Reviews
GMCD 7251/2 La Passione &
Stabat Matar
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 15.4.2003
Die Wahrheit wird siegen
Simon Mayrs Opern und
Oratorien sind origineller als gedacht
Das Teatro Verdi in Triest
ist ein prachtvolles Hufeisen aus Logen, Gold und Rot. Zwischen 1992 und 1997
aufwendig restauriert, sollte zum zweihundertsten Geburtstag die eigene
Geschichte den Spielplan beleben und zwar in Gestalt jeder „Ginevra di Scozia“
von Johann Simon Mayr, mit der das Haus im April 1801 eröffnet worden war. Es
wurde daraus mehr als eine Ausgrabung: Eine Hörschule, die jetzt durch
Veröffentlichung des Mitschnitts jedermann besuchen kann.
Wer in Lexika unter Mayr
nachschläft, erntet immer noch moderat Vernichtendes. Falls der Komponist der
1763 in einem oberbayerischen Nest bei Ingolstadt zur Welt kam und ab 1789 in
Italien lebte, überhaupt auftaucht. Dabei hatte ihm schon Ludwig Schiedenmair
wissenschaftliche Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet und das von Carl Dahlhaus und Nobert
Miller herausgegebene Kompendium „Europäische Romantik in der Musik“ befreite
Mayr endlich vom leeren Gerede des „Kleinmeisters“, interpretiert ihn aus seiner
Zeit heraus.
Mayr, dessen „Ginevra“
einmal zu den meistgespielten Opern des frühen 19. Jahrhunderts gehört hatte,
schrieb mitten in einer grossen Umbruchphase der Operngeschichte. Er hatte
Mozarts Ensembles, Glücks Pathos, Haydns Orchestersatz, natürlich auch Cherubini
und die französische Rettungsoper studiert und legte den Grundstein für etwas
ganz anderes: die Nachtszenen von Donizetti, für Bellinis Romantic, Rossinis
Crescendowirbel, das malende und kommentierende Orchester. Ohne Spekulation
liesse sich ein Bogen spannen von Mayr zu Verdis „Trovatore“, sogar zu Schumanns
„Genoveva“. Ein Mann zwischen allen Stühlen und Stilen, mehr Evolutionär als
Revolutionär.
„Ginevra di Scozia“ muss
man freilich genauer betrachten, um die zukunftsweisenden Qualitäten zu erkennen.
Die Oper sprengt die Grenzen, die ihr Untertitel „Dramma serio eroico“ umreisst:
Die Zeitgenossen haben genau bemerkt und beschrieben, wie da Musik durch
Harmonik, Instrumentalfarben und gedankliches Ausgreifen eine neue Dimension
gewann. Das Libretto hält sich an Ariosts „Orlando furioso“ wie an das
dramaturgische Modell des „veritas vincit“: Die schottische Königstochter
Ginevra wird vom eifersüchtigen Polinesse der Untreue bezichtigt; Ihr Geliebter
Ariodante stürzt sich daraufhin in einen Fluss, kehrt aber rechzeitig zur
Aufklärung der Intrige zurück und stellt die Ehre seiner Braut im Zweikampf
wieder her. Wie üblich wurde das Stück für jede Neueinstudierung bearbeitet.
Marco Beghelli hat nun für Triest aus über zwanzig Manuskripten eine Partitur
rekonstruiert, die wiederum eingekürzt wurde. Ironie des Schicksals: Wenige
Monate später tauchte das Original in Wien wieder auf.
So bleibt diese Aufnahme
ein Zwischenbericht, wenn auch ein überzeugender. Daniela Barcellona in der
Kastratenpartie des Ariodante verfügt über jene unforcierte stimmliche Autorität
die Mayrs Vokalartistik als Ausdrucksträger plausible macht. Elizabeth Vidal in
der Titelpartie wird brillant mit Prestissimo-Läufen, glitzernden Trillern,
delikaten melodischen Schlenker und phatasiestrotzenden Richtungswechsel fertig.
