ARIBERT REIMANN
Lear.
Wolfgang Koch,
Magnus Baldvinsson, Dietrich Volle, Michael McCown, Hans-Jürgen Lazar,
Johannes Martin Kränzle, Martin Wölfel, Frank van Aken, Jeanne-Michèle
Charbonnet, Caroline Whisnant, Britta Stallmeister; Frankfurter Museumsorchester,
Chorus of the Frankfurt Opera, Sebastian Weigle, conductor.
Oehms OC921, 2CDs,
71:31 + 79:08, book with German/English notes and German libretto.
oehmsclassics.de,
naxos.com
Review by Steve
Koenig
Wolfgang Koch,
Magnus Baldvinsson, Dietrich Volle, Michael McCown, Hans-Jürgen Lazar,
Johannes Martin Kränzle, Martin Wölfel, Frank van Aken, Jeanne-Michèle
Charbonnet, Caroline Whisnant, Britta Stallmeister; Frankfurter Museumsorchester,
Chorus of the Frankfurt Opera, Sebastian Weigle, conductor.
Oehms OC921, 2CDs,
71:31 + 79:08, book with German/English notes and German libretto.
oehmsclassics.de, naxos.com
German composer
Aribert Reimann, born in 1936 to parents who were both professional musicians,
is strongly drawn to literature. Most of his works on my shelf are lieder. His
first work, a 1959 ballet, was based on a Günter Grass work. Other compositions,
including operas, are derived from García Lorca, Strindberg, Kafka and
Euripides. The vocal works are undoubtedly 20th century, some following natural
(German) speech patterns, and others embellishing the texts with extended techniques,
or what I sometimes think of as avant bel canto.
Perhaps his most
famous work is the opera Lear. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau encouraged him
to write it, and premiered it on stage and on Deutsche Grammophon LP.
For the many Reimann
afficianados, one needn't make a case for the opera Lear itself, but
rather the case for acquiring this new Oehms performance as well. The DG LP
edition was deluxe, with a thick, textured book inside the box, with the complete
libretto, poetry, and many essays, all of it only in German. This new edition
too has a fine book, chock-filled with color photos of the production (is there
a DVD in the works?) but also, alas, only a German libretto. D-F-D makes a brilliant,
poetic, Shakespearean Lear, no dispute, but Wolfgang Koch's voice and demeanor
has an altogether different and potent aspect.
For newcomers the
question of edition will be moot, as the DG Lear on CD is officially out of
print, and the two-disc Oehms sells for between $20-25 online. Also, the Oehms
features superior audio.
As someone who
owns some dozen or so Bohèmes, I see no reason not to need two
Lears (plus a private DVD-r version from what used to be called the tape
underground). I encourage all lovers of new music and of 20th century opera
to acquire this. The storm scene is ferocious in both editions, as is the dramatic
aspect. and one should not be without this.
Wikipedia informs
me "The US premiere, in English translation, was at the San Francisco Opera
in June 1981, with Thomas Stewart as Lear, and Gerd Albrecht as conductor."
Dare I dream that Chandos would do an English version in their marvelous Opera
In English series? There's already a Wozzeck. Or that there's a tape
of the Stewart performance floating about?
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