Der Rosenkavalier (Solti, Decca, 1968-69)

Overall, this is probably my favourite recording of Rosenkavalier. The cast is headed by great French soprano Regine Crespin as the Marschallin. Surely this is the most gorgeous, melting 'silberne Rose' to complete Act 1 on any complete recording. Crespin opens the trio with luscious tone and is able to rise to a full B-flat at the climax without audible effort. My only quibble is that hers is not really a glowing Strauss sound in the manner of della Casa or Janowitz - lines like "Heut' oder Morgen" in the first act which should shine radiantly over the orchestra just don't. However, what she does bring to the role that della Casa or Janowitz don't (as far as I've heard) is a strong ability with word-painting. There is a very special dignity to this Marschallin but the underlying emotions come through clearly. Every word she utters seems spontaneous, a far cry from the mannered "over-interpreted" approach of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf on the Karajan set.

Helen Donath is absolutely radiant as Sophie, perfectly poised in the high-flying lines of the Presentation of the Rose scene. The characterisation is beautiful, too. She sounds perfectly naive and idealistic at her first appearance with a hint of sorrow as she talks about her dead mother. We can see why Octavian is so taken with her as she is utterly charming in the little exchange following the Presentation of the Rose, teasing out his nickname "Quinquin". She also possesses great spunk in the following scenes with Ochs, sounding absolutely horrified by his behaviour.

Minton is one of the best Octavians I have heard anywhere. The voice is rich and varied in expression and her diction is superb. In the final scene of Act 1 she is alternately wooing and disgruntled with the Marschallin. The weird thing is that every time Minton goes for a high note, the acoustic suddenly changes - she suddenly sounds as though she is singing in a much more resonant space. Not quite sure what effect the sound engineers were going for here, but it's rather disorienting.

Manfred Jungwirth is a top-class Ochs, making the most of the text. Diction is clear and he is very funny. The voice is quite baritonal, so some of the very lowest notes seem a bit of a stretch, but he gets there. He indulges in less vocal mugging than some other Barons and, unlike most, does some beautiful singing when it is called for.

Otto Wiener is a stodgy-sounding Faninal; based on this, I hate to think what his complete Hans Sachs sounds like on the commercial recording with Keilberth. The young Pavarotti is easily the best Italian Tenor I have heard - at this stage of his career it is all spectacularly effortless. Moreover, he clearly sees no irony in the setting or in the music (I love the Italian tenor being played perfectly straight - Strauss' point comes over much more clearly). Mention must also be made of Anne Howells's spectacular Annina, equally adept when reading the letter as when yelling accusations at the Baron. There is some spectacular casting in some of the smaller roles as well such as Anton Dermota as the Landlord, and the young Arleen Auger makes an appearance as one of the Three Orphans! Veteran Alfred Jerger (who sang Ochs as long ago as 1917) is the Notary.

The Vienna Philharmonic play like gods, the wind beautifully inflected, the strings with their usual burnished tone. Even were the singing not so good, this performance would still be necessary listening for the gorgeous orchestral playing and little touches of tone-painting. There is one cute moment in Act 3 where the orchestral musicians sing along with Annina's coloratura cadenza at the words "Die Kaiserin muss ihn mir wieder geben!". Solti's view of the score is fairly expansive. Occasionally he can be a little bombastic - has the chord at Octavian's entrance in Act 2 ever been louder? Still, he never lets the tensions sag - even the sections in Act 3 that can drag in other performances seem to pass by relatively quickly here.

In terms of comparisons, I think this Solti recording wins out over the famous Karajan and Kleiber sets. First of all, the sound is still pretty spectacular. But also, despite their authoritative (but very different) conducting, neither of the two older sets can match Solti's cast. Ludwig is a great Octavian for Karajan but that can't make up for Schwarzkopf's mannered Marschallin and Stich-Randall's weird legato-less Sophie. And while the Sophie-Octavian pair of Gueden and Jurinac do match Donath and Minton, Maria Reining's Marschallin for Kleiber is just dull.