Kleinere Rollen sind teils schwächer besetzt. Und Tiziano Severini arbeitet am
Pult zuwenig heraus, worin Mayrs Avanciertheiten bestehen.
Auch Ingolstadt, Sitz der
„Simon-Mayr-Gesellschaft“ erinnert sich gern seines berühmtesten Tonsetzers.
Franz Hauk, Kapellmeister am dortigen Münster, hat einige geistliche Werke Mayrs
eingespielt, zuletzt das opulente Oratorium „La Passione“ von 1794. Gerade in
diesem Bereich ist Mayr sehr viel weiter gegangen, nachdem er Haydns „Schöpfung“
dirigiert hatte. Es bleibt im Frühwerk bei eindringlichen Einzelmomenten der
instrumentalen Textausdeutung. Simon Mayr, das spricht für ihn, hat sich langsam
entwickelt. So wahrte er sich jene unaufdringliche Originalität, die wir heute
bewundernd wiederentdecken. STEPHAN MÖSCH
Johann Simon Mayr, La
Passione, Stabat Mater.
Vocalensemble Ingolstadt
und Solisten, Georgisches Kammerorchester, Franz Hauk.
Guild GMCD 7251/2 (Musikwelt) 2 CDs
Organists' Review February 2004
Lent, Passiontide & Easter
Johann Simon
Mayr
La Passione; Stabat Mater No 5
in C minor
SATB
soloists / Vocalensemble Ingolstadt / Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt
/ directed by Franz Hauk
Recorded in
the Asam Kirche Maria de Victoria, Inolgstadt, 25-28 March 2002;
TT 72’15’’;
67’03’’. Guild GMCD 7251/2
Like Franz
Hauk’s orchestra and chorus, Mayr hailed from Bavaria, but his Passione sound
even more Italianate than Salieri’s. The work dates from his early Venetian
years. Mayr’s orchestra is limited to horns, oboes, bassoon, keyboard and
strings; the bassoon has the special role of underlining the words. The welcome
‘filler’ on the second Mayr CD is a Stabat Mater in C minor, given in a modern
edition by Ian Schofield and Ian Caddy. Dating from the period of Mayr’s
Passione, the piece is performed here with the soloists combining in the choral
sections, including the fugal Amen.
Peter Palmer
American Record Guide September/October
MAYR: Passion;
Stabat Mater 5 Maria Jette, Claudia Schneider, Hartmut Schröd- er, Robert
Merwald; Vocal Ensemble Ingolstadt, Georgian Chamber Orchestral Franz Hauk
Guild 7251 [2CDI 139 minutes Johann
Simon Mayr (1763-1845) is known- though not very well as a composer of opera.
Most of his extensive operatic output (nearly 80!) remains unpublished, but many
scholars consider him the true "father," of Italian opera, despite the efforts
of such notables as Cimarosa, Salieri, and Paisiello. lf nothing else, the fact
that he was Donizetti's teacher lends credence to this claim. But few are aware
that Mayr, a devout Roman Catholic, was also a prolific religious composer, with
some 600 sacred works to his credit (also mostly unpublished).
Mayr was Bavarian-born and got his
early Jesuit-heavy education in and around lngoi- stadt, where he quickly
absorbed the influences of Haydn and Mozart. A prodigy who could play the
keyboard works of CPE Bach at the age of ten, he came to the attention of a
Swiss aristocrat who became his patron and saw to his further training in Venice
and Bergamo, where he spent most of the rest of his life. But as a composer,
Mayr thought of himself as mostly self-taught, claiming to have learned far more
from his own study of the era's masters than from any teacher.
La Passione,
from 1794, is a fairly early work
from his Venetian years-one of his six large-scale oratorios from that period.
(His first opera, Saffo Ossia i Riti dapollo Leucadio, was staged the
same year at La Fenice to great acclaim.) This is its first commercial
recording, though a 1974 broadcast performance of it in London probably still
lurks somewhere in the archives of the BBC.
