Boten der Liebe (Messengers of Love)
An Alma, Mathilde und Isolde
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883)
Tristan und Isolde: Vorspiel
Wesendonck Lieder
Gustav MAHLER (1860- 1911)
Streichquartett No 1.0 in A minor
Voyager Quartet
rec. 12-13 December 2020, Villa Wahnfried, Bayreuth
Transcribed and recomposed by Andreas Höricht
SOLO MUSICA SM358 [67:58]
The concept here centres upon transcribing for string quartet, music which bespeaks devotion to the Eternal Feminine. It follows on from the successful project by Andreas Höricht, the violist in the Voyager Quartet, to adapt Schubert’s Winterrreise, on a disc previously favourably reviewed by Göran Forsling.
However, I nearly fell out of my chair when I first played this disc and quickly did a double-take to see if there was something wrong with my stereo or whether I had failed to connect my good-quality Bose headphones correctly. The harsh, wiry, toppy sound is awful – and I wonder why, as it is a studio recording made in the Villa Wahnfried, Wagner’s Bayreuth home, and should conform to the almost invariably superlative standards of modern digital engineering. Alas, it does not. Furthermore, it is cursed by the prominence of wretchedly loud and prominent sniffs and stertorous breathing from the lead violinist on the upbeat – a phenomenon which blights too many string quartet recordings; presumably it is the effect of too close microphone-placement. Overall, it sounds more like 1950’s electronically processed mono than modern, state-of-the-art recording, which effectively negates any attempt by the Voyager Quartet to bring this most Romantically indulgent music to life.
The Tristan und Isolde overture gains nothing from being presented in this slimmed-down arrangement, as its sumptuous harmonies sound lean and etiolated; I cannot really conceive of why anyone wants to hear it in this guise, well-played though it is.
The Wesendonck Lieder cycle seems to be a more apt candidate for transcription, being smaller-scale with a strong vocal line. Having just posted an extensive survey of these songs in their proper form, I felt reasonably well prepared to evaluate this version but I must confess that I found these arrangements confused and confusing, as frequently the melodic line seems obscured by the weight of ornamentation and the alternation of the lead amongst the four instruments. As with the Tristan transcription, I cannot quite hear what is gained from this adaptation; Wagner knew what he wanted and why, so there seems little point in meddling with it.
The Mahler confection is an odd beast. It is flagged as a new string quartet assembled by Andreas Höricht via the transcription and arrangement of music from three different Mahler works. In truth, while I realise that my perception is fatally compromised by the poor recorded sound, nor do I think the playing is very good; it is often relentlessly loud and lacking finesse. Another problem is the almost absurd stylistic disjuncture between the first movement, which is derived from a pleasant, clever, if somewhat conventionally traditional and Brahmsian student work, the second dreamy, mournful Adagietto from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony – surely the most famous movement in his output but whose transcription here leaves me completely cold – and the Expressionist Angst of the third adapted from the Adagio of the unfinished Tenth. The weirdness and piercing despair of the famous dissonant chord certainly comes through but is worlds away from the mood and mode of the preceding two movements, so any pretence of conferring a unity upon the entire work is proclaimed in vain; it sounds like what it is: a strained and artificial confection. Finally, I will come clean and declare that I have no idea whence precisely the fourth movement Allegro is derived. I am no musicologist and the brief, rather pretentious notes make absolutely no mention of its provenance, which is discourteous to the listener; nor did a knowledgeable friend recognise its Mahlerian origin – if indeed it is Mahler, as it certainly doesn’t sound like it and I must assume that it is Andreas Höricht’s own composition. I do not know that I don’t like it.
In short, I found this to be a most disappointing and unsatisfactory disc and I shall not return to it.
Ralph Moore
Voyager Quartet:
Nico Christians (1st violin)
Maria Krebs (2nd violin)
Andreas Höricht (viola)
Klaus Kämper (cello)
Contents
1. Wagner: Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act 1 [9:53]
Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder [21:05]
2. Der Engel (3:44]
3. Stehe still! [4:35]
4. Im Treibhaus [5:30]
5. Schmerzen [2:25]
6. Träume [4:51]
Mahler: Streichquartett No 1.0 in A minor [36:53]
7. Moderato – Allegro [12:36]
8. Adagietto [11:46]
9. Adagio [8:21]
10. Allegro [4:10]
