from the wilderness turbulent souls with whom he most closely sounds again, a call to Divine Judgement identified – was to penetrate the heart seconded by a far trumpet and four nearer of darkness, and to emerge as if reborn.’ ones – the Last Trump. Birdsong is heard, Richard Morrison, The Times, 19 September 1997 Programme notes
07
Mahler Symphony No. 6 (Recorded 1983) Mahler’s work as a conductor and operatic musical director occupied most of his time in the winter months, but he was able to retreat to the country during the summer to compose. Thus the Sixth Symphony was composed in the summers of 1903 and 1904 at Maiernigg on the Wörthersee in Carinthia. For the composer and his wife, Alma, whose second daughter was born in June 1904, it was outwardly a happy time. Inwardly Mahler’s mind was preoccupied with human suffering and the fact of death. In 1904 he also completed his settings of Rückert’s Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children), which prompted Alma to warn him against tempting Providence. Containing musical depictions of Alma and their children, the Symphony proved to be especially personal, and Mahler prophetically brought it to a tragic conclusion. The Finale, he said, represents ‘the hero, on whom fall three blows of fate, the last of which fells him as a tree is felled’. Mahler and his wife both wept when he played her the newly completed score, and Alma tells us that after the final rehearsal for the first performance – in Essen, Germany, on 27 May 1906 – ‘Mahler walked up and down in the artists’ room sobbing, wringing his hands, unable to control himself’. The following year three blows of fate did indeed 08
fall upon him; he lost his post as Director of the Imperial Opera in Vienna, his elder daughter died of scarlet fever and diphtheria, and he himself was discovered to be suffering from fatal heart disease. The Sixth is the second of Mahler’s three ‘middle period’ symphonies, which have among other things in common the fact that they are scored for orchestra alone. (Mahler used voices in his Second, Third and Fourth Symphonies and again in the Eighth.) The Sixth is written on a large time-scale and employs a very big orchestra. Yet it is ‘classical’ in two respects: it is firmly based on one key and has only the traditional four movements. One should point out that there have been differences of opinion about the playing order of the two middle movements. Mahler apparently switched the second and third movements after the first printing, thus placing the Scherzo third. Erwin Ratz, editor of the Critical Edition published by the International Mahler Society in 1963, claimed that Mahler later reverted to the original order, which makes better sense of the Symphony’s sequence of keys. Klaus Tennstedt uses this edition. A heavy tramping rhythm launches the Symphony. Sound images of the parade ground had been ingrained in the composer’s sub-consciousness since childhood, when he lived near some barracks, and they seem to have had a sinister association for him, Programme notes
probably because so many of his brothers and sisters died. Out of the rhythm a grim march tune emerges, at first in a decisive A minor but soon rising to a dissonant climax. The march dies away and we hear for the first time the tragic fate motif – a loud A major chord dissolving into an A minor one over a timpani rhythm – which is to recur several times during the Symphony. A chorale-like subsidiary theme for woodwind with plucked strings leads to the F major second subject, a passionate melody that Mahler said was an attempt to portray Alma. Another climax marks the end of the exposition, which is now repeated in full.
After that brief triumph of A major we are back in the minor mode, the marching tread now pounded out, the woodwind trills and xylophone from the previous movement’s development more menacing than ever, the trombones sounding dangerous. The F major trio section (marked ‘old-fashioned’) is a hesitant sort of minuet that stumbles along in changing time-signatures. The idea came to Mahler when he watched his small daughter at play. Scherzo and trio alternate twice. On the trio’s last appearance, to quote Alma, ‘the childish voices become more and more tragic, and at the end die out in a whimper’.
The development commences with the reappearance of the opening march, now made more sinister by xylophone and trilling woodwind, but peace comes in a visionary pastoral episode for shimmering violins, woodwind, muted brass and cowbells, these last making a sound that Mahler associated with solitude in the mountains. This encourages a more optimistic mood when the vision gives way to actuality, but the recapitulation necessarily involves the resumption of that grim march. Alma’s theme follows, and in the coda it is at last jubilantly proclaimed in a blaze of A major.
A degree of relaxation is provided by the Andante moderato, which moves away from the strife of A minor into remote E flat. There are three themes: the sweet string melody that opens the movement, a rocking figure first heard on flutes, and a cor anglais tune. The music woven from these ideas passes through varying moods, being mostly gentle and ruminative but twice rising to a passionate climax.
Where the first movement was predominantly grim, the Scherzo (marked ‘weighty’) is horrific, transforming some of the same thematic elements into a danse macabre. Programme notes
The huge Finale plunges back into the life-and-death struggle. Shades of themes past and shadows of those to come move through the slow introduction. In the second category are an aspiring violin theme heard at the beginning, a sombre repeated tuba phrase, a hopeful theme for solo horn and a dirge-like brass chorale in C minor, the 09
minor key related to the third movement’s ‘ From the very first notes he encouraged E flat major. The aspiring elements are cut from the orchestra, Klaus created a sound off by the Symphony’s major-minor fate and style that was uniquely the London motif, and the main allegro in A minor Philharmonic Orchestra – exciting, begins with a determined march based on romantic and very passionate. Without the tuba phrase. The violin and horn themes ever forcing the sound he encouraged strive to succeed – the ‘hero’ does not mean the orchestra to take risks to achieve the to be felled without a great fight – and there dynamic range and colour he demanded. is a brief glimpse of the first movement’s It was a perfectly balanced partnership mountain-top vision. Three times the march and together we discovered new depths wins through to an exultant climax only and dimensions in music-making. It was to be beaten down by fate. At the first two this that made a concert with Tennstedt climaxes there fall the ‘blows of fate’ that such an unforgettable experience.’ Mahler mentioned. (In performance these Robert St John Wright, Former First Violin, are literally hammer-blows of a kind; Mahler London Philharmonic Orchestra asked for a short, powerful, heavy-sounding blow like the stroke of an axe.) After the first performance he superstitiously removed the fatal blow at the third climax. Here, the violin theme soars aloft for the last time and is extinguished by fate. A numb coda follows, ending with a crash of drums and the second, minor-key half of the fate motif. This Symphony, Mahler said, ‘is the sum of all the suffering I have been compelled to endure at the hands of life’. © Eric Mason