Its text (from an unknown poet) is
heavily influenced by Italian theological teachings of the day dealing with the
"wounded heart" of the Virgin Mary, and its "mystical union' with the heart of
Christ. Indeed, the entire passion story is told through the eyes and voice of
Mary, with Kommentar and dramatic contrast supplied by Mary Magdalene, St john
the Apostle, and Joseph of Arimathea-the remaining three solo roles. The chorus
is used sparingly, with only four sections of its own. The oratorio is in two
parts, described in the program notes as 'On the way to Calvary' and 'At the
foot of the cross".
The music, written earlier than
most of his operas, still reflects the overriding influence of his Viennese
models, though his own emerging Italianate voice is readily discernible. Even
though Komposition of operas and oratorios went hand-in-hand for many of the
day's notable masters, any seasoned listener will quickly conclude that here is
essentially an operatic composer at work. His weil-developed sense of drama and
tragic pathos is already apparent, as are his deeply felt sacred sentiments.
While this work can hardly be described as startlingly original, Mayr's fluid
writing, skill in composing for the human voice, and imaginative orchestration
make for a most enjoyable and moving listening experience. I was especially
struck by the many love- ly instrumental obbligatos lacing his solo and ensemble
passages.
The filler here is apparently
Mayr's only surviving complete setting of the Stabat Mater. Although it
bears the composer's own "No. 5", scholars believe that it is also an early
work, contemporaneous to La Passione. Other Stabat Mater fragments stored
at Bergamo's civic library-where most of his sacred music is found-are certainly
later works, written in a more operatic style. In any case, it is a lovely and
striking work, for four soloists and small orchestra.
lngolstadt has claimed Mayr as a
native son, and since the founding of the Simon Mayr Society there in 1995 has
become the leading European centre for the research, publication, and
performance of his music. This recording is one of the society's projects. The
Ingolstadt Vocal Ensemble and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra turn in excellent
accounts of both works.
The soloists, who perform the
lion's share of the music, are first-rate-both individually and in the work's
many ensemble passages. Franz Hauk-one of Germany's most versatile
musicians-leads heartfelt and cohesive performances from the harpsichord. The
orchestra sounds as if they are playing modern instruments, despite mention in
the booklet that special period bows were supplied for the string players.
Recording quality is clear and spacious, and notes are especially detailed and
informative.
Precious little of Mayr's
staggering output has been recorded. Among his many dozens of operas, Opera Rara
has given us Medea in Cor- into (SIO 1995), and Ginevra di Scozia
(MIJ 2003). Other available
operas include bis early Venetian farce, Che Originale (Guild 7167), and
La Rosa Bianca e la Rosa Ressa (Fonit Cetra 2007).
Among his sacred works, there are two more oratorlos (Samuele, Sisare), a
requiem, a mass, and a scattering of shorter pieces in collections. Most of
those are either unavailable or very hard to track down domestically. My
exposure to Mayr's music tells me that here is an unjustly neglected composer.
KOOB
The Organ No 325 September 2003
Vocalensemble Ingolstadt
– Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt – Franz Hauk, director & harpsichord
Guild GMCD 7251/2 – 149’26’’
The German born composer
Johann Simon Mayr (1763-1845) studied in Bergamo and Venice where he worked
chiefly as a composer of opera until his work was eclipsed by the popularity of
the work of Rossini. After 1816 he wrote only church music and his oratorios
found great favour with the musical public. He wrote a notable biography of the
composer Haydn.