5 Reasons to be excited about the APO's 2013 season

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra were kind enough to invite me to their 2013 Season Launch last night. We heard the orchestra play various snippets from their upcoming season and got to find out a bit more about what they will be performing and also about a lot of their very admirable work in the community. Here's five reasons to be excited about their upcoming season:

1. The Rake's Progress - Next year's Westpac Opera in Concert is, unexpectedly, Stravinsky's Rake's Progress in its Auckland premiere (it hasn't been seen in New Zealand at all since the late 1960s). This is one of my favourite 20th century operas and the APO are assembling a fine cast including the wonderful young New Zealand soprano Madeleine Pierard as Anne Trulove. She performed Anne's aria last night and it was stunning - clearly enunciated with effortless coloratura. The APO's lean, clear sound should suit Stravinsky's core down to the ground. Cannot wait to hear the whole work!

2. Madeleine Pierard - Ms Pierard will also be appearing in Mahler's 4th Symphony singing the last movement's vision of Heaven. I make no secret of my admiration for Ms Pierard and to have her singing another of my favourite works next year should be a total delight. The Mahler is coupled with the world premiere of Ross Harris's Symphony No. 5, with Australian mezzo-soprano Sally-Anne Russell.

3. Natalia Lomeiko - After her absolutely stunning Berg Concerto last year, Natalia Lomeiko will be returning to Auckland, this time in Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1. While I can't claim it's my favourite concerto, it should be a crowd-pleaser and I'm keen to hear Ms Lomeiko playing it.

4. War Requiem - In collaboration with the Auckland Festival, the APO will be putting on Britten's monumental requiem with Orla Boylan, Timothy Robinson and Ivan Ludlow in the solo parts. The occasion is the fiftieth anniversary of the Coventry bombing that it commemorates and also the one-hundredth anniversary of Britten's birth.

5. Zemlinsky, Hindemith and Martinu - OK, this is three separate concerts but I'm thrilled to find out we'll be getting one work from each of these unjustly neglected composers next year. Jun Markl will conduct Zemlinsky's Sinfonietta (coupled with the Four Last Songs and Schubert 9), Music Director Eckehard Stier will take on Martinu's Julietta suite (with Rach Concerto No. 2 and the Korngold Symphony in F# (!!)) and we'll hear Hindemith's Cello Concerto played by Johannes Moser in a programme devoted to music of the 1940s. Excruciatingly exciting for a mid-20th century classical music fiend like myself.

This is only scratching the surface of what the APO is offering next year (Steven Osborne, Cameron Carpenter, Nikolai Demidenko and Amy Dickson will all be making appearance, among others). What I really admire about the APO is their adventurous programming (adventurous for New Zealand anyway) - almost every concert has at least one thing I haven't heard live before. You can find out more about their 2013 season on their website here: http://apo.co.nz/concert-events

In other news, I recently went to see New Zealand Opera's Bartered Bride and reviewed it for Bachtrack. You can check that out here: http://www.bachtrack.com/review-new-zealand-opera-bartered-bride-slater

Nabucco (APO, 19/08/2012)

Nabucco (APO, 19/08/2012)

Sebastian Catana (Nabucco), Paoletta Marrocu (Abigaille), Helen Medlyn (Fenena), Alejandro Roy (Ismaele), Burak Bilgili (Zaccaria), Anna Leese (Anna), Ben Makisi (Abdallo), Grant Dickson (High Priest of Baal), Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Eckehard Stier

It's been a comparatively good couple of months for opera in Auckland. Firstly we had New Zealand Opera's impeccable Rigoletto, followed by last month's stunning Walkure with the NZSO (reviewed earlier). This time, it was Verdi's turn - the early Nabucco, a work I love for all of its over-the-top passions and frankly ridiculously difficult music for the singers. For this the APO gathered a spectacular international cast, mostly unfamiliar to me before but now high on my list of singers to hear again. The APO's yearly Opera in Concert has almost invariably delivered up stunning performances (for example, the late Elizabeth Connell's blistering Elektra from a couple of years ago) but this year's offering had a further perceivable leap in quality.

