First the bad news. This set, originally
issued in 1970, is not currently available on CD. That said,
as the esteemed Dan Morgan has pointed out, there is an Arthaus
DVD: Arthaus Musik DVD 101279. Now the good news: Hope springs
eternal! If there is any justice, the powers that be will re-release
this important recording post-haste.
Die Teufel von
Loudun (The
Devils of Loudun) had its premiere
on 20 June 1969 in Hamburg, Germany
with this same orchestra. In fact they
commissioned the work. The score calls
for very large orchestral forces including:
two Alto Saxophones, two Baritone Saxophones,
Piano, Organ, Harmonium, Electric Bass
Guitar, four Percussionists and “nastro
magnetico con scampanata” (tape).
The libretto is by Penderecki himself using
a translation by the German poet Erich Fried. It is based on
the dramatization by John Whiting of the 1952 novella by Aldous
Huxley. This recounts an actual event in Loudun, France in 1634.
In his telling of the story, Huxley delved into spiritual questions
such as the nature of self-transcendence and the relationship
between nature and grace. It is not casual reading, to say the
least! Penderecki simplifies and concentrates on the handsome
but doomed Urbain Grandier’s fight against fanaticism and evil.
His focus is more on the symbolism in the story than on the
historical aspects.
This is a tale laced with sex and with sexual
frustration, with bigotry, hatred, torture, sadism, a witch
trial and an eventual burning at the stake thrown in for good
measure; interested now? Perhaps Nicolas Slonimsky described
it all best in his own characteristic way as: “dealing with
a furor uternis among
nuns of Loudun struck by a multifutuent incubus personified
by a neighboring monastic youth”.
Poland in the Stalin era was exceedingly
repressive; imagine a major 20th century composer
being forbidden from hearing a work such as Stravinsky’s Le
Sacre du Printemps until he was 24! After the Stalin era
everything changed. Penderecki’s “discovery” of Schoenberg,
Webern and Boulez decided his path. It was Boulez’s Improvisation
sur Mallarmé (1957-59)
which had the greatest early influence. The most popular
work from this early “avant-garde” period is undoubtedly the
Threnody for the Victims
of Hiroshima (1959-61), the work that brought him international
fame.
Die Teufel applies the most extreme devices
of that period in its vocal and instrumental parts. Even so,
one can hear the continued turning away from the earlier systems
of “noise” and “clusters” towards a “longer line” style of composing
distinct in his masterpiece the Saint
Luke Passion (1966), the first really long piece
he composed.
Die Teufel von
Loudun
was not Penderecki’s first reference to atrocity; the Threnody (Hiroshima) and
the Dies Irae (Auschwitz)
of 1967 preceded it. It has much in common with Prokofiev’s
The Fiery Angel and with Robert Ward’s The Crucible in addressing the relationship of sexual neurosis with
religious obsession. The lay-out is in three acts, split into
32 scenes. The demands of rapid and frequent change in the music
keep the dramatic content high and the tension at fever pitch.
There is singing, screaming, speaking and even laughing. The
chorus also shouts and screams. Everywhere there are rapid changes
produced by the instruments used as they are in small groups.
Although the cast is exceptional to a man
and woman, the star here is the late, great Tatiana Troyanos
and her memorable portrayal of Jeanne. She portrays sexual dementia
with a ferocious intensity yet with her characteristic “buttery”
mezzo. Baritone Andrej Hiolsky’s portrayal of the condemned
Grandier is both moving and exciting as he heartbreakingly maintains
his innocence and is subsequently publicly tortured and burned
at the stake. Bernard Ladysz as Barré, the excorcist is in fine
voice. Special mention should be made of the young Hans Sotin
as Rangier.
The recording is executed beautifully; the
analog to digital (ADD) transfer crystal clear. The Hamburg
State Chorus and Orchestra under the leadership of Chorus master
Gunther Schmidt-Bohlander and Marek Janowski respectively are
nothing short of spectacular. Philips delivered a very luxurious
package of a separate booklet and libretto supplying a full
text in German - the language of this performance - and English
translation.
In the end Die Teufel is about fear and pity, intolerance, heresy and hypocrisy
– Jeanne silently praying as Grandier is burning to death …
This set is a significant document of one
of the more important figures of the latter part of the 20th
century in modern music. I strongly urge its re-release and/or
a new recording - perhaps by an enterprising label such as Naxos
or CPO.
Osvaldo Polatkan