The music of La
Passione is typical of the period and is by turns dramatic, tuneful and
inventive, with a great deal of harmonic and structural variety. His
orchestration is full of colour and originality and, although not as assured as
Mozart, there is nevertheless much to enjoy. The emotionally over-wrought text
by an unknown poet is perhaps rather overpowering for modern ears, dripping as
it does with catholic sentimentality, but it does make for a dramatic musical
journey. The orchestra realise the scoring in a vivid and commanding fashion and
the young singers of the mixed Vocalensemble Ingolstadt produce an exiting,
fresh sound, which unfortunately doesn’t quite match the quality or maturity of
the orchestra. The quartet of soloists are let down by a poor tenor who has
neither the vocal agility nor musicality to cope with some of the demanding
vocal writing so typical of the period. This is a major problem with the
recording, but there is so much else to delight in and lots of music to
discover. Mayr’s music deserves a wider audience and this work should be a
mainstay of the choral society repertoire. JJ
Fanfare 09.03 02
MAYR La Passione & -
Franz Hauk (hpd), cond; Maria
Jette (Maria); Claudia Schneider (Maddalena); Hartmut Schröder
(Giovanni): Robert Merwald (Giuseppe d'Arimethea); Georgian CO;
Ingolstadt Vocal Ens - GUILD 7251/2 (2 CDs: 139:18)
&
Stabat Mater No. 5 in c
I cannot begin to count the times I
have stepped up to the plate to defend the exploration of forgotten repertoire
and neglected composers. Even though some of these shadowy figures have never
benefited from even a modest revival (just an occasional tempting CD), that is
not the case with Giovanni Simone Mayr (1763-1845). This is the second release
of his sacred choral works by Guild; the initial one was his Mass in C Minor
(Guild GMCD 7231), and the same label has released his opera Che originali!
(Guild GMCD 7167/8).
Bohemian by birth and Italian by
choice, Mayr is chiefly remembered today as the teacher of Gaetano Donizetti,
even though his efforts to reform Italian opera and Italian church music were
responsible for broad-based stylistic changes in both.
La Passione,
which predates Mayr's musical
crusade, dates from 1794 and is one of four oratorios conceived in the Venetian
Tradition and composed while Mayr was affiliated with the Ospedale di Medicanti,
one of Venice's conservatories associated with the city's orphans. But La
Passione was written not for the ospedale, but for a church or
institution at Forlì.
There is no connection or
similarity between Mayr's setting of the Passion and the treatment accorded the
scriptures by Johann Sebastian Bach. Mayr's treatment follows a different
artistic path, and is heir to a Tradition that began in Rome during the
counter-Reformation. As such, it reflects the Tradition of St. John Eudes and
his devotional teachings regarding the Holy Mother's wounded heart. According to
annotator John Stewart Allitt, Eudes considered "the hearts of Jesus and Mary to
be one, thus providing a focal point of love's divine and radiant source for our
own human hearts." Instead of mixing free poetry with a biblical narrative
presented by an evangelist as one finds in the Passion settings of Bach, Mayr's
two-part treatment is a series of meditations on the events surrounding Christ's
crucifixion, death, and resurrection. In the Catholic Tradition, the work is
centered on the Virgin Mary's response to the humiliation and suffering endured
by her son and the consequential anguish she felt as a mother.
Mayr's setting of the Stabat
Mater - with its text emphasizing sorrow and suffering-is contemporary with
La Passione and belongs to a Tradition of Grabmusiken, or musical
meditations on religious themes emphasizing penitence. It is the earliest extant
example of Good Friday music in Bergamo's Biblioteca Civiea, where most of
Mayr's sacred compositions are housed. There is some question as to whether this
is in actuality Mayr's fifth setting of the text; if so, four others are lost,
but detailed discussion of the musicological questions here would require an
inordinate amount of space. As for models, Mayr would have had access to any
number of them, including the well-known settings by Pergolesi and Haydn as weil
as Boccherini's.
For the most part, Mayr's treatment
of Jacopone da Todi's text is straightforward and traditional with the usual
dominance of slow movements. The 20 verses of the text are grouped into eight
movements and shared by a quartet of soloists and chorus, accompanied by an
orchestra of oboes, horns, and strings with organ continuo. But there are
moments of individuality and invention, including the finely wrought fugal
"Amen," where the suggestion of pealing church bells anticipates Easter. In
spite of the somber nature of the text, major tonalities predominate with the
opening and closing sections in C Minor and the tenor's aria, "Quam tristis," in
G Minor.
