David Shengold’s note
begins by wondering if "Weinberger
has serious rivals as opera’s textbook
"one hit wonder"? Well, Humperdinck
and Rutland Boughton spring to mind,
and Italians have been quite prolific
in "one hit wonders"; Ponchielli,
Catalani, Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Giordano,
Cilea, Montemezzi … And, going back
a little further, there are Balfe, Wallace
and Benedict. However, the case of Weinberger
is a rather special one in that the
success of that one work has not so
far inspired further exploration of
his output. With Humperdinck and nearly
all the Italians mentioned (excluding
Montemezzi), the plethora of recordings
of that work were obviously an
open invitation to look for something
else, and in any case "Königskinder"
and several works by the Italians were
not wholly unhonoured in their native
land. But even the sole recording of
Boughton’s "The Immortal Hour"
has been followed by "Bethlehem",
the 3rd Symphony and a few
other things. While with Weinberger,
not even the "Overture on Czech
Christmas Carols" or the Variations
on "Under the Spreading Chestnut
Tree", once popular, have had modern
recordings.
Indeed, that work,
"Schwanda the Bagpiper", is
now making its first appearance in its
original language since the previous
recording, issued by Sony in 1981 on
LP and 1989 on CD (now deleted) has
a mouth-watering cast (Hermann Prey,
Lucia Popp, Siegfried Jerusalem, Siegmund
Nimsgern, conducted by Heinz Wallberg)
but was sung in German. This might not
be so serious as it would be with late
Dvořák,
let alone Janáček, but sung Czech
has a flavour of its own, due to the
particular characteristic of the language
that all words, even long ones, are
accented on the first syllable.
After the work’s initial
success it acquired as many detractors
as admirers, the principal charge being
that it combined naïve, folk-like
melodies with erudite German contrapuntal
methods which the composer learnt from
Max Reger. Certainly, it contains a
goodly store of homely, Smetana-like
tunes in a similar vein to those well-known
from the Polka and Fugue, and can be
touching in its more tender moments.
As for the counterpoint, it wears its
erudition so lightly and joyously as
to suggest that early commentators must
have listened to very heavy-handed performances.
Maybe the
scene in Hell is a little long without
stage action but otherwise we have a
well-constructed, varied and at times
touching opera. Perhaps what really
irked those early commentators was an
awareness that far more profound works
by Janáček were still unknown
outside then-Czechoslovakia, but now
that particular battle has been won
there is surely a place for Weinberger’s
simpler charms.
I have not heard the
Sony version but the present performance
is a lively affair. The strings of the
Belarus orchestra seem not very numerous
but they play well and Julian Reynolds
shows panache and affection though I
thought the famous Polka a mite too
fast (and I seem to remember an old
recording under Scherchen which was
just a shade slower, to good effect).
Ivan Choupenitch is somewhat over-parted
as Babinský and is inclined to
lapse into hectoring to get his voice
over, but Schwanda himself is very well
taken by Matjaz Robavs, the Dorota is
good, the Queen acceptable (a typically
thick, Slavonic mezzo) and Alexander
Teliga sounds a real Russian bass; in
fact he is actually Polish. Though I
should dearly like to hear the singers
on the Sony recording I feel that preference
should go to the version in the original
language if possible and only one singer
is an actual stumbling-block from this
point of view.
A warm recommendation,
then, to an invigorating and touching
work which deserves a place in the catalogue
and maybe in the theatre too. The Wexford
audience seem to have enjoyed it very
much. If you are particularly irritated
by live recordings then you should bear
this in mind. The recording is vivid
but transferred at an unusually low
level. I had to set my volume at about
five to eleven instead of my usual quarter
to nine. If you want to listen on a
Walkman or any other small machine this
might be a problem. The booklet essay
is good and there is a detailed synopsis
but no libretto, let alone translation.
To go back to my original
point; would there be any point in investigating
Weinberger any further? Well, the only
other work I know is the Bible Poems
for organ (1939). They show the same
use of simple, direct yet effective,
communicative and touching means. So
it would seem that Schwanda was not
just a fluke. How about trying "The
Outcasts of Poker Flat"?
It’s sad to think that
the creator of such exuberant, optimistic
and light-hearted music became so depressed
in later years at the increasing neglect
of his music that he took his own life
at his home in Florida, where he had
been living since 1939. I hope his manuscripts
have been preserved somewhere and will
be sympathetically examined one day.
Christopher Howell
Wexford Festival Opera Chorus 