10
Programme notes
Symphony No. 8 (Recorded 1991) Mahler composed his Eighth Symphony at his lakeside summer home in Carinthia in 1906. His wife Alma, to whom he dedicated the work, remembered that time as their ‘last summer of peace and beauty and content’. The following year they suffered three grievous blows: the loss of Mahler’s musical directorship of the Imperial Opera in Vienna, the death of their four-year-old elder daughter and the diagnosis of Mahler’s heart disease. Yet in 1906 all seemed well. The summer began as usual with him fearing loss of inspiration. Then one morning there came into his mind the words of Veni, Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit), the 9th-century Catholic hymn for Pentecost. He started setting the lines to music, beginning what developed into the work that a German impresario nicknamed with pardonable exaggeration the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’. The performance recorded here employs over 400 singers and an orchestra of 128 players. There is also an important role for the organ. If the tumultuous setting of the Latin hymn could be regarded as a powerful symphonic first movement, Mahler perceived that setting the mystical last scene of Goethe’s Faust could provide equivalents of a slow movement, scherzo and finale. And since Faust’s aspirations towards superhuman wisdom paralleled the Catholics’ invocation Programme notes
of the Holy Spirit, it was logical as well as musically unifying to develop themes from Part I in Part II. The first draft was finished in eight weeks, and Mahler wrote to the conductor Willem Mengelberg: ‘It is the greatest work I have yet composed … Imagine that the universe bursts into song. We no longer hear human voices but those of planets and suns.’ The triumphant first performance took place in Munich on 12 September 1910. Eight months later Mahler died, burnt out at fifty. In his handling of the huge forces Mahler integrates the eight solo voices and three choirs into complex orchestral textures with scant regard for the singers’ comfort. In Part I we sense worshippers almost hysterically striving for divine illumination. Part II, which begins with a long orchestral introduction, is more relaxed until the closing pages. In both parts most of the musical themes derive from the bracing invocation that launches the Symphony. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) devoted many years to his dramatic poem on the ancient fable of Faust, the philosopher who made a fatal compact with Mephistopheles, the Devil. This myth gave Goethe a medium for examining and commenting upon the human condition in Western civilization. The listed dramatis personae require explanation. Magna Peccatrix is the woman of whom Christ 11
said (St. Luke, ch.7): ‘Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much’. Una poenitentium (a penitent) is the soul of Gretchen, whom Faust seduced. Mater Gloriosa is both the Virgin Mary and the mythological earth mother symbolising the source of life. Mulier Samaritana is the sinful woman of Samaria (St. John, ch.4) who met Christ by a well. Maria Aegyptiaca is the apocryphal Mary of Egypt. The male figures are not individuals but symbols. The Faust scene is set amid mountain ravines, where the voices of anchorites echo between chasms. Pater Ecstaticus and Pater Profundus sing of the need for divine love, and in the following section (the Symphony’s scherzo as it were) angels conduct Faust’s soul. Doctor Marianus salutes Mater Gloriosa, whose appearance at this point in Goethe’s poem coincides with the beginning of the Symphony’s finale.
of a spirit world where human aspirations, indescribable and unattainable on earth, are fulfilled. Goethe says a mystic force that he terms the ‘Ewig-Weibliche’ (eternal womanhood) draws us onward. Mahler, discussing these closing lines with his wife, felt that he was right to call it the force of love. Swelling repetitions of Mater Gloriosa’s theme climax in a shortened fortissimo reprise of the Chorus Mysticus. The voices cease, and in a huge orchestral peroration the creator spirit is invoked once more. As the fanfares sound, we may think ourselves to have been granted for a few moments some apprehension of glory. © Eric Mason
Magna Peccatrix, Mulier Samaritana and Maria Aegyptiaca pray as redeemed sinners for Gretchen to be pardoned, and the ‘ Klaus Tennstedt was one of the greatest penitent Gretchen sings happily of reunion conductors I have ever played under. with Faust. Goethe having refused to let Performances with him of Bruckner’s 7th Mephistopheles claim Faust’s soul, Mater Symphony and Mahler’s 8th Symphony Gloriosa bids angels to bear it to higher were amongst the highlights of my career. spheres. Doctor Marianus hails Mater I never felt bored once during his Gloriosa as Virgin, Mother, Queen and rehearsals or concerts – he was such Goddess. An ethereal orchestral passage a source of inspired ideas.’ topped by a solo piccolo leads to the Santiago Cavalho, Cello, London Philharmonic Orchestra pianissimo Chorus Mysticus, which tells 12
Programme notes
Tennstedt conducting in 1958 Family archive
Fans queue up to meet Tennstedt © Akira Kinoshita
Conducting Bruckner Symphony No. 8 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1974 © Walter H Scott
Š Clive Barda
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Songs of a Wayfarer (CD 1) Text Gustav Mahler Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht, fröhliche Hochzeit macht, hab’ ich meinen traurigen Tag! Geh’ ich in mein Kämmerlein, dunkles Kämmerlein, weine, wein’ um meinen Schatz, um meinen lieben Schatz! Blümlein blau! Verdorre night! Vöglein süss! Du singst auf grüner Heide. Ach, wie ist die Welt so schön! Ziküth! Ziküth! Singet nicht! Blühet nicht! Lenz ist ja vorbei! Alles Singen ist nun aus. Des Abends, wenn ich schlafen geh’, denk’ ich an mein Leide. An mein Leide!
When my darling has her wedding-day When my darling has her wedding-day, her joyous wedding-day, I will have my day of mourning! I will go to my little room, my dark little room, and weep, weep for my darling, for my dear darling! Little blue flower! Do not wither! Sweet little bird – you sing on the green heath. Oh, how is it that the world is so beautiful! Chirp! Chirp! Do not sing! Do not bloom! Spring is past! All singing must now stop. At night when I go to sleep, I think of my sorrow. Of my sorrow!
Ging heut’ morgen übers Feld Ging heut’ morgen übers Feld, tau noch auf den Gräsern hing. Sprach zu mir de lust’ge Fink, ‘Ei du! Gelt? Guten Morgen! Ei gelt? Du! Wird’s nicht eine schöne Welt? Zink! Zink! Schön und flink! Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt!’
I walked across the fields this morning I walked across the fields, this morning; dew still hung on the grass. The merry finch said to me, ‘Hey you! Isn’t it a good morning? Hey! You! Isn’t it becoming a beautiful world? Chirp! Chirp! Beautiful and agile! Oh but how the world delights me!’
16
Text
Auch die Glockenblum’ am Feld hat mir lustig, guter Ding’, mit den Glöckchen, klinge, kling, ihren Morgengruss geschellt, ‘Wird’s nicht eine schöne Welt? Kling, kling! Schönes Ding! Wie mir doch die Welt gefällt! Heia!’