There is much to appreciate here
both in Mayr's artful and sentient settings and in the performances submitted by
Franz Hauk and his colleagues. Mayr's music is exquisite and written with a
total understanding of the qualities and idiosyncrasies of the human voice. The
result is that the arias are stunningly constructed, command the attention of
the ear upon first hearing, and beg for a second chance. The twin specters of
Mozart and Haydn are never far away, but Mayr is no stylistic mimic. He matches
the Viennese masters in beauty, drama, and power and still has plenty of talent
in reserve.
Hauk is clearly devoted to Mayr's
cause and his performers are alert and responsive throughout. The soloists are
excellent, reaching for and consistently grasping the meaning of the works'
text, the chorus is well blended and demonstrates a fervent spiritual and
emotional bond with the music. This technically and musically adept recording is
worth your attention, not to mention the effort required to open your
wallet.
Michael Carter
FONO FORUM 03 03
Meyr. La Passione (Oratorium), Stabat mater
c-Moll
Marie Jette (Sopran, Claudia Schneider (Alt), Hartmut
Schröder (Tenor), Robert Merwald (Bass) Vocalensemble Ingolstadt, Georgisches
Kammerorchester, Frian Hauk (2002)
Guild/Musik/Welt 2 CD
7151/52 (139)
Als Lehrer Donizettis ist der Ingolstädter Johann Simon
Mayr (1763-1845) heute vielleicht noch ein Begriff. Dass er zu Beginn des 19
Jahrhunderts in Italien einer der Gesuchtesten Opernkomponisten war und seine
Werke Jahrzehntelang in den besten Häusern Venedigs, Mailands und Neapels
gespielt wurde, durfte weitgehend vergessen sein. Das Musiklexikon verzeichnet
ihn immerhin als einen der führenden Vertreter seines Fachs in Italien vor
Rossini.
Noch bevor Mayrs Karriere auf der Opernbühne richtig begann,
entstanden das italienische Oratorium und das „Stabat mater“ dieser CD. Von
protestantischer Überhöhung von Trübsal und Schmerz deine Spur:
Gelöst-katholisch , melodien- und sinnenfreudig und deutlich im Geist der Opera
seria widmet sich Mayr dem betrachtend angelangten Text des Oratoriums. Auch im
„Stabat mater“ schlägt er nur stellenweise etwas trübere Töne. Doch berührt dies
freilich nicht das musikalische Gewicht dieser Werke, das Mayr als Komponisten
hohen Rangs bestätigt.
Richtung erfreulich wird diese Wiederentdeckung durch die
elegante, fein geschliffene Wiedergabe unter der Leitung des Ingolstädter
Kirchenmusikers Franz Hauk. Mit dem Georgischen Kammerorchester hat er einem
Klangkörper erster Güte zur Hand und mit Maria Jette und Claudia Schneider zwei
virtuose und gestalterisch rundum überzeugende Solistinnen. Das durch seine sehr
jugendliches Klangbild gekennzeichnet e gemischt besetzte Vocalensemble
Ingolstad gibt ein Chorsätzen nicht immer den nötigen Nachdruck Andreas
Priesenhagen
Interpretation 4 Sterne
Klang: 4 Sterne
MusicWeb Thursday February 20 03
Johann Simon MAYR
(1763
- 1845)
La Passione, oratorio for solo, choir and orchestra (1794)
Stabat Mater in C Minor for four voices and orchestra
Maria Jette (Soprano)
Claudia Schneider (Contralto)
Hartmut Schröder (Tenor)
Robert Merwald (Bass)
Vokalensemble Ingolstadt
Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt
 Franz
Hauk, director and harpsichord
Recorded at Asam Kirche "Maria de Victoria" Ingolstadt on 7, 9, 10 April 2001
GUILD
GMCD 7251/52 [72.15+67.03
As is
consonant with Mayr’s other large-scale choral works he is here animated by a
sense of theatrical involvement. In the Mass the sense of seething operatic
impress occasionally threatened to break the bounds of liturgical conformity.
