Also, Burleske. Bertrand Chamayou, piano; Antonio
Pappano, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Warner Classics
190295028459.
By John J. Puccio
Richard Strauss (1864-1949), the German composer and
conductor of so many lengthy symphonic tone poems wrote Ein Heldenleben
(“A Hero’s Life”) in 1898 or thereabouts as a tongue-in-cheek autobiography, a
semi-serious portrait of himself. Strauss was only thirty-four years old at the
time, so you can see what self-confidence he must have had by writing so
whimsical a life story at so early an age. He seems to have written it
primarily, though, to get in a few digs at his critics, whom he convincingly
silences through the music. Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell’Accademia
Nazionale di Santa Cecilia give it their all in a big, robustly imposing live
performance.
Strauss divided Ein Heldenleben into seven parts that describe seven stages in the artist’s life. The first segment, “The Hero,” obviously describes Strauss himself and does so on a large, swashbuckling scale. Here, the music is dashing and needs to be presented with plenty of panache. Next, the music turns to “The Hero’s Adversaries,” his critics, where we hear them squabbling among themselves in amusing fashion, their trivialities, to be sure, yet their possibly sinister nature as well. Following that is “The Hero’s Companion,” his wife, whom the violinist sweetly defines in solo. Then in the ensuing “Love Scene” we find not only a loving, harmonious wife but an apparently complex one.
Maestro Pappano takes the big sections, like the opening, in a grand, full-blooded manner. It loses subtlety but makes up for it in grandeur. The Hero’s wife, played by solo violin, is nicely done, with fine inflection and feeling. While I’d like to single out this solo violinist, the booklet notes don’t indicate who it is. I will assume it was the concertmaster, Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas. Well done, sir.
“The Hero’s Battlefield” is the centerpiece of the work,
where Strauss engages in all-out war with his critics, reminding them
(musically) of his accomplishments with bits from his own Don Juan and Also
sprach Zarathustra, as well as a few horns from Beethoven’s Eroica
Symphony. It’s music filled with urgency and excitement but should not be
hectic or bombastic. Here, I would have liked more impetus, even more energy
from Pappano. Still, the recording makes up for any lack of muscularity in the
performance with plenty of bite and impact in the sound.
“The Hero’s Works of Peace” is another slow movement, again a remembrance of the composer’s previous tone poems as an almost-final rebuke of his foes. After that, the work closes with “The Hero’s Retirement from the World and His Fulfillment,” the longest movement, a concluding note of possible contentment and repose for a life of art well spent. Remember, this is coming from a fellow who at the time was relatively young, so Strauss no doubt meant it more than a bit ironically, maybe sarcastically. I liked these final sections in Maestro Pappano’s hands more than I did his treatment of the first parts. He seems more in the spirit of the proceedings as things go along.
Coupled with Heldenleben Maestro Pappano has chosen another Strauss work, the shorter Burleske in D minor for piano and orchestra (1885-86), with pianist Bertrand Chamayou. It’s an early work, written by Strauss when he was twenty-one. Originally, Strauss had written it for pianist and conductor Hans von Bulow, who thought it a “complicated piece of nonsense,” with an unplayable piano part, and refused to perform it. Well, the title translates into “farce” or “mockery,” so what did he expect? It eventually became one of Strauss’s personal favorite works. Chamayou handles the solo piano with appropriate flair, and Pappano’s accompaniment follows in a like manner. The music is fun, and Chamayou and Pappano seem to be enjoying themselves.
Producer and engineer Giacomo De Caterini recorded Ein Heldenleben live at the Auditorium Parco della musica, Rome in January 2018 and Burleske in October 2020. Because the engineer recorded Heldenleben live, it’s rather close-up and without much orchestral depth. It also appears slightly dull for some reason. There are, however, compensating dynamic and frequency ranges of strength and width that help Strauss’s heroic music come alive. The Burleske comes off much better sonically. It sounds more robust and a little more dimensional.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
By John J. Puccio
Strauss divided Ein Heldenleben into seven parts that describe seven stages in the artist’s life. The first segment, “The Hero,” obviously describes Strauss himself and does so on a large, swashbuckling scale. Here, the music is dashing and needs to be presented with plenty of panache. Next, the music turns to “The Hero’s Adversaries,” his critics, where we hear them squabbling among themselves in amusing fashion, their trivialities, to be sure, yet their possibly sinister nature as well. Following that is “The Hero’s Companion,” his wife, whom the violinist sweetly defines in solo. Then in the ensuing “Love Scene” we find not only a loving, harmonious wife but an apparently complex one.
Maestro Pappano takes the big sections, like the opening, in a grand, full-blooded manner. It loses subtlety but makes up for it in grandeur. The Hero’s wife, played by solo violin, is nicely done, with fine inflection and feeling. While I’d like to single out this solo violinist, the booklet notes don’t indicate who it is. I will assume it was the concertmaster, Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas. Well done, sir.
“The Hero’s Works of Peace” is another slow movement, again a remembrance of the composer’s previous tone poems as an almost-final rebuke of his foes. After that, the work closes with “The Hero’s Retirement from the World and His Fulfillment,” the longest movement, a concluding note of possible contentment and repose for a life of art well spent. Remember, this is coming from a fellow who at the time was relatively young, so Strauss no doubt meant it more than a bit ironically, maybe sarcastically. I liked these final sections in Maestro Pappano’s hands more than I did his treatment of the first parts. He seems more in the spirit of the proceedings as things go along.
Coupled with Heldenleben Maestro Pappano has chosen another Strauss work, the shorter Burleske in D minor for piano and orchestra (1885-86), with pianist Bertrand Chamayou. It’s an early work, written by Strauss when he was twenty-one. Originally, Strauss had written it for pianist and conductor Hans von Bulow, who thought it a “complicated piece of nonsense,” with an unplayable piano part, and refused to perform it. Well, the title translates into “farce” or “mockery,” so what did he expect? It eventually became one of Strauss’s personal favorite works. Chamayou handles the solo piano with appropriate flair, and Pappano’s accompaniment follows in a like manner. The music is fun, and Chamayou and Pappano seem to be enjoying themselves.
Producer and engineer Giacomo De Caterini recorded Ein Heldenleben live at the Auditorium Parco della musica, Rome in January 2018 and Burleske in October 2020. Because the engineer recorded Heldenleben live, it’s rather close-up and without much orchestral depth. It also appears slightly dull for some reason. There are, however, compensating dynamic and frequency ranges of strength and width that help Strauss’s heroic music come alive. The Burleske comes off much better sonically. It sounds more robust and a little more dimensional.
JJP
To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:
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