Also, the bluebells in the field, merrily and with good spirits, chimed out to me with their bells, ding, ding, their morning greeting, ‘Isn’t it becoming a beautiful world? Ding, ding! Beautiful thing! How the world delights me! Hey!’
Und da fing im Sonnenschein gleich die Welt zu funkeln an; alles Ton und Farbe gewann im Sonnenschein! Blum’ und Vogel, gross und klein! ‘Guten Tag, ist’s nicht eine schöne Welt? Ei du, gelt! Schöne Welt?’
And then, in the sunshine, the world suddenly began to glitter; everything gained sound and colour in the sunshine! Flower and bird, large and small! ‘Good day, is it not a beautiful world? Hey you! Isn’t it a beautiful world?’
Nun fängt auch mein Glück wohl an? Nein, nein, das ich mein’, Mir nimmer blühen kann!
Will my happiness also begin now? No, no, my happiness can never bloom!
Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer Ich hab’ein glühend Messer, ein Messer in meiner Brust. O Weh! Das schneid’t so tief in jede Freud’ und jede Lust. Ach, was ist das für ein böser Gast! Nimmer hält er Ruh’, nimmer hält er Rast, nicht bei Tag, noch bei Nacht, wenn ich schlief! O Weh!
I have a glowing knife I have a glowing knife, a knife in my chest. Oh! It cuts so deeply into every joy and delight. Ah, what an evil guest it is! Never does it rest, never does it ease, not by day or by night, when I would sleep! Oh Woe!
Text
17
Wenn ich in den Himmel seh’, seh’ ich zwei blaue Augen stehn. O Weh! Wenn ich im gelben Felde geh’, seh’ ich von fern das blonde Haar im Winde wehn. O Weh!
When I look up into the sky, I see two blue eyes. Oh Woe! When I go into the yellow field, I see her blond hair in the distance blowing in the wind. Oh Woe!
Wenn ich aus dem Traum auffahr’ und höre klingen ihr silbern’ Lachen, O Weh! Ich wollt’, ich läg auf der schwarzen Bahr’, könnt’ nimmer die Augen aufmachen!
When I wake from a dream and hear the tinkle of her silvery laugh, Oh Woe! I wish that I was lying on my black bier, and that I could never again open my eyes!
Die zwei blauen Augen Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz, die haben mich in die weite Welt geschickt. Da musst ich Abschied nehmen vom allerliebsten Platz! O Augen blau, warum habt ihr mich angeblickt? Nun hab’ ich ewig Leid und Grämen.
The two blue eyes The two blue eyes of my darling, they have fated me to go into the wide world. I had to take my leave of this beloved place! Oh blue eyes, why did they gaze at me? Now I will have eternal sorrow and grief.
Ich bin ausgegangen in stiller Nacht wohl über die dunkle Heide. Hat mir niemand Ade gesagt. Ade! Mein Gesell’ war Lieb’ und Leide! Auf der Strasse steht ein Lindenbaum, Da hab’ ich zum ersten Mal im Schlaf geruht!
I went out into the still night far across the dark heath. No-one said farewell to me. Farewell! My companions are love and sorrow! On the road stands a linden tree, and there for the first time I rested in sleep!
Unter dem Lindenbaum, der hat Seine Blüten über mich geschneit, Da wusst’ ich nicht, wie das Leben tut, War alles, alles wieder gut! Alles! Alles, Lieb und Leid und Welt und Traum!
Under the linden tree that snowed its blossoms onto me, I did not know how life went on, and everything, everything was well again! All! All, love and sorrow and world and dream!
18
Text
Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’ Mahler Symphony No. 2 (CDs 3 & 5) Text is taken from Friedrich Klopstock’s Resurrection Ode 03 Urlicht Mezzo soprano O Röschen rot! Der Mensch liegt in grösster Not! Der Mensch liegt in grösster Pein! Je lieber möcht’ich im Himmel sein! Da kam ich auf einen breiten Weg; da kam ein Engelein und wollt’mich abweisen. Ach nein! Ich liess mich nicht abweisen! Ich bin von Gott und will wieder zu Gott! Der liebe Gott wird mir ein Lichtchen geben, wird leuchten mir bis in das ewig selig Leben!
Primordial Light
05 Auferstehung Chorus and soprano Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n wirst du, mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruh! Unsterblich Leben wird der dich rief dir geben.
Resurrection
Wieder aufzublüh’n wirst du gesät! Der Herr der Ernte geht und sammelt Garben uns ein, die starben!
To bloom again you are sown! The Lord of the Harvest goes and gathers like sheaves each of us who died!
06 O Glaube, mein Herz Mezzo soprano O glaube, mein Herz, o glaube, es geht dir nichts verloren!
O believe, my heart
Text
O red rose! Mankind lies in greatest need! Mankind lies in greatest pain! Far rather would I be in Heaven! I came upon a broad pathway; a little angel came and wanted to turn me aside. Ah no! I would not be turned aside! I am from God and would return to God! Dear God will give me a little light, will light me to the eternal blessed life!
Rise again, yes you will rise again, my dust, after a short rest! Immortal life He who called you will grant you.
O believe, my heart, o believe, nothing is lost to you! 19
Dein ist, was du gesehnt, dein was du geliebt, was du gestritten!
Yours is what you longed for, yours what you loved, what you fought over!
Soprano O glaube, du warst nicht umsonst geboren! Hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten!
O believe, you were not born in vain! Have not in vain lived, suffered!
Chorus and mezzo soprano Was entstanden ist das muss vergehen! Was vergangen, auferstehen! Hör’ auf zu beben! Bereite dich zu leben!
What has come into being must pass away! What passed away, rise again! Stop trembling! Prepare yourself to live!
Soprano, mezzo soprano and chorus O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer! Dir bin ich entrungen! O Tod! Du Allbezwinger! Nun bist du bezwungen!
O pain! You that pierce all things! From you I have been wrested! O death! You all-conqueror! Now you have been conquered!
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen in heissem Liebesstreben, werd’ ich entschweben zum Licht, zu dem kein Aug’ gedrungen! Sterben werd’ ich, um zu leben! Aufersteh’n, ja aufersteh’n wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu! Was du geschlagen zu Gott wird es dich tragen!