Here too it is not always easy to reconcile the contemplative with the dramatic,
not least in those cases of apparent displacement between what is being sung and
the music Mayr chooses to use to invoke it. Thus the very opening Sinfonia, a
bright and bubbly piece of operatic dynamism, is in the notes glossed as
representing the triumph of Light over Darkness. Well, maybe but its almost
lurid optimism, its sense of having being absorbed from another medium is
palpable. It sets up a false premise at least, one that the Passion struggles
not always successfully to accommodate.
There are
of course many things to admire. The simplicity of St John’s Aria Ah Non
cercar pietosa with its divisi strings and pert woodwinds is one of many
until, at least, one reads the words which are deeply at odds with the elfin
innocence of the music.
Or the
quasi-operatic refinement of Mary Magdalene’s aria Ecco come il giusto muore.
Then there
are precise yet compelling little moments of colour and refinement, dramatically
telling such as the affecting string line that punctuates Mary’s disconsolate
recitative Dove sono? Or the way in which Joseph’s recitative that
relates details of the crucifixion is supported by baleful trombones and rugged
string writing – there is an amplitude of expression in these myriad details
that show Mayr’s mind working on consistently pictorial-dramatic lines. Mayr
delays Mary’s aria for some time, her expression previously transmitted by
recitative alone. When she is given the aria, Nell’ aspro mio tormento it
is rather sturdy and operatic, despite the registral leaps that are perhaps
meant to suggest her agitated state of mind (Maria Jette is rather taxed by some
of the higher notes). Nevertheless there is in the context a spectacularly jolly
duet for Mary and Magdalene, Nel veder traffito, to end the first part.
The second
part, at the foot of the Cross, replicates the linear curve of Mayr’s schema.
There is a splendidly incisive and galvanising orchestral introduction to the
recitative Che vedo with much opportunity to point the differing
responses of those gathered from the visceral, visual despair of Magdalene to
Mary’s reflective and internalised anguish. In Joseph’s remarkably effective
recitative Quel terribil vendetta for example his vocal line is
accompanied by a sinuously winding oboe and tremolando strings, reflecting and
amplifying his thoughts. The quartet of singers cope relatively well with the
various demands placed on them if not always with either technical or tonal
resources varied enough to enrich the music still further.
The
companion work is the Stabat Mater, which was probably composed in Venice or in
Bergamo by about 1802. This is an essentially traditional setting but as ever
with Mayr he is always adept at insinuating little stylistic quirks into the
line. There is a buoyant violin obbligato in the Eja Mater with its own
quite extensive cadenza and the Fac me tecum which opens beautifully and
sustains impetus. The Virgo virginum is a verdant and entwining duet full
of expressive plangency and the Christe, cum sit hinc commanding and
assured. In fact the whole work is suffused with a clarity and a concision that
serves only to increase its compact success.
Notes are
up to the usual Mayr-Guild standard (i.e. very good) but something has gone awry
with the tracking and booklet text, which doesn’t marry up. One minute you
expect a recitative from Joseph and the next you get an aria from Magdalene. A
small liability but a liability nonetheless. I can’t pretend that La Passione is
a blazing masterpiece – it struck me as inferior to the Mass in C – but in its
intriguing, stylistically various way, it affords many moments of genuine
pleasure.
Jonathan Woolf
Classics Today Monday February 03 03
GIOVANNI SIMONE MAYR
La Passione; Stabat Mater
Maria Jette (soprano); Claudia Schneider (contralto); Hartmut Schröder (tenor);
Robert Merwald (bass)
Vocalensemble Ingolstadt
Georgisches Kammerorchester
Ingolstadt
Franz Hauk
Guild-
GMCD7251/2(CD)
No Reference Recording
Giovanni (Johannes) Mayr
is best known as Donizetti's teacher, but he was a successful composer in his
own right, penning more than 60 operas and many religious works. He was born in
Germany but he made his career in Italy, and this Passion was composed early in
his career in Venice. It has little to do with, say, Bach's Passions, which are
taken from Scripture. Here we get dramatic outpourings voiced by a chorus, St.