Star of the evening was soprano Paoletta Marrocu, who delivered a blistering performance as Abigaille. Right from her first entrance ("Prode guerrier" in startling chest register) she absolutely owned the stage, radiation malevolence and willfulness. The freakishly difficult music holds no terrors for her, from the aforementioned terrifying chest to trumpeting fortissimo high notes to gorgeously unearthly pianissimi. Most importantly,  Marrocu commands an innate understanding of how a Verdian phrase should be shaped - the melody in "Anch'io dischiuso" was gorgeously moulded, making more sense of the crazy vocal line than anyone I've heard before. The actual voice is pretty edgy, sort of Scotto-ish but with much greater ease on high. She also made the ridiculous coloratura demands seem easy. She lived every word, fully involved with the text - such demented scorn in the duet with Nabucco as she denied his pleas. This was all contrasted with an extremely vivid account of the final scene, delivered in short sharp breaths, contrition to the fore. None of this was terribly subtle, but there's nothing subtle about Nabucco and I loved every second of Marrocu's performance.

Our Nabucco was Sebastian Catana, a last-minute substitute for Boris Statsenko and alone among the cast, he understandably had a score in hand. There were a couple of hesitant moments in recitative but apart from this he seemed totally confident with the assignment. The voice is a big juicy baritone, rolling out in long phrases with superb breath control. A little bit of tightness on top didn't affect the performance overly. Catana had some good ideas about character, thundering convincingly when he declares himself God  and bringing real vulnerability to the duet with Abigaille. His last act aria was lovingly shaped. I've hear a bit of Statsenko on Youtube etc. and I can't believe that he would have topped Catana's performance, so all credit to the Auckland Philharmonia for engaging such a quality replacement.

After Abigaille, the best impression was made by the Zaccaria, Turkish bass Burak Bilgili. From the beginning he delivered the prophet's pronouncements in gorgeous oaken tones, something in the basic tone colour radiating authority. Zaccaria's solos demand a sure grasp of legato and line and Bilgili supplied exactly that, reminding me a little of the young Nicolai Ghiaurov. His repeated high Fs in the Finale of Act Three were thrilling and effortless. It's a sumptuous sound and one I'd like to hear more of, please.

Ismaele and Fenena are weird roles, set up at the beginning to be the romantic leads and then hardly appearing in the opera after that. In the former role, Alejandro Roy sang with golden tone but at an unremitting fortissimo, sometimes obliterating others on stage. A wonderful sound but he could tone it down just a tad. On the face of it, Helen Medlyn would seem to be miscast as the virtuous maiden Fenena (I last saw her as a terrifying Klytamnestra), but she sung with such expressiveness that I really didn't care that it's not the most suitable instrument for the part. Her last Act aria is a gorgeous piece of music and this was about the first time I've heard it sung as well as it deserves.

The chorus sang well, although they were probably on the small (in tone if not numbers) side for this music. More praise is due the orchestra who played wonderfully under the baton of Eckehard Stier. This is probably the best work I've heard him done - wonderfully taut conducting with great rhythmic control and accuracy in Verdi's repetitive 'oom-pah-pah' rhythms. The orchestra took everything in stride with appropriately gutsy attack. I also enjoyed the well-shaped flute and cello interplay in the introduction to Nabucco's aria. Lastly, I also have to mention Anna Leese, playing (appropriately) Anna, whose warm glowing tones illuminated every ensemble. Very excited to hear her Marenka in The Bartered Bride coming up with New Zealand Opera.

The American Experience (APO, 09/08/2012)

The American Experience (APO, 09/08/2012)

Adams The Chairman Dances

Rouse Der Gerettete Alberich

Copland Appalachian Spring Suite

Gershwin Porgy & Bess: Symphonic Picture (arr. Robert Russell Bennett)

Dame Evelyn Glennie (percussion), Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Eckehard Stier

As an opener we had 'The Chairman Dances' by John Adams. This composer-subtitled 'foxtrot for orchestra' is a sort of out-take from his 1987 opera 'Nixon in China' in which, first, Madame Mao dances, then is joined in a foxtrot by Chairman Mao. The orchestra coped well with the rigorous rhythmic requirements of the piece - notwithstanding a little bit of slightly soggy coordination towards the beginning, they were able to accurately render the patterned pulsing that seems to be a ubiquitous characteristic of most American minimalism. The piece (at probably just under a quarter hour long) overstays its welcome a little bit, the most interesting part being the way the full orchestra slowly crumbles until only percussion remains at the conclusion. Stier shaped the music well, bringing out the more lyrical episodes of the score.

