Opera at Eszterháza is the latest issue in the collaborative
series by BIS, the Haydn Sinfonietta Wien and Manfred Huss. It
forms part of 2009’s celebration to mark the 200
th
anniversary of Haydn’s death in 2009. About a year ago,
in June 2009, I had the pleasure of reviewing another of their
CDs, namely
Acide, a recording of the surviving fragments
of Haydn’s first Italian opera. All concerned should be
congratulated for their continuing efforts in bringing to the
public’s attention forgotten or neglected works by a composer
of Haydn’s stature. Sadly, nearly all of Haydn’s operatic
compositions fall nowadays into the list of neglects, possibly
due to the fact that many of the librettos he used were not very
good; most of his operas progress rather slowly and are not rich
in dramatic action, making them difficult to stage. Haydn also
composed a great number of operas, concert arias, scenes and extra
arias to be inserted in operas by other composers, with the aim
of suiting a particular singer, as was customary in his day. This
disc contains a selection of some of the best examples of such
works.
The first four arias of the disc are for soprano and two,
Infelice
sventurata and
Signor, voi sapete, were written for
other composers’ operas; respectively Domenico Cimarosa’s
I due supposti and Pasquale Anfossi’s
Il matrimonio
per inganno. All four pieces are immediately pleasing to the
ear, wonderfully proportionate with clever orchestrations, revealing
that Haydn was comfortable with writing both gracefully moving
arias, like
Infelice sventurata or
Costretta a piangere,
and witty pieces as
Signor, voi sapete, which is one of
the gems here and possibly my favourite. Swedish soprano Miah
Persson sings these first four pieces splendidly. She has a beautiful
voice with a crystal clear tone, easy high notes and elegant phrasing,
all supported by an excellent technique, making these pieces the
most enjoyable of the whole disc.
The four soprano arias are followed by an insertion aria,
Dice
benissimo, which Haydn wrote for baritone Luigi Rossi and
Antonio Salieri’s opera
La Scuola de’ Gelosi.
It is a short but rather interesting piece, cynical in tone but
with undoubtedly great music. It suits Colombian baritone Iván
Paley’s voice and he makes an excellent job, delivering
it with technical precision and great humour.
These initial five pieces are then followed by five arias for
tenor, sung here by young Swiss tenor Bernard Richter. I was very
impressed with Richter in last year’s BIS CD of Haydn’s
Acide (which I mentioned above) but here I did not find
his performance so convincing. He has a crystalline tone, very
clear diction and appears comfortable in the highest as well as
the middle and lower ranges of his voice. However, while in
Acide
he was spot-on, here he sounds sometimes a shade dry, his style
slightly declamatory and his phrasing not as refined. On occasion,
his voice sounds a little nasal in the top notes (perhaps he was
suffering from a cold?), which although it does not distort, it
makes the effect less attractive. Nevertheless, his performance
is not at all bad; on the contrary, he delivers all five pieces
very effectively. This is particularly true of the beautiful aria
Tornate pur mia bella where he displays an excellent
legato
technique and performs the piece with great delicacy and tenderness,
perfectly expressing a young man in love, as the piece describes.
The final CD tracks, as stated in the booklet notes, come from
an opera pastiche,
La Circe,
which Haydn arranged
from music by several composers. We are offered three pieces:
an aria, a scena and a terzetto. The aria entitled
Son pietosa,
son bonina is sung by young American mezzo-soprano Kirstin
Chávez who to me was the revelation in terms of singing
ability. It was the first time I heard her sing though I have
read various revues about her performances in Bizet’s
Carmen,
which tend to praise her voice but mainly to rave and revolve
around her sensual, striking beauty. However, Ms Chávez
really does possess a remarkable voice, with a velvety rich tone
and is dramatically very expressive. Her high notes are warm and
easy, she displays a solid
coloratura and she has an exquisite
dark edge in the lower range of her voice, which gives her performance
a certain degree of exoticism. The only thing I would say is that
her diction could be better; there are a couple of occasions during
the aria where it is a little unclear.
Bernard Richter returns on the final two CD tracks:
Son due
ore che giro the scena and then in the terzetto
Lavatevi
presto where he is joined by German tenor Christoph Genz and
Austrian bass Manfred Hemm. Both pieces are effectively delivered
by all three singers and Hemm’s resonant bass is particularly
impressive.
The Haydn Sinfonietta Wien and Manfred Huss are in great form
throughout the CD and deliver a fulfilling, technically flawless
performance, full of delicate nuances, effectively showcasing
their expertise in music of the classical period in general and
of Haydn in particular. Their rendition of these forgotten and
nearly lost operatic compositions is as beautiful as it is precise
and a joy from beginning to end.
The recording quality of the work is excellent whether one listens
to it on normal CD or SACD equipment; however, only on SACD does
one get the glorious detail of each instrument or of the voices
and the gorgeous sound of the orchestra as a whole. The booklet
notes are also better than most: expertly written by Manfred Huss
in a clear, attractive style, simultaneously informative and enjoyable;
not too long; not too short and accessible to all whether one
has a deep knowledge of music or not. The notes are in English,
German and French as well as the biographies of Huss and the two
main singers: Persson and Richter. For information on the other
singers, their websites are clearly listed. The booklet also includes
all texts in the original Italian with English translations.
Overall,
Opera at Eszterháza is an excellent work
though the real star is not the singing but Haydn’s music.
This, I believe, was Huss’s intention. Haydn’s music
is superb in its adventurous orchestrations, full of wit and subtle
emotions and, most of all incredibly beautiful. I loved this CD
and it made me wonder why musicians do not record Haydn’s
operatic works more often; they may have a slow moving action
but surely on disc that is not so important!
Margarida Mota-Bull
Miah Persson (soprano), Kirstin Chávez (mezzo), Bernard Richter
(tenor), Christoph Genz (tenor), Iván Paley (baritone), Manfred
Hemm (bass)
[71.31] 