With wings, which I gained for myself in love’s hot strife, I shall soar away to the light, whither no eye has penetrated! I shall die so as to live! Rise again, yes you will rise again, my heart, in an instant! What you have beaten will bear you to God! English translation © Eric Mason
20
Text
Symphony No. 8 Mahler Symphony No. 8 Part 1. Hymn: Veni, Creator Spiritus (CD 8) Tracks 01– 08 Veni, Creator Spiritus Mentes tuorum visita; Imple superna gratia, Quae tu creasti pectora.
Come, Creator Spirit, Dwell in our minds; Fill with divine grace The hearts of Thy creatures.
Qui Paraclitus diceris Donum Dei altissimi Fons vivus, ignis, caritas Et spiritalis unctio.
Thou named the Comforter Gift of God most high, Souce of life, fire, love And soul’s anointing.
Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti; Accende lumen sensibus, Infunde amorem cordibus.
Our weak frames Fortify with Thy eternal strength Inflame our senses with light, Pour love into our hearts.
Hostem repellas longius Pacemque dones protinus; Ductore sic te praevio, Vitemus omne pessimum.
Scatter the enemy, Grant us Thy peace; Our leader, go before, That we may shun all evil.
Tu septiformis munere, Dexterae paternae digitus.
Grant us Thy sevenfold blessing, Thou right hand of the Father.
Per te sciamus da Patrem, Noscamus (atque) Filium, (Te utriusque) Spiritum Credamus omni tempore.
Grant us knowledge of the Father, And of the Son, And faith in Thee, O Spirit, Now and evermore.
Text
21
Da gaudiorum praemia, Da gratiarum munera; Dissolve litis vincula Adstringe pacis foedera.
Grant us the foretaste of bliss, Grant us saving grace; Free us from bonds of strife, Bind us with pacts of peace.
Ductore sic te praevio, Vitemus omne pessimum.
So that with thy guidance we may avoid all ills.
Gloria Patri Domino Deo sit gloria et Filio Natoque, qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito In saeculorum saecula.
Glory be to God the Father, Glory be to God and to the Son Incarnate, who from the dead Arose, and to the Holy Spirit From everlasting to everlasting.
22
Text
Symphony No. 8 Mahler Symphony No. 8 Part 2. Final Scene from Goethe’s Faust (CD 9) 01 Poco adagio 02 Piu mosso: Allegro moderato 03 Chorus and Echo Waldung, sie schwankt heran, Felsen sie lasten dran, Wurzeln, sie klammern an, Stamm dicht an Stamm hinan. Woge nach Woge spritzt, Höhle, die tiefste, schützt. Löwen, sie schleichen stumm – Freundlich um uns herum, Ehren geweihten Ort, Heiligen Liebeshort.
The forest sways, rocks lie heavy, roots cling, tree-trunk against tree-trunk. Wave breaks foamingly on wave, the deepest cavern gives shelter. Lions prowl silent and friendly about us – honouring the sacred place, love’s holy sanctuary.
04 Pater Ecstaticus (hovering high and low) Ewiger Wonnebrand, Glühendes Liebeband, Siedender Schmerz der Brust, Schäumende Gotteslust. Pfeile, durchdringet mich, Lanzen, bezwinget mich, Keulen, zerschmettert mich, Blitze, durchwettert mich! Dass ja das Nichtige Alles verflüchtige, Glänze der Dauerstern, Ewiger Liebe Kern.
Eternal blazing rapture, love’s flaming bond, heart’s painful seething, God’s effervescent love! Arrows, pierce me, spears, subdue me, clubs, crush me, lightning, flash through me! that nothingness may make all vanish, that the constant star may shine forth, kernel of love eternal!
Text
23
05 Pater Profundus (from the depths) Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Füssen Auf tiefem Abgrund lastend ruht, Wie tausend Bäche strahlend fliessen Zum grausen Sturz des Schaums der Flut, Wie strack, mit eig’nem kräft’gen Triebe, Der Stamm sich in die Lüfte trägt; So ist es die allmächt’ge Liebe, Die alles bildet, alles hegt. Ist um mich her ein wildes Brausen, Als wogte Wald und Felsengrund! Und doch stürzt, liebevoll im Sausen, Die Wasserfülle sich zum Schlund, Berufen, gleich das Tal zu wässern; Der Blitz, der flammend niederschlug, Die Atmosphäre zu verbessern, Die Gift und Dunst im Busen trug – Sind Liebesboten, sie verkünden, Was ewig schaffend uns umwallt. Mein Inn’res mög’ es auch entzünden, Wo sich der Geist, verworren, kalt, Verquält in stumpfer Sinne Schranken, Scharfangeschloss’nem Kettenschmerz. O Gott! beschwichtige die Gedanken, Erleuchte mein bedürftig Herz!
As the rocky chasm at my feet lies heavy on the deep abyss, as a thousand streams flow sparkling to the dread rapids’ foaming drop, as straight, by its own powerful urge, the tree-trunk rears into the air, so it is almighty love that shapes and nurtures all. Around me is wild tumult, as though forest and rocky floor quaked! And yet, lovingly, roaring waters’ profusion hurls itself into the gorge, ordained to water presently the valley; the flaming lightning, hurtling downwards to render pure an atmosphere bearing poison and fumes at its heart – these are messengers of love, proclaiming that which ever seethes, creating, about us. Might it kindle also my inmost being, where my cold, bewildered spirit agonises, confined by dulled sense, bound fast by fetters’ pain. Oh, God, assuage my thoughts, enlighten my needy heart!
06 Angels (hovering in the upper atmosphere, bearing Faust’s immortal essence) Gerettet ist das edle Glied Der Geisterwelt vom Bösen, ‘Wer immer strebend sich bemüht,
Saved is that noble member of the spirit world from evil: ‘He who endeavours, ever striving,
24
Text
Den können wir erlösen’. Und hat an ihm die Liebe gar Von oben teilgenommen, Begegnet ihm die sel’ge Schar Mit herzlichem Willkommen.
him we have the power to redeem’. And if love from above has also played its part, the blessed host shall answer him with heartfelt greeting.
Chorus of Blessed Boys (circling the highest peak) Hände verschlinget euch Freudig zum Ringverein, Regt euch und singet Heil’ge Gefühle drein; Göttlich belehret, Dürft ihr vertrauen: Den ihr verehret, Werdet ihr schauen.
Link hands joyfully in the circle of union, bestir yourselves, sing holy sentiments thereto. Divinely instructed, may you be assured: He, whom you venerate, you shall behold!