The drawcard for this concert for me was the chance to hear Dame Evelyn Glennie in the flesh for the first time, and boy she didn't disappoint! 'Der gerettete Alberich' translates as 'Alberich saved', referring of course to the dwarf from Wagner's 'Der Ring des Nibelungen'. Rouse's piece begins with the last bars of 'Gotterdammerung' and throughout the rest of the piece Wagnerian leitmotifs make frequent appearances. The raison d'etre of the work is a sort of examination of what happened to Alberich after the Ring Cycle finishes. The soloist has a massive line-up of instruments to contend with - four wood blocks, four log drums, four tom-toms, two bongos, two timbales, a snare drum, a steel drum, a marimba, two guiros, a pedal-operated bass drum, and a drum set (list of instrumentation taken from Christopher Rouse's website). Glennie excelled completely - I don't think I have ever heard such alert and rhythmically accurate percussion playing in my life. Aside from accuracy, she also commanded amazing subtleties of dynamics and even phrasing over all of her varied instruments. Surely no one else has ever made a guiro sound so vocal. Her marimba playing in the slow central section was gorgeously shaped with some beautifully hushed playing. At the other end of the scale she made the most of the extended solo on drum kit, sounding like a rock-band drummer on steroids. In addition, Glennie was wonderful to watch on stage, all flowing yet absolutely judged movements, with a sense of somewhat unearthly elegance even as she hammered the drums fortissimo. A real tour-de-force performance of a piece written especially for her. She was expertly supported by the Auckland Philharmonia, playing what must be a relatively unfamiliar score with great confidence.

Following the interval were two mainstays of the American classical music tradition: Copland's Appalachian Spring and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess suite. The Copland is based on a ballet illustrating a rural American village celebration in the 19th century. As such, the American folk music influence is palpable - the Shaker folk song 'Simple Gifts' makes an appearance. The orchestra performed wonderfully; the string section playing particularly gloriously with an appropriately lean sound. Concertmaster Dimitri Atanassov provided some gorgeous violin solos. Stier set a flowing pace, never lingering too long in the slow moments.

The Copland was followed up by the popular Gershwin suite. The audience certainly loved it - each successive big 'tune' brought a murmur of recognition from the people around me. But I was a little disappointed in the performance. It's not a problem of technique (in fact, the playing was pretty much flawless throughout) - more an issue of style. For me, the Philharmonia were a bit too smooth and silky for the jazz and blues influences to make their full impact. In essence I'd love to hear the sound 'dirtied up' a bit.

All in all, though, I think the Auckland Philharmonia deserves to be proud of their achievement. The percussion section deserve particular praise for their performance (perfection in the long difficult xylophone solo at the opening of the Gershwin suite). I also think the programming was an interesting idea (two works by living American composers set against two older classics in the same tradition), although it unintentionally showed how little American orchestral music has developed in the interim. Most of all, the orchestra have provided Auckland a great service by bringing Dame Evelyn Glennie to perform a work especially written for her. Would like to have her back sometime, please!

Die Walkure (NZSO, 28/07/2012)

Die Walkure (NZSO, 28/07/2012)

Simon O'Neill (Siegmund),  Edith Haller (Sieglinde), Christine Goerke (Brunnhilde), John Wegner (Wotan), Jonathan Lemalu (Hunding), Margaret Medlyn (Fricka), Amanda Atlas, Anna Pierard, Sarah Castle, Kate Spence, Kristen Darragh, Lisa Harper-Brown, Morag Atchison, Wendy Doyle (Valkyries), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Pietari Inkinen (conductor)

So, here's my first review ever. This Walkure made such an impression on me that I wanted to try to organise my thought on it in some sort of coherent fashion and this is the awkwardly written result:

There's no doubt that there was a real sense of occasion surrounding this performance. For a start, Wagner performances are vanishingly rare in Auckland. Secondly, the NZSO is not known for programming operas in its seasons. And thirdly, the performance was completely sold out, so expectations were obviously high. By and large, these expectations were met, with a Siegmund, Sieglinde and Brunnhilde of whom superlatives aren't really adequate to describe. Though a concert performance, it was sung without scores and there was a certain amount of interaction between characters, with the sopranos (Christine Goerke and Edith Haller) making most of the space.

