BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
A Faust Symphony - in three character portraits (after Goethe)
(1854-57 rev.1880) [71:10]
Charles Bressler (tenor)
Choral Art Society
New York Philharmonic/Leonard Bernstein
rec. New York, 1964
SONY 88697857572 [71:10]
This is a welcome DSD reissue of an acclaimed recording first issued on Columbia
Masterworks LP M2S-699.
A later Leonard Bernstein performance of this important large-scale work,
again very well received, was recorded with the Boston Symphony Orchestra,
Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Kenneth Riegel (tenor) in 1976. The Boston
recording is the DVD (Euroarts 2072078) recorded live at Symphony Hall, Boston
on 26 July 1976. I will compare these performances.
Liszt’s indulgent and weighty Faust Symphony lies in a direct line
between Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and the Late-Romanticism of
Wagner (Tristan und Isolde) and Richard Strauss (Don Juan);
not to mention the many composers they influenced. An extension of that line
continues among the composers of Hollywood’s Golden Age including Franz Waxman’s
Prince Valiant and even Bernard Herrmann’s Vertigo music. It
was they who preserved the traditions of the European Late-Romantic style
against the atonal tide.
It was Berlioz who introduced the inspiration of Faust to his friend Liszt.
Berlioz had composed his La damnation de Faust in 1846 only eight years
earlier. Berlioz’s intensely dramatic composition followed the same indulgent
style of his own Symphonie fantastique of 1830. Liszt was to follow
suit with his view of Faust – wrought in the same melodramatic mould. His
highly chromatic Faust music pushes towards the edge of atonality.
Note the full title of this work; it is intended as a series of three character
studies rather than a blow-by-blow account of Goethe’s narrative. So as not
to weigh down this review, I recommend the very good essay
on Wikipedia which goes into detail about the work’s inspiration including
the Weimar connection, the Symphony’s structure and instrumentation, performance
history and transcriptions.
The extensive first movement introduces many of the work’s themes and motifs
that will appear in various guises throughout. Liszt utilises the process
of thematic transformation to masterly effect. This portrait of Faust - which
some observers have suggested is something of Liszt’s self-portrait - reflects
Faust’s gloomy reveries in old age, his disappointments and regrets and, in
the most exciting and passionate passages, his lusting after adventure, heroism
and his thirst for sexual gratification. It’s all vividly sketched. The second
movement is more serene, a portrait of Gretchen’s purity and innocence that
turns to voluptuous yearning as the corrupting influence of Faust grows in
her heart. The final portrait of Mephistopheles is sardonic and slippery sly.
The music is tremendously exciting – a presto ride to damnation segueing into
the choral finale with the loving spirit of the Eternal Female triumphant
as proclaimed by choir and tenor soloist. A forceful organ pedal swell brings
the work to a close.
| Leonard Bernstein’s recordings of Liszt’s Faust Symphony | 1964 CD |
1976 DVD |
| I – Faust: Lento assai – Allegro impetuoso – Allegro agitato ed appassionato assai |
27:29 | 30:16 |
| II - Gretchen: Andante soave | 20:51 | 23:19 |
| III - Mephistopheles and Final Chorus mysticus: Allegro vivace, ironic | 22:50 | 25:58 |
With such a dynamic work as this there is no point in approaching it faint-heartedly.
Bernstein lets it rip. His 1964 performance is delivered with white heat passion.
It’s a crack performance with thrills that make the hair stand on end. The
tiniest detail is as clear as a gnat’s kneecap in this digitally mastered
Sony reissue. The only fly in the ointment, as far as this reviewer is concerned,
is the rather odd nasally-sounding timbre of Charles Bressler’s voice. There
are no such reservations about Kenneth Riegel in the later, 1976 performance
which also has plenty of attack but is a little more expansive, allowing more
detail to be heard through the complex texture. Also the DVD allows one to
appreciate the instrumentation more. It is interesting to watch Bernstein’s
animated conducting: the tense crouching, the springs, the leaps and all that
emotion etched on his face. Yet the white heat roller-coaster thrills of the
1964 recording tip the balance for me.
Ian Lace
White heat roller-coaster thrills.