07 The Younger Angels Jene Rosen aus den Händen Liebend-heil’ger Büsserinnen Halfen uns den Sieg gewinnen Und das hohe Werk vollenden, Diesen Seelenschatz erbeuten. Böse wichen, als wir streuten, Teufel flohen, als wir trafen.
Those roses, from the hands of loving-holy penitent women, helped us achieve victory and fulfil the divine purpose, to capture this treasured soul. Evil yielded as we strewed, devils fled as we pelted.
Statt gewohnter Höllenstrafen Fühlten Liebesqual die Geister; Selbst der alte Satans-Meister War von spitzer Pein durchdrungen. Jauchzet auf! es ist gelungen.
Instead of the accustomed punishments of Hell, the spirits felt the pangs of love; even old master-Satan was pierced by anguish keen. Rejoice! It is fulfilled!
Text
25
08 The More Perfect Angels Uns bleibt ein Erdenrest Zu tragen peinlich, Und wär’ er von Asbest, Er ist nicht reinlich. Wenn starke Geisteskraft Die Elemente An sich herangerafft, Kein Engel trennte Geeinte Zwienatur Der innigen beiden, Die ewige Liebe nur Vermag’s zu scheiden.
To us remains some earthly residue painful to bear, and be it unyielding, yet it is not stainless. When the spirit’s mighty power has gathered fast the elements unto itself, no angel could sunder the twin natures in unity of this kindred pair; only love everlasting could divide them.
09 The Younger Angels Ich spür’ soeben, Nebelnd um Felsenhöh’, Ein Geisterleben, Regend sich in der Näh’. Seliger Knaben Seh’ ich bewegte Schar, Los von der Erde Druck, Im Kreis gesellt, Die sich erlaben Am neuen Lenz und Schmuck Der obern Welt.
I sense at this moment, nebulous round the rocky heights, living spirits stirring close by; I see a moving host of blessed children, freed from earth’s burden, in a circle joined, themselves delighting in the new springtide and adornment of the world above.
Doctor Marianus (in the highest, purest essence) Hier ist die Aussicht frei, Der Geist erhoben.
The prospect is free here, the spirit elevated.
26
Text
The Younger Angels Sei er zum Anbeginn, Steigendem Vollgewinn Diesen gesellt!
Let him, at the outset, be joined with these in highest gain ever-increasing.
Doctor Marianus Dort ziehen Frauen vorbei, Schwebend nach oben. Die Herrliche mittenin Im Sternenkranze, Die Himmelskönigin, Ich seh’s am Glanze.
Women pass by there, soaring on high, at the centre, she who is glorious, wreathed in stars, the Queen of Heaven I perceive by her splendour!
Chorus of Blessed Boys Freudig empfangen wir Diesen im Puppenstand; Also erlangen wir Englisches Unterpfand. Löset die Flocken los, Die ihn umgeben, Schon ist er schön und gross Von heiligem Leben.
Joyfully we receive this chrysalis entity; thus we achieve the angels’ pledge. Dissolve the cocoon that envelops him. He is already beautiful, tall, through the holy life.
10 Doctor Marianus Höchste Herrscherin der Welt! Lasse mich im blauen, Ausgespannten Himmelszelt Dein Geheimnis schauen. Bill’ge, was des Mannes Brust Ernst und zart bewegt Und mit heil’ger Liebeslust Dir entgegenträgt!
Most exalted Empress of the World, in the blue outspread vault of heaven, let me behold thy mystery! Sanction that which moves man’s heart gravely, tenderly, and which, with love’s holy joy, he offers up to thee.
Text
27
Unbezwinglich unser Mut, Wenn du hehr gebietest; Plötzlich mildert sich die Glut, Wenn du uns befriedest.
Invincible our courage, when thou, sublime, commandest; passion at once subsides, when thou dost pacify us.
Doctor Marianus and Chorus Jungfrau, rein im schönsten Sinne, Mutter, Ehren würdig, Uns erwählte Königin, Göttern ebenbürtig.
Virgin, most beauteously pure, Mother, worthy of honour, our elected Queen, equal of gods!
(Mater Gloriosa floats into view) 11 Chorus Dir, der Unberührbaren, Ist es nicht benommen, Dass die leicht Verführbaren Traulich zu dir kommen. In die Schwachheit hingerafft, Sind sie schwer zu retten. Wer zerreisst aus eig’ner Kraft Der Gelüste Ketten? Wie entgleitet schnell der Fuss Schiefem, glattem Boden?
Thou, unassailable one, art not denied those easily seduced easefully approaching thee. Carried away in frailty, they are difficult to save. Who, by his own strength, can break free from lust’s fetters? How quickly slips the foot on a sloping, smooth floor!
Penitent Women (with Una Poenitentium (Gretchen)) Du schwebst zu Höhen Der ewigen Reiche, Vernimm das Flehen, Du Gnadenreiche, Du Ohnegleiche!
Thou soarest to the heights of the eternal kingdom, hear our prayer, thou full of grace, thou incomparable!
28
Text
12 Magna Peccatrix Bei der Liebe, die den Füssen Deines gottverklärten Sohnes Tränen liess zum Balsam fliessen, Trotz des Pharisäer-Hohnes; Beim Gefässe, das so reichlich Tropfte Wohlgeruch hernieder, Bei den Locken, die so weichlich Trockneten die heil’gen Glieder –
By the love that upon the feet of thy divinely transfigured Son let tears flow as balsam, despite the Pharisees’ scorn; by the vessel which so generously dropped sweet fragrance, by the tresses that so softly dried the holy limbs –
13 Mulier Samaritana Bei dem Bronn, zu dem schon weiland Abram liess die Herde führen; Bei dem Eimer, der dem Heiland Kühl die Lippe durft’ berühren; Bei der reinen, reichen Quelle, Die nun dorther sich ergiesset, Überflüssig, ewig helle, Rings durch alle Welten fliesst –
By the well to which of old already Abraham drove his flock, by the pail permitted to touch and cool the Saviour’s lips; by the pure abundant spring which now pours from thence, spilling over, ever clear, flowing through all the world –
14 Maria Aegyptiaca Bei dem hochgeweihten Orte, Wo den Herrn man niederliess, Bei dem Arm, der von der Pforte, Warnend mich zurücke stiess; Bei der vierzigjähr’gen Busse, Der ich treu in Wüsten blieb, Bei dem sel’gen Scheidergrusse, Den im Sand ich niederschrieb –
By the most sacred place where they laid our Lord; by the arm that, from the gate, warningly thrust me back; by the forty-year repentance endured faithfully in the desert, by the blessed last farewell I wrote in the sand –
All Three Die du grossen Sünderinnen Deine Nähe nicht verweigerst, Und ein büssendes Gewinnen In die Ewigkeiten steigerst,
Thou who dost not deny thy presence to women who have grievously sinned, and to eternity dost raise those victorious through penitence,
Text
29
Gönn’ auch dieser guten Seele, Die sich einmal nur vergessen, Die nicht ahnte, dass sie fehle, Dein Verzeihen angemessen!
grant also to this good soul which strayed but once, not knowing that it erred, thy just pardon!