Mary (soprano), St. John (tenor), Mary Magdalene (contralto), and Joseph of
Arimathea (bass), involving Mary's reactions to Jesus' suffering. Metastasio,
mostly known for his opera serie librettos, is responsible for some of the text.
The work actually seems
closer to Haydn's Creation than anything else, with dramatic recitative followed
by aria (and one duet), but with choruses only at the start of each of the two
parts and at the work's close. It is almost impossible to discern any great
spirituality in the oratorio, and while Franz Hauk's too-relaxed leadership and
the singers' lack of intensity may be partially to blame, it strikes me that the
piece itself is rather flaccid.
The last part of the
duet that ends part one, for Mary and Mary Magdalene, uses the text "Who can
understand the agony and the bitterness of my martyrdom? Oh God! I already feel
my soul filled with terror!" Incredibly, this is set to a jaunty allegro! What
could Mayr have been thinking? Later on, we get an aria sung by Mary in which
she bemoans the fact that Jesus has referred to her as "Woman" and she is
therefore even deprived of her motherhood. It's a nice Mozart-flavored aria,
classical and clean, but with no emotional punch at all, either in the music or
delivery. And when, near the end, Joseph, in an accompanied recitative, rails
against "faithless Jerusalem" and foretells famine and horror ("children will be
given to their mother as food"), the music isn't even particularly agitated.
The Stabat Mater is
somewhat better. It's in the tradition of Pergolesi's, with individual arias,
here interestingly orchestrated; but it also leaves the listener cold. The
singers are good in a provincial way, and the same might be said about the
orchestra. In short, these are capable performances of these two works, and I'm
partially convinced that a conductor and singers with energy and involvement
might have helped them come to life. But as this set stands, it seems to contain
average readings of average works.
--Robert
Levine
MusicWeb -
Thursday December 05 02
Johann Simon MAYR
(1763 - 1845)
La Passione, oratorio for solo, choir and orchestra (1794)
Stabat Mater in C Minor for four voices and orchestra
Maria Jette (Soprano)
Claudia Schneider (Contralto)
Hartmut Schröder (Tenor)
Robert Merwald (Bass)
Vokalensemble Ingolstadt
Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt
Franz
Hauk, director and harpsichord
Recorded at Asam Kirche "Maria de Victoria" Ingolstadt on 7, 9, 10 April 2001
GUILD
GMCD 7251/52 [72.15+67.03]
If Johann
Simon Mayr (or Giovanni Simone Mayr, as he became known in Italy) is known at
all today, it is as the teacher of Donizetti. One or two of his operas, such as
'Medea in Corinto' have become a little better known thanks to their CD
recordings. It might come as a surprise to find that Mayr wrote a considerable
quantity of liturgical music. He was a devout Catholic and founded a music
school which was closely linked to the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Bergamo.
He composed sacred music for all occasions and was still composing it in the
year of his death.
1794, the
year of composition of 'La Passione', also saw the first performance of
Mayr's opera 'Saffo'. This was a great success, allowing the composer to develop
his voice in Italian opera. 'La Passione' is one of a group of early oratorios,
written whilst Mayr was associated with the Ospedali dei Mendicanti, one of the
four music conservatories in Venice concerned with orphans. Though he wrote
oratorios for the Ospedali, 'La Passione' was written for another church, so
Mayr was not limited to girls voices and could introduce greater dramatic scope.
The text, by an unknown author, draws on Metastasio's 'Passione' and is typical
of the oratorios produced by the counter-reformation, consisting of a series of
meditations on the sacred events, centred on the Virgin’s response to her Son’s
sufferings and her consequent agony as a mother.
