In 1948 Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears started the Aldeburgh
Festival. It was at a small scale to begin with, but it grew
and in the 1960s Britten started searching for a larger hall.
He happened to come upon the Snape Maltings, about 5 miles from
Aldeburgh, from which barley from local farms had been converted
into malt and distributed to breweries in London and elsewhere
since the mid-1850s. In the early 1960s the operating company
went into liquidation and the premises were bought by a local
farmer. When Britten got there he had a vision that the largest
malthouse could be rebuilt into a concert hall. In 1967 the
832-seat Snape Maltings Concert Hall was inaugurated by Queen
Elizabeth II. Two years later it was destroyed by fire but was
rebuilt and reopened in 1970, again in the presence of the Queen.
The recital on this disc, never before issued, was given during
the first festival after Benjamin Britten’s death. Both
singers and the pianist belonged to Britten’s ‘inner
circle’. John Shirley-Quirk had been a member of the English
Opera Group for many years and Britten wrote the leading baritone
role in Death in Venice specifically for him. The opera
was premiered in 1973 at Snape Maltings with Steuart Bedford
conducting. Janet Baker sang Dido, Polly (in Britten’s
version of The Beggar’s Opera) and Lucretia with
the English Opera Group. She was the dedicatee of Britten’s
last vocal work, Phaedra, which she premiered at the
concert hall in 1976.
‘Wolf never intended the vignettes and character sketches
of the Italian Songbook to form a unified cycle’,
writes Richard Wigmore in the liner notes. Steuart Bedford,
who devised the order of the songs, grouped them in what Wigmore
calls ‘miniature dramatic scenes’. This works well.
The final scene (tr. 41-46) is particularly entertaining. Here
both singers let their hair down and indulge in some really
juicy characterisation, to the audible joy of the otherwise
very well-behaved audience. I say this while not in any way
feeling that the published order is in any way inferior to the
various re-arrangements that I have on my shelves. Dawn Upshaw
and Olaf Bär, like Baker and Shirley-Quirk, begin with
the first song Auch kleine Dinge, which is a kind of
motto for this collection: these are ‘small things’,
some of them lasting less than a minute. Each also ends with
Ich hab’ in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen, where
the girl catalogues her lovers à la Leporello.
It is a real scream of a finale and Janet Baker enjoys every
second of it. In between this starting point and finish the
order of songs is completely different. Elly Ameling and Gerard
Souzay on my old Philips recording are even more wayward, beginning
with Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen (song No. 22)
and finishing with Nun laß uns Frieden schließen
(No. 8). In practice this also makes sense but Ich hab’
in Penna is more fun. Geraldine McGreevy and Mark Stone
in the complete Hugo Wolf series on Stone Records (in progress)
follow the published order.
Of the couples mentioned in this overview, Janet Baker and John
Shirley-Quirk are the grandest, the most uninhibited. Shirley-Quirk
with his dark-tinted bass-baritone can in particular become
overwhelming. More often than not however his readings are wonderfully
sensitive and nuanced. Nun laß uns Frieden schließen
and Schon streckt’ ich aus im Bett die müden Glieder
(tr. 10 and 11) are masterly and so is Der Mond hat eine
schwere Klag’ erhoben (tr. 27). Generally speaking
it is in the second half of the recital - there is an interval
after tr. 25 - that he is at his very best. He is truly masterly
when we get to Hoffärtig seid Ihr, schönes Kind
(tr. 43) and Geselle, woll’n wir uns in Kutten hüllen
(tr. 45).
Janet Baker is more even throughout the recital. Her Auch
kleine Dinge (tr. 1) may not be as innocent and girlish
as for instance Dawn Upshaw and, even more, Elly Ameling. However
she is, as always, wonderfully responsive to words and songs.
Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen (tr. 5) and
Mein Liebster ist so klein (tr. 7) should convince prospective
buyers that this disc is worth anyone’s money. Verschling’
der Abgrund (tr. 25) is magnificent; there would have been
clapping even if this hadn’t been the last song before
the interval.