15 Una Poenitentium (Gretchen) Neige, neige, Du Ohnegleiche, Du Strahlenreiche, Dein Antlitz gnädig meinem Glück! Der früh Geliebte, Nicht mehr Getrübte, Er kommt zurück.
Incline, incline, Thou incomparable, Thou richly radiant, Thy gracious countenance upon my happiness. My love of yore, beshadowed no longer, is returning.
16 Chorus of Blessed Boys (circling nearer) Er überwächst uns schon An mächt’gen Gliedern, Wird treuer Pflege Lohn Reichlich erwidern. Wir wurden früh entfernt Von Lebechören; Doch dieser hat gelernt, Er wird uns lehren.
Already he outstrips us on mighty limbs, amply will he recompense the reward of our faithful care. We were taken early from the chorus of the living; but this man has learnt: he shall teach us.
Una Poenitentium (Gretchen) Vom edlen Geisterchor umgeben, Wird sich der Neue kaum gewahr, Er ahnet kaum das frische Leben, So gleicht er schon der heil’gen Schar. Sieh, wie er jedem Erdenbande Der alten Hülle sich entrafft,
Surrounded by the noble spirits’ chorus, the new one is of himself scarce aware, barely divines his new existence, already resembles thus the sacred host. See how he throws off each earthly fetter from his erstwhile shell,
30
Text
Und aus ätherischem Gewande Hervortritt erste Jugendkraft! Vergönne mir, ihn zu belehren, Noch blendet ihn der neue Tag.
and from his ethereal raiment with youthful vigour emerges! Grant that I may instruct him, the new day dazzles him still!
17 Mater Gloriosa Komm! Hebe dich zu höhern Sphären! Wenn er dich ahnet, folgt er nach.
Come! Raise yourself to higher spheres! Divining you, he will follow.
Chorus Komm! Komm!
Come! Come!
Doctor Marianus and Chorus Blicket auf zum Retterblick, Alle reuig Zarten, Euch zu sel’gem Glück Dankend umzuarten! Werde jeder bess’re Sinn Dir zum Dienst erbötig; Jungfrau, Mutter, Königin, Göttin, bleibe gnädig! Bleibe gnädig!
Lift your eyes to the redeeming gaze, all frail penitents, that you be gratefully translated to blissful rapture. May every higher impulse be ready at your service; Virgin, Mother, Queen, Goddess, be ever gracious! Be ever gracious!
18 Chorus Mysticus Alles Vergängliche Ist nur ein Gleichnis; Das Unzulängliche, Hier wird’s Ereignis; Das Unbeschreibliche, Hier ist’s getan; Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan.
All that is transient is but a parable; here insufficiency becomes fulfilment, here the indescribable is accomplished; the Eternal-Feminine draws us heavenward.
Veni, Creator Spiritus, ninth-century hymn, formerly attrib. Hrabanus Maurus (c780–856) Faust, Part 2, Act 5, final scene (published 1832), by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) Faust translation © Mari Prackauskas Text
31
Receiving applause at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London
Portrait of Tennstedt at 20 Family archive
Thomas Hampson
Yvonne Kenny
Thomas Hampson enjoys an international career as an opera singer, recording artist, and ambassador of song, and has received many honours and awards for his artistry and cultural leadership. His discography includes winners of a Grammy® Award, five Edison Awards™, and the Grand Prix du Disque. Hampson has won worldwide recognition for his thoughtfully researched and constructed programs and recordings that explore a rich repertoire of song, and he founded the Hampsong Foundation in 2003.
Yvonne Kenny is one of the most distinguished sopranos of her generation. She has performed in most of the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, having built an enviable reputation as a fine Mozartian, a dazzling interpreter of works by Handel and more recently for her performances of Richard Strauss’s heroines. She appears regularly at major international festivals, at Carnegie Hall and at the BBC Proms.
He received the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington, DC, and was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s first Artist in Residence. In 2010 he was honoured with a Living Legend Award by the Library of Congress, where he is Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America. Hampson is honorary professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg, an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music and holds honorary doctorates from the Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Whitworth College, and San Francisco Conservatory. He carries the titles Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France, and was awarded the Austrian Medal of Honour in Arts and Sciences. Biographies
Her discography includes over 50 releases on international labels as well as the best-selling discs Simple Gifts, Handel Arias, Make Believe, The Salley Gardens, Clair de lune and Vienna City of My Dreams, all for ABC Classics. Recent performances include Countess (Capriccio, Dresden State Opera), Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier, Vienna State Opera), The Merry Widow, Der Rosenkavalier, La Voix Humaine and Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire (Opera Australia). Yvonne Kenny was made a member of the Order of Australia in 1989 and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Sydney in 1999. She is Professor of Voice at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
35
Jard van Nes
Heather Harper
After studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, Jard van Nes quickly became one of the most sought-after mezzo sopranos of her generation. She worked with the world’s great conductors including Boulez, Chailly, Dutoit, Giulini, Haitink, Jansons, Masur, Salonen, Solti, Tennstedt and de Waart.
Although she shot to worldwide attention in 1962 taking the soprano part in the world premiere of Britten’s War Requiem at two weeks’ notice, Heather Harper had already been known to television audiences for her polished La traviata broadcast by the BBC. She sang much opera, but never neglected her concert work, on which she concentrated with fierce intensity and exceptional musicianship.
Van Nes’s repertoire ranged from the Baroque to specially commissioned works. Her worldwide performances of Mahler’s orchestral song cycles, symphonies and songs gained van Nes a special reputation for his music. In recital van Nes performed in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Musikverein amongst others. Her discography is extensive, many recordings having received prizes such as an Edison Award™, Diapason d’Or, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and a Grammy® Award nomination. Jard van Nes retired from the concert stage in 2001 and dedicates her time to coaching and serves on the jury of many different singing competitions. In 2002 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands appointed her ‘Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw’ in recognition of her contribution to Dutch cultural life.