'La Passione'
is in two parts. Part 1, on the way to Calvary, opens with a sinfonia followed
by the opening chorus. From then on Mayr dramatises the text via a sequence of
recitatives (mainly accompanied) and arias. Part 2, at the foot of the Cross,
follows a similar pattern and finishes with a final chorus. The key word here is
dramatises. This is a dramatic, almost operatic work. Not for Mayr the quiet
contemplation of the more Germanic oratorios. The opening sinfonia is
surprisingly cheerful and would not come amiss as the overture to an opera
buffo; evidently this is meant to suggest Victory over Death. The following
chorus is also very operatic, intermingling chorus with solo interjections.
Mayr's style hovers between the world familiar to Mozart and Haydn and the style
that was to become the early 19th Century Italian opera.
The soprano
Maria Jette sings the role of Mary the Mother of Christ, around whom the action
centres. Contralto Claudia Schneider sings Mary Magdalene, tenor Hartmut
Schröder sings St. John and bass-baritone Robert Merwald sings Joseph of
Arimathea. Neither Christ nor Evangelist appear at all, though Christ's words
from the cross are reported in the recitative. The narrative moves along with a
series of accompanied recitatives for each of the characters. These contain some
of the most dramatic moments in the work and I felt that the performers did not
nearly make enough of them. St. John's recitative at the end of part one 'Why
does not my heart break at the sight of such barbaric cruelty? Who has witnessed
such a frightful spectacle?' is finely played and sung but lacks the dramatic
impetus needed by the words. This is not meditatively deep music, Mayr gives the
text impetus by dramatising it and using word painting. Too frequently the
performers seem to give it too little light and shade, content to skim over the
surface of this attractive work.
And
attractive it is too. Mayr had significant melodic gifts and all the soloists
perform their arias attractively and finely. Maria Jette sings affectingly,
displaying a fine upper register but she tends to be rhythmically four-square, I
could have wished for greater flexibility from her. Claudia Schneider has an
attractive deep toned voice, not without a hint of unsteadiness and at times she
seemed uncomfortable with the fioriture. Hartmut Schröder's tenor is an
attractive instrument but his bright tone tends to be unvarying and can be a
little wearying. In Part 2, the drama intensifies and the soloists respond to
this, except for Hartmut Schröder who seems to value beauty of line more than
the drama implicit in the words.
The
orchestra, Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt, under Franz Hauk play the
music capably if without much subtlety and Hauk's speeds tend to be on the safe
side. He seems to mistake slowness for emotion, Maria's cavatina 'Fra l’orror
de’mali’ seems in danger of grinding to a halt. I would love to hear this music
in a more responsive performance played on original instruments. Luckily there
is not too much secco recitative as the harpsichord used on the recording has a
distinctly clangy tone.
The second
work is a Stabat Mater. An apt companion as the texts of the two works
are both quite similar in tone. The Stabat Mater is labelled no. 5 but there is
no trace of any of the 4 preceding works (if they existed at all). It is a
charming work and has the advantage that there are no passages of recitative,
simply a sequence of arias and ensembles. Music in an over-wrought style to
match the words is not for Mayr, he writes with almost classical poise. Though
the work opens and closes with substantial four-part ensembles, these are
performed here by the soloists alone with no choral contribution, evidently Mayr
performed the work in this form as well as performing it with a chorus. Having
the chorus parts sung by soloists has the advantage of making the piece sound
more homogeneous but the final chorus does rather cry out for a real choral
sound. In the chorus numbers the soloists blend beautifully, creating a really
effective ensemble.
Guild are to
be congratulated on issuing these recordings of Mayr's sacred music. The
performances by the Ingolstadt forces are quite creditable and make a good
introduction to Mayr's music of this period. Perhaps one of our period
instrument groups will now take up the challenge and give us some more.
Robert Hugill
Page revised 17.05.04
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