Just the other day I reviewed a companion
disc with the same artists and, except
for Bartók, the same composers
(see review).
On that disc soprano Gabriela Beňačková
was the featured singer and Štefan Margita
appeared as guest; on this disc the
situation is reversed. There is also
a reversed recording balance, which
is apparent in the first group of songs,
by Schneider-Trnavský. Beňačková
was, in her corresponding group, placed
close to the microphones with a recessed
piano; here the piano is well in the
foreground and Margita has to
fight a little to be properly heard.
But it also has something – quite a
lot – to do with the accompaniment.
Beňačková’s songs were in
the main simple, folksong-like pieces
with an unobtrusive piano part. Margita
has chosen works that are more through-composed
with the accompaniment a more equal
partner and harmonically more advanced;
more real lieder, if you like. They
are also more declamatory in character.
All this means that we get a different
side of Schneider-Trnavský’s
talent, so the two discs complement
each other.
Most of the songs are
inward in character, although A Crow
Flying is dark-toned and dramatic
and The Little Foot is light
and lively. Štefan Margita has an attractive
voice, sweet and mellifluous at nuances
up to mezzo-forte. Under pressure it
hardens and adopts a bright and penetrating
quality. It is not unattractive in itself
and he utilizes it with discrimination
but it is his softer singing that is
most appealing – not least his lovely
half-voice. He gives artful and deeply
felt renderings of all the songs. Any
of them would be a good introduction
to Margita but personally I would opt
for the beautiful Lullaby (track
6) as a suitable calling-card. It seems
that the eight songs from Tears and
Smiles are just excerpts from a
longer cycle, published in 1912. Most
of the songs are earlier: A Crow
Flying was first performed in 1904.
Some critics at the time of its publication
complained that the songs lacked "Slovak
character" – the character that
can be found in abundance in the contemporaneous
songs on the Beňačková
disc. The “encore” to this group of
songs, If I Were a Bird,
is very popular in Slovakia and has
almost attained folk-song status.
In 1906 a collection
of 20 Magyar Népdalok
(Hungarian Folksongs) was published,
the first ten arranged by Bartók,
the remainder by Kodály. The
Bartók settings are fairly well-known
but this recording presents a performance
with a difference: the piano accompaniments
are played on the harp, which renders
them simpler, softer and more intimate.
Štefan Margita also sings them simply
and straightforwardly and with nice
feeling for the sometimes intricate
rhythms. Since they are very short –
ten songs executed in less than seventeen
minutes – they should be heard as a
unity, one of the points being the contrasts
within the "cycle".
The last cycle on the
disc made me a bit confounded to begin
with. Sylvie Bodorová’s The
Setting Sun – Seven Slovak Folksongs,
written "especially for this recording
project" the liner notes tell us,
also appears on the companion disc.
I thought it a bit unfair to record
buyers who want both discs, but when
listening and comparing it is evident
that they are not entirely identical.
Firstly, if recording dates are to be
trusted, the Beňačková
disc was recorded in November 2005,
while the dates for the present disc
are December 2005 and January 2006;
secondly they do differ. On the Beňačková
disc the first two songs of the cycle
are sung as duets, while on this disc
they are both tenor solos. For
the remaining five I am not so sure.
I have listened again to both sets and
if there are differences they are negligible.
Playing times for the individual songs
are identical, give or take a second.
Really close listening may reveal more
but I had no wish to indulge in scrutinizing
every bar. Suffice to say that, whichever
version you buy, you will get some fresh,
funny and beautiful songs (Sundown,
track 22, a lovely duet) and the combination
of piano and harp gives the music
a colour of its own. Ideally you need
both.
One of the pleasures
of reviewing is to discover music and
musicians one probably wouldn’t have
encountered otherwise. It is a pleasure
to report to adventurous readers and
hope they will share my enthusiasm.
In other words: Recommended.
Göran Forsling
complete
Arcodiva Catalogue
Štefan Margita (tenor), Gabriela Beňačková
(soprano) (Bodorová), Katarína Bachmannová (piano)(Schneider-Trnavský,
Bodorová), Kateřina Englichová (harp) (Bartók,
Bodorová) 
for
details