36
No other British singer ever covered as much repertoire and at such a high level of performance as she did. A Strauss specialist, she sang roles ranging from The Empress in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and Elsa in Wagner’s Lohengrin, with which she made her debut at the Bayreuth Festival, to a gutsy Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. She also championed modern music and many notable composers dedicated pieces to her. Michael Tippett wrote the role of Nadia in his last opera, The Ice Break, for her, and the solo soprano part in his Third Symphony. As a member of the trusted small group of singers that worked regularly at Aldeburgh Festival, Heather Harper cemented her close association with Britten for which she is warmly remembered.
Biographies
Doris Soffel
Júlia Várady
One of today’s leading performers of Wagner and Strauss, mezzo soprano Doris Soffel also has an extensive career in concert and Lieder, with a focus on the vocal works by Gustav Mahler. She has enjoyed international success in operas including Carmen, La clemenza di Tito, Così fan tutte, La Cenerentola, Norma, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Carlo, Aida, Khovanshchina and Rusalka.
One of the most beautiful voices of the 20th century, lyric soprano Júlia Várady looks back on an international career on the public stage during which she sang more than seventy roles over almost four decades. Her wide-ranging repertoire includes Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Richard Strauss and Wagner as well as contemporary roles such as Cordelia in Reimann’s Lear. Her operatic performances took her to renowned opera houses throughout Europe as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In concert she appeared at the Salzburg, Munich and Edinburgh Festivals amongst others.
Her Wagner roles include Ortrud (Lohengrin), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Kundry (Parsifal), Venus (Tannhäuser), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) and Fricka, as well as the Wesendonck Lieder. Her Strauss roles include Clairon (Capriccio), Amme (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Herodias (Salome) and Clytemnestra (Elektra). Soffel has appeared at festivals including Salzburg, Munich and Bayreuth, where she sang Fricka in Rheingold and Walküre with Solti, and at opera and concert houses in Vienna, Dresden, Zurich, St Petersburg, Milan, Venice, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm, New York, Buenos Aires, Tokyo and Beijing. She has worked with conductors including von Karajan, Celibidache, Giulini, Sawallisch, Tennstedt, Mehta, Maazel, Sinopoli, Thielemann, Gatti, Nagano, Barenboim and Rattle. Biographies
In her late fifties, Júlia Várady retired from opera to devote herself to teaching. She is a guest professor at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and is a dedicated and much sought-after teacher. She continues to sing in full voice during her classes with the same intensity and generosity of spirit that characterises her performance. Júlia Várady is married to baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
37
Jane Eaglen
Susan Bullock
Jane Eaglen has thrilled audiences worldwide earning her one of the most formidable reputations in opera. She has enjoyed success with opera’s most demanding heroines including the title roles of Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Turandot, Norma, and Brünnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen). Eaglen has performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, l’Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, and the Vienna State Opera.
Susan Bullock has appeared as Brünnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Teatro La Fenice and Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon. Above all, Richard Strauss’s Elektra has brought collaborations with some of the world’s leading conductors including Luisi, Bychkov, Ozawa, Elder and de Waart; and debuts with the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala Milan, Washington National Opera, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and in Dresden, Stuttgart and Hong Kong. Other recent roles include Marie (Wozzeck) for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Katerina Ismailova (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) for Opera Australia, and Minnie (La fanciulla del West) at the Edinburgh International Festival. She has performed the role of Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) in London, Frankfurt and Verona.
Eaglen has performed with the Boston, Chicago and Prague Symphony orchestras, the Czech, LA and New York Philharmonic orchestras and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and has appeared at the Budapest, Edinburgh and Salzburg Festivals. Her discography includes her Grammy® Award-winning recording of Wagner’s Tannhäuser. Eaglen served as Senior Artist in Residence at the University of Washington School of Music from 2006–10. She has taught at Seattle Opera, the Cardiff International Academy of Voice, San Francisco Opera and Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio and is the McGlashan International Fellow in Voice at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. She currently teaches at the New England Conservatory. 38
Her extensive discography includes Chausson’s Le roi Arthus with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Botstein for Telarc, Albert Herring with the City of London Sinfonia under Hickox, Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Tortelier and Salome with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Mackerras – all for Chandos.
Biographies
Trudeliese Schmidt
Jadwiga Rappé
German mezzo soprano Trudeliese Schmidt began her training in Saarbrücken and Rome. In 1965 she made her operatic debut as Hansel (Hänsel und Gretel) in Saarbrücken and in 1969 became a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. From 1971 she performed across Germany, and in 1974 toured Japan with the Bavarian State Opera of Munich. She sang Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1976. In subsequent years she appeared in leading opera houses across Europe.
Jadwiga Rappé studied at the Wrocław Music Academy and in 1980 won First Prize at the International Bach Competition in Leipzig. She has performed at leading international concert halls under conductors including Chailly, Dutoit, Harnoncourt, Haitink, Janowski, López-Cobos, Maazel, Nagano, Ozawa, Rattle and Tennstedt. Her festival appearances include the HändelFestspiele in Karlsruhe, MDR Musiksommer, Salzburger Festspiele, Brucknerfest Linz, BBC Proms, Wratislavia Cantans, Warsaw Autumn and the Casals Festival.
In 1985 Trudeliese Schmidt performed in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with von Karajan and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at a special concert at the Vatican in Rome for Pope John Paul II. Among her prominent roles are Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Rossini’s Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri), Weber’s Fatima (Oberon) and Strauss’s Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier).
Operatic roles have ranged from Handel and Gluck through Tchaikovsky and Verdi to Strauss and Wagner. Rappé received great acclaim for her performance as Erda (Der Ring des Nibelungen) in performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Festival d`Orange, Vienna State Opera, Oper Frankfurt and Grand Théâtre de Genève. Rappé’s discography includes over 50 albums and ranges from JS Bach, Handel and Mozart to Szymanowski, Honegger and Penderecki. Many of them have received international awards. Today, Rappé is a regular jury member of vocal competitions and teaches at the Music University in Warsaw.
Biographies
39
Kenneth Riegel
Eike Wilm Schulte
Kenneth Riegel’s long and distinguished career has taken him to all the major opera houses and festivals in North America. He has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Festival, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Scala Milan, Rome Opera, Teatro Communale in Florence and Bologna, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, Brussels Opera and Geneva Opera. He enjoys a special affinity with l’Opéra National de Paris, where he was the first American tenor to portray the title roles of Faust and Les Contes d’Hoffmann and there he participated in the world premieres of Berg’s complete three-act version of Lulu; in Messiaen’s only opera St. François d’Assise and in Manoury’s K.
