Page Six
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday October 18, ' 1970
Page Six 1 HE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, October 18, 1970
Choral sensitivity in Haydn's
By R. A. PERRY
At least five of Haydn's stun-
ning Masses are worth giving
blood to hear. Although their
dramatic force, unlike the Mass-
es of Beethoven :and 'Verdi, rises
more from compositional than
cosnic urgency, and although.
unlike the Requiem Masses of
Brahms and Faure, they seldom
indicate the serenity of Sanc-
tuary - the beautiful St. Ther-
esa Mass does have its seraphic
moments - Haydn's Masses,
display the same fecund musi-
cal imagination in both melody
and orchestration as do the
composer's symphonies. With
very few lapses, Haydn's Masses
are lyrical without being sac-
charine, and theatrical without
seeming affected; if they do not
intimate God's grace they at
least uplift by reasserting His
energies working through man.
Any new recording of a Haydn
mass is thus worthy of atten-
tion, and I found Argo's n e w
presentation of the Mass in
Time of War ("Paukenmesse")
a fascinating listening exper-
ence for- many reasons. (Argo
ZRG 634) Completed in o n e
year after Haydn finished his
last symphony and had return-
ed to 'Vienna, the Mass in Time
of War (Napoleon's war on
Austria) illustrates many of
Haydn's predilictions. It begins,
for instance, with a brief slow
introduction that, like the slow
ascent up the first roller-coast-
er hill, leads into an ebullient
Kyrie that has a melodic theme
simultaneously simple and in-
tense. The succeeding move-
ments alternate quick tempos,
with brilliant orchestral effects,
and slower movements, with
more sustained solo vocal work,
The "Agnus Dci"' contains the
-unusual (but understandable in
its martial context) drum cad-
ences that gave the work its
German nickname.
The Argo release of this work
features George Guest conduct-
ing the Academy of St. Martin-
in-the Fields -one of' Eng-
land's finest orchestral ensem-
bles - the Choir of St. John's
College Cambridge, and solo-
ists April Cantelo, Helen Watts.
Robert Tear, and Barry M c -
Daniel. In auditioning this disc,
I compared it to my previous
favorite performance of the
work, that led by Rafael Kukelik
on D.G.G. The comparison re-
veals primarily the strengths of
George Guest. Guest is fore-
most a director of choruses, and
several of his previous efforts
with the a cappella, works of the
16th century composer' Victoria
have brought forth absolutely
ravishing performances. (Es-
pecially Argo 570 and 620).
Here, in the Haydn, Guest's
sensitivity to choral balance is
seen best at the beginning of
the "Agnus Del." Where Kube-
lik effects with his German
chorus a monolithic sound de-
void of any definition o t h e r
than outer limits, Guest achie-
ves a perfect integration of part
lines while also making e a c h
line clearly discernable: you can
hear the basses as separate from
tenors. Guest also finds a fine
balance between instrumental
writing and the thicker vocal
palette; Kubelik's performance
is more monumental but less
finely detailed with one excep-
tion: the important Fel1o obbli-
gato part in the "Qui Tollis" is
insufficiently developed on the
Argo disc while it is fully real-
ized in Kubelik's reading.
What Guest does not have,
however, are the singers to
match those working with Ku-
belik. All of the English soloists'
voices lie in the heavier areas of
their special range, creating first
of a lock of contrast in the
'Benedictus" quartet, and se-
condly a general lack of the
brightness which Haydn re-
quires. April Cantelo, w h o s e
voice is not as fresh as her name
might imply and who seems al-
ways pushing from under the
phrase, can by no means match
the soaring and spontaneous
singing of D.G.G.'s Elsie Mori-
son in the "Kyrie."
Argo, as usual, provides exem-
plary sound and clean surfaces;
it also offers the only bonus
filler among all versions of the
Mass available, Michael Haydn's
Ave Regina, an a cappella piece
for two four-part choirs. Thus,
A Fresh Idea
In Communication
CHAUTAUQUA
ARRIVES
while this disc cannot replace
Kubelik's version because of the
less than perfect solo singing,
it does offer its own delights
and its special revelations into
the finer points of Haydn's ar-
tistry.
The influence of earlier
Hadyn is heard in the relative-
ly early symphonies of Mozart,
symphonies in which Mozart
shares Haydn's sunny disposi-
tion but not this mercurial wit.
Still, there is more contrapuntal
play to be heard in Symphony
No. 21 (K. 134) and Symphony
No. 27 (K. 199) than emerges
from the thick harmonic im-
pasto effected by the Munich
Chamber Orchestra on None-
such H-71244. When this en-
semble, under Hans Stadlmair,
played in Ann Arbor a few sea-
sons ago, they appeared to be
a group of adequate discipline
but lacking in both interpretive
and stylistic powers. Then one
was somewhat willing to attri-
bute their sluggishness to road-
weariness, but they play w i t h
similar lack of point and insight
on this Nonesuch recording - a
shame if only for the reason
that there exists no other single
disc recording of K. 199.
Jascha Horenstein's reading of
the Mahler 1st Symphony with
the London Symphony Orches-
tra, on Nonesuch H-71240, is as
superlative as Stadlmair's Mo-
zart is mundane. Horenstein,
who has been making excellent
records for Vox for years -
his Beethoven's Ninth on Vox
is one of the catalog's unherald-
ed triumphs -honors Mahler
by not over-interpreting him..So
muck has been written about
this new recording that anyone
interested in Mahler cannot but
help having read a number of
reviews. I would only add to
others' praise that the import-
ance of Horenstein's Mahler is
that it illustrates most clearly
the composer's sources without
exaggerating the way in which
Mahler transforms his mater-
Masses
ial. For instance, the use of
landler does not turn into, as
it tends to under Bernstein, a
danse macabre; programmatic
devices - bird calls, hunting
horns - are not forced into any
greater symbolism of a larger
neurotic yearning. The London
Symphony Orchestra provides
the conductor with the quality
of precision and first chair ex-
pertise that are found wanting
on his Vox discs. Nonesuch via
Dolby offers beautifully clear
and full sound.
(Editor's note: R. A. Perry is
a past Books Editor and class-
ical reviewer for the Daily.
(
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