Steuart Bedford’s accompaniments are competent rather
than inspired. Helmut Deutsch, Dalton Baldwin and Sholto Kynoch
on the rival discs are all preferable but he makes amends with
a riveting postlude to the very last song. The 35-year-old recording
is excellent and my only regret is that the texts are not printed
in the booklet (you can download them as a PDF file).
Texts or not, this is a thrilling performance of Italienisches
Liederbuch and lovers of Wolf or Janet Baker or John Shirley-Quirk
or all three should contemplate a purchase - others too!
Göran Forsling
Track listing
1. Auch kleine Dinge [JB] [2:19]
2. Was für ein Lied soll dir gesungen werden [JSQ]
[1:50]
3. Gesegnet sei das Grün [JB] [1:42]
4. Selig ihr Blinden [JSQ][1:56]
5. Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen [JB] [1:01]
6. Heb’ auf dein blondes Haupt [JSQ] [1:47]
7. Mein Liebster ist so klein [1:33] [JB]
8. O wär’ dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas
[JSQ] [1:27]
9. Was soll der Zorn [JB] [1:52]
10. Nun laß uns Frieden schließen [JSQ] [1:41]
11. Schon streckt’ ich aus im Bett die müden Glieder
[JSQ] [1:52]
12. Mein Liebster singt [JB] [1:40]
13. Nicht länger kann ich singen [JSQ] [1:31]
14. Schweig’einmal still [JB] [0:58]
15. O wüßtest du, wie viel ich deinetwegen
[JSQ] [1:44]
16. Wer rief dich denn? [JB] [1:15]
17. Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen [JSQ] [1:24]
18. Nein, junger Herr [JB] [0:51]
19. Man sagt mir, deine Mutter woll’ es nicht [JB]
[1:20]
20. Wie viele Zeit verlor’ ich [JSQ] [1:50]
21. Du denkst mit einem Fädchen [JB] [1:27]
22. Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen [JSQ]
[2:07]
23. Wie soll ich fröhlich sein [JB] [1:48]
24. Laß sie nur geh’n [JSQ] [1:19]
25. Verschling’ der Abgrund [JB] [1:32]
26. Mir ward gesagt, du reisest in die Ferne [JB] [1:59]
27. Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag’ erhoben [JSQ]
[2:05]
28. Ihr jungen Leute [JB] [1:05]
29. Ihr seid die Allerschönste [JSQ] [1:25]
30. Wenn du mich mit den Augen streifst [JB] [1:49]
31. Daß doch gemalt all’ deine Reize wären
[JSQ] [2:22]
32. Wohl kenn’ ich Euren Stand [JB] [2:04]
33. Gesegnet sei, durch den die Welt entstund [JSQ] [1:38]
34. Ich esse nun mein Brot nicht trocken mehr [JB] [1:39]
35. Benedeit die sel’ge Mutter [JSQ] [3:50]
36. Und steht Ihr früh am Morgen auf [JSQ] [2:47]
37. Heut’ Nacht erhob ich mich um Mitternacht [JB]
[2:07]
38. Sterb’ ich, so hüllt in Blumen meine Glieder
[JSQ] [2:14]
39. Wenn du, mein Liebster, steigst zum Himmel auf [JB]
[1:41]
40. Wir haben beide [JSQ] [2:17]
41. Wie lange schon war immer mein Verlangen [JB] [2:12]
42. Ich ließ mir sagen [JB] [1:38]
43. Hoffärtig seid Ihr, schönes Kind [JSQ]
[0:45]
44. Du sagst mir, daß ich keine Fürstin sei
[JB] [1:14]
45. Geselle, woll’n wir uns in Kutten hüllen
[JSQ] [2:10]
46. Ich hab’ in Penna eihnen Liebsten wohnen [JB]
[1:03]
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Janet Baker (mezzo), John Shirley-Quirk (baritone), Steuart Bedford
(piano) 