Since 1991 Eike Wilm Schulte has appeared regularly at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala Milan, and in many other opera houses worldwide. His many festival appearances have included performances at the Bayreuth Festival, the Wagner Festival in Osaka and the Bregenz and Munich opera festivals.
In cinema Kenneth Riegel has appeared as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni directed by Joseph Losey) and as Prince Shuisky (Boris Godunov). He has made numerous recordings including Salome with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by von Dohnányi for Deutsche Grammophon.
40
Amongst his numerous concert appearances are Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in Tanglewood under Levine; and an open-air concert in Paris with the French National and Boston Symphony Orchestras under Ozawa. His discography includes Lohengrin, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 for EMI and Bruckner’s Mass No. 1 in D minor for Deutsche Grammophon. Eike Wilm Schulte is a recipient of the Goethe Medal, presented by the State of Hessen’s Ministry of Culture in 2008 and was recently awarded the title of Kammersänger by the Wiesbaden State Theatre.
Biographies
Hans Sotin
Eton College Chapel Choir
Hans Sotin made his operatic debut in 1962 as the Police Commissioner (Der Rosenkavalier) in Essen and became a principal member of the Hamburg State Opera in 1964, singing not only traditional roles but creating new roles in works by Blacher, Einem and Penderecki. In 1970 he made his British debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) and this was followed by debuts at Chicago Lyric Opera as Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlos) and at the Bayreuth Festival as the Landgrave (Tannhäuser). He has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milan and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
When King Henry VI founded Eton College in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1440, his foundation provided for 10 men and 16 boys to sing the services, and with few breaks, the choir has been singing in the chapel from then until the present day. The choir today is directed by Tim Johnson, Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College, and formed from 54 boys in the school, most of whom have been choristers at cathedrals or chapels before they came to Eton for their secondary education. The choral tradition is maintained by the regular singing of evensong and school services throughout the term time.
Hans Sotin’s portrayals of Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, and Gurnemanz (Parsifal) at the 1993 Bayreuth Festival elicited critical accolades. In addition to his varied operatic repertoire, Sotin has won distinction for his concert repertoire, most particularly in performances of the music of JS Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, and Mahler.
London Symphony Chorus
Biographies
The London Symphony Chorus works with many leading orchestras as well as maintaining a close association with the London Symphony Orchestra. From its creation the Chorus, under the direction of eminent musicians from John Alldis, Arthur Oldham and Richard Hickox to its current director Simon Halsey, has continued to expand its wide repertoire of music including the commissioning of new works by eminent composers. The Chorus has made over 140 recordings, many under Richard Hickox, including Britten’s Peter Grimes, which received a Grammy®Award and Billy Budd. 41
London Philharmonic Choir some of the world’s most eminent conductors – among them Boulez, Elder, Gardiner, Haitink, Jurowski, Masur, Nézet-Séguin, Rattle, Tennstedt and Solti. The London Philharmonic Choir has made numerous recordings for CD, radio and television. The Choir often travels overseas and in recent years it has given concerts in many European countries, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia. lpc.org.uk
© Patrick Harrison
The London Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1947 as the chorus for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is widely regarded as one of Britain’s finest choirs and consistently meets with critical acclaim. Performing regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Choir also works with many other orchestras throughout the United Kingdom and makes annual appearances at the BBC Proms. It has performed under
42
Biographies
London Philharmonic Orchestra The Orchestra is based at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London, where it has been Resident Orchestra since 1992, giving around 30 concerts a season. Each summer it takes up its annual residency at Glyndebourne Festival Opera where it has been Resident Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. The Orchestra performs at venues around the UK and has made numerous international tours, performing to sell-out audiences in America, Europe, Asia and Australasia.
Founded by Sir Thomas Beecham in 1932, the Orchestra has since been headed by many of the world’s greatest conductors, including Sir Adrian Boult, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti, Klaus Tennstedt and Kurt Masur. Vladimir Jurowski was appointed the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor in March 2003, and became Principal Conductor in September 2007.
The London Philharmonic Orchestra made its first recordings on 10 October 1932, just three days after its first public performance. It has recorded and broadcast regularly ever since, and in 2005 established its own record label. These recordings are taken mainly from live concerts given by conductors including LPO Principal Conductors from Beecham and Boult, through Haitink, Solti and Tennstedt, to Masur and Jurowski. lpo.org.uk
© Benjamin Ealovega/Drew Kelley
The London Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world’s finest orchestras, balancing a long and distinguished history with its present-day position as one of the most dynamic and forward-looking ensembles in the UK. This reputation has been secured by the Orchestra’s performances in the concert hall and opera house, its many award-winning recordings, trail-blazing international tours and wide-ranging educational work.
Biographies
43
Klaus Tennstedt Born in East Germany, Klaus Tennstedt studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and conducted throughout his native land but it was not until he moved to the West in 1971 that he started to achieve world recognition. He made his American debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1974 and his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1977. He had an instant rapport with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, which resulted in return invitations and his appointment as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Music Director in 1983. This developed into a unique and remarkable
relationship until illness finally brought it to a premature end some ten years later. Tennstedt was renowned for his performances of the German repertoire, particularly Mahler and Bruckner whose symphonies he conducted regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall and on disc to huge public acclaim. His energy, musicianship and emotional involvement combined with a rare humility endeared him to audiences and musicians alike. Klaus Tennstedt died in 1998.
‘ The combination of his childlike enthusiasm (to see him trying to coax a set of clanging cowbells into his idea of Mahlerian rusticity was an experience in itself) and his “unbelievable” (his favourite word) single-mindedness in pursuit of his usually hitherto unexplored musical ideas, provided the ultimate example of a great conductor, having that indefinable something which is unlearnable, unteachable, unrepeatable and utterly unique.’
44
© Richard Holt
Keith Millar, Percussion, London Philharmonic Orchestra
Biographies
Tennstedt enjoying his hobby: air ballooning Michael Webb Š Telegraph Media Group Limited
Every effort has been made to locate the owners of photographs used in this design. Cover images Š Clive Barda; Malcolm Crowthers; Gordon Clarke; Bill Cooper Design by Ross Shaw @ JMG Studio