MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK
Download: Classicsonline


Paul HINDEMITH (1890–1963)
Das Marienleben, op.27 (1948 version)
Elisabeth Meyer–Topsře (soprano), Per Salo (piano)
rec. 11–16 June 2008, Mantziusgaarden, Birkerřd, Denmark DDD
DANACORD DACOCD670 [71:05]
Experience Classicsonline


Das Marienleben
is, I have no doubt, one of the great song-cycles of the 20th century. It is a truly astonishing piece of work: fifteen songs, setting words by Rilke. It was written as recently as 1912 and charts the life of the Virgin Mary. Hindemith first set the texts as a cycle in 1922/1923 and almost immediately set about making a revised, simpler, version which he published in 1948. This is the version recorded here. For me, the original version is the better of the two, showing, as it does, Hindemith’s thoughts in a raw state, full of passion, expressionistic flair. There’s an overwhelming urgency to the music, not to mention a keyboard part to tax even the greatest virtuoso. That Glenn Gould recorded the earlier score, with Roxolana Roslak (Sony Classical SM2K 52674 – 2 CDs) is proof of this demand of keyboard excellence. The later score is easier on the ear. Some of the angularity of the music has been removed and the corners are more rounded. It is a more mature, and restrained, look at the story. Might I here mention that in the 1960s the BBC broadcast a complete performance of the original score sung by the great Heather Harper with, if I remember correctly, Paul Hamburger. That performance is still in the BBC archive and is surely a candidate for re–issue on BBC Legends if only for the chance to hear such magnificent singing. 

But what of this performance? Elisabeth Meyer–Topsře is the possessor of a big, fruity, mature operatic voice. She studied privately with Birgit Nilsson and has sung Wagner and Strauss, amongst others. She has worked at both the Nürnberg Opera and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin – and here lies the problem. Das Marienleben covers the whole of the Virgin’s life, starting with Geburt Maria (Maria’s birth) –

“How difficult it must have been for the angels…
when yet they knew: this night the boy’s
mother shall be born,”

through Mariae Heimsuchung (Maria’s Visitation) –

“…her own fertility was spread out around her;
when she walked she felt: never would the greatness
which she was now perceiving be exceeded.”

and the impassioned outpouring of Pičta

“Now my misery is complete and without a name
it fills me. I stiffen as the interior
of a stone stiffens.” 

To the final three songs, Vom Tode Maria (On Maria’s death) – 

“…If you want to know
where she is who moves your heart:
See: like a pillow of lavenders
she was laid in there for a short while,” 

A vast repertoire of vocal and tonal variety and control is essential to convey the full story from infancy to death.

Meyer–Topsře sings the songs well. She obviously understands, and has a real feeling for, the workings of the music. However, she sings each song in the same way – with a full voice, free vibrato and little subtlety. In the opening songs, which require a great deal of wide–eyed, childlike innocence, such as is required in Finzi’s great song cycle Dies Natalis, any sense of wonder is entirely missing because of the vocal production, which is big and operatic. These fragile flowers require a much more delicate approach. There is no awe in the impending arrival of the Mother of the Son of God. The wide and heavy adult vibrato, which verges on the very edge of uncontrolled wobble, becomes irritating very quickly. By the time I reached Pičta, the eleventh song – which is surely one of Hindemith’s most deeply felt musical utterances – I’d really had enough of this kind of singing. Strangely though, in the following song Stillung Maria mit dem Auferstandenen (Mary’s Consolation with the Resurrected Christ) there is a restrained and quite thoughtful use of the voice, which would have been welcome at the start.

Lieder singing is a very special art. Just because you can sing opera doesn’t necessarily mean you can sing lieder and vice versa. Indeed there are many opera singers who simply cannot, whether they would admit it or not, perform lieder with any degree of satisfaction, or even competence. Unfortunately these days singers seem to see opera as the only vocal art. The pressure on the voice when trying to project over an orchestra, especially a large band, can quickly do damage to the instrument. Uncontrollable wobble has taken the place of subtle vibrato which, when used correctly, can create a most beautiful sound. Unfortunately this is the kind of singing we encounter so often today and it is this kind of singing which, for me, spoils this performance; the vocal line is corrupted by poor vocal control. 

Per Salo is a wonderful pianist and his contribution is marvellous and well worth hearing. The booklet contains very good notes and the text with both English and Danish translations. The recording is exemplary.

Bob Briggs

see also Review by Jonathan Woolf


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.