Simon O'Neill's voice has certainly matured since I last saw him; the slightly unpleasant bleating quality on his high notes seens to have completely disappeared. Perhaps he is helped by the relatively low tessitura of the role, but Siegmund fits him perfectly vocally. His lower range was full and rich all night and the lyrical episodes had a degree of musical shaping that was the finest I have heard from him. The pair of 'Walse's held no fear for him, voice ringing out into the hall heroically. O'Neill is performing this role at Covent Garden next year; based on this performance I'd say deservedly so. Probably the most developed in a surprisingly good crop of opera singers that New Zealand has produced over the last few years.

As for his sister-wife, I simply cannot imagine a better Sieglinde than South Tyrolean soprano Edith Haller. From her first entrance she was both physically and vocally alert. I hear her voice as essentially a bright, high soprano, but this extends down to the lowest of Sieglinde's lines without any loss of colour or projection. In addition to this, her diction was spectacularly clear, all of Wagner's alliterations etc. coming across perfectly. And the high register burst forth like a flame, filling the hall with the most glowing yet urgent tone, the voice seeming to get bigger and bigger the higher it went. "O hehrstes Wunder" was a definite highpoint, Inkinen slowing down to let Haller make the fullest effect possible.

Our Brunnhilde was American Christine Goerke, who has been active for around fifteen years in a mind-blowing variety of roles (Norma, Fiordiligi, Ortrud, Alcina, Elektra, Musetta, etc.) and here she certainly had the chops to handle every vocal demand Wagner throws at Brunnhilde. There is a certain amount of vibrato in the voice but it is completely regular and lends the voice a certain glamour. Her entrance 'Hojotoho's were relatively light and silvery of voice, high Cs ever so airily touched upon and with absolutely perfect trills (!). She was coy and girlish in her initial dealings with Wotan but brought the right amount of gravity to the Todesverkündigung scene with Siegmund. Much of Brunnhilde's music in Walküre likes almost mezzo-low, but Goerke filled Wagner's lines with full, burnished tone. It was only our particular seats (Goerke was facing away from us for much of Act 2) that stopped us from fully experiencing her whole sound. No such problem in Act 3, however. 'Fort denn eile' had Goerke hurling her vibrant voice out into the hall (she certainly had no trouble competing with the orchestra). Her expressive handling of the text in the final scenes with Wotan completed her transition from naive warrior maid in alternately pleading and noble tones. Particularly ravishing was the long crescendo on "ihm innig vertraut". Demanding that Wotan raise a wall of fire around her, her voice took on the most stunning vulnerability alongside the power and she was tremendously involved and involving emotionally (to the extent that she was crying genuine tears at the end).

John Wegner had a keen command of the text as Wotan; it was unfortunately that throughout most of his big moments he was largely inaudible. Fine musical ideas that were mostly drowned out by the orchestra. I heard that he had been suffering from a cold at the Wellington performances so maybe this was a legacy of that. Margaret Medlyn made a shrewish Fricka - she still has just enough vocie left for the role, but Fricka can be a more interesting character than she put across. Jonathan Lemalu as Hunding was, frankly, awful. He had a malevolent stage presence but this couldn't make up for the croaky, ill-pitched singing. Our team of Valkyries were remarkable consistent, with particularly good performances Morag Atchison in her first entrance as Helmwige.

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra played thrillingly throughout with barely a blip in the brass. The string section was in particularly good form, offering burnished tone and there was some beautifully shaped playing from the bass clarinet. I have some mixed feelings about Pietari Inkinen. Give him a section of music with great lyrical sweep and he will galvanise the singer and orchestra to give a full-bodied and exciting rendition. Everything from "Ein Schwert verhiess" until the end of Act 1 was a prime example of this - absolutely thrilling stuff. But somehow he couldn't create a cohesive whole - it was more a series of beautiful and exciting moments separated by parts which just seemed like filler. Act 2 in particular suffered as the tension seemed to slip away during Wotan's monologues.

All in all, though, a great performance and I sincerely hope the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra brings some more opera in concert to Auckland. Perhaps a Frau ohne Schatten with a similar cast?