Texte paru dans: / Appeared in: |
|
|
Outil de traduction ~ (Très approximatif) |
|
|
Reviewer:
Jerry Dubins Although the title of this album reads Celebratory Cantatas, which suggests a whole new category of Bach cantata genres, this is actually Volume 8 in Masaaki Sukuzi’s ongoing series of Bach’s Secular Cantatas project. The “Celebratory” classification is just a sub-group—designated by the New Bach Edition as “Music celebrating the Saxonian prince-electoral family”—within the larger “Secular” genus. With this latest entry, Suzuki has thus far given us 20 cantatas falling into one or another of the various “Secular” subtypes grouped by occasion.
The sovereign celebrated by both of the cantatas on this disc is Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. Though it has a higher BWV number, Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen (Praise your good fortune, blessed Saxony), BWV 215, was completed before BWV 206, but not by design. Bach had begun work on the earlier-numbered cantata, Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde (Glide, playful waves, and murmer gently), which was intended for Augustus’s birthday. But on October 2, 1734, the Polish King and his family made a surprise visit to Leipzig, and a festive event was hastily arranged for three days later to celebrate the anniversary of Augustus’s ascension to the Polish throne. Bach was asked to provide the musical entertainment and consequently had to put his work in progress on the birthday cantata, BWV 206, on hold. Doing his professional civic duty, Bach provided a festive cantata, BWV 215, on a libretto by one Magister Johann Christoph Clauder, a well-known man of letters. According to Klaus Hofmann’s extensive liner note, Clauder worked a good deal of politics into the text, with references to the irregularities and intrigues that attended Augustus’s kinging. Needless to say, it makes neither great poetry nor great prose. In any case, Clauder and Bach had exactly three days to complete their assignment. You could say that Bach cheated, though it was then a common and accepted practice. He used bits and pieces from some of his pre-existing works. Nonetheless, the end result is what counts, and I’m sure it impressed Augustus, his royal entourage, members of the Leipzig town council, and all else who attended the event on October 5, 1734.
Bach didn’t get around to picking up where he left off on BWV 206, the intended birthday cantata for Augustus, until two years later. When it was finally performed at the Zimmermann Café on October 7, 1736, the birthday boy wasn’t present, and it wasn’t even his birthday. According to his bio, the Augustus we’re dealing with here was born on October 17, 1696, and died on October 5, 1763. Is it just a freaky coincidence that the cantata, BWV 215, hastily composed for the celebration in 1734, also took place on October 5, 29 years to the day before his death?
The libretto to BWV 206 is by an unknown author. In it, arias for each of the four soloists represent a river—the Pleise (soprano) for Leipzig, the Danube (alto) for Austria, the Elbe (tenor) for Saxony, and the Vistula (bass) for Poland.The text thus provides Bach with a metaphor for Augustus, who is called upon to mediate fairly and justly between the competing currents, and gives Bach ample opportunities for several fast-paced arias that depict the rushing waves. The vocal soloists have lots of rapid melismatic warbling, and the orchestral players get plenty of robust rhythmic ritornellos and accompanying figuration.
For those who have followed Suzuki’s Bach cantata cycles, both sacred and secular, you can expect the same sharp articulation and high spirits from both singers and players, though as has been noted in previous reviews, the spirit can occasionally be more willing than the flesh is able, which is to say that there are a few burbles and cracks here and there—very few—mainly in the trumpets and once or twice in the oboe.
My main objection in the birthday cantata, BWV 206, however, is to the misguided (in my opinion) casting of the alto part for a countertenor. I’ve discussed this matter before, but just to reiterate, the male countertenor phenomenon was mainly an English thing. The Italians cut to the quick, so to speak, to make eunuchs of their boys, which then, by some bizarre twist of logic, made men of them so they could appear in male roles singing in a treble voice. The reasoning behind that is so nuts I’ll never understand it. The Germans, on the other hand, just let their boys be boys and sing treble parts until their voices changed.
It’s doubtful whether Bach would ever even have encountered such a creature as a countertenor—i.e., a fully grown and physically intact male alto—and if he had, he’d probably have thrown his wig down in disgust. I rather suspect, especially in these secular, festive occasion cantatas, that Bach would have employed female sopranos and altos. But if a conductor insists on assigning the alto part to a singer with an XY chromosomal arrangement, why not employ a pre-pubescent boy whose voice hasn’t changed yet? Moreover, what is the logical argument for using a male countertenor if you’re going to use a female soprano? And if you believe that Bach didn’t employ female soloists in his cantatas, then shouldn’t both parts go to boy singers? I’ll get off this subject now. The cantata, BWV 215, skirts the issue by having no part for alto voice; it calls only for soprano, tenor, and bass soloists. Both cantatas crackle with vigorous, foot-tapping arias and choruses in Bach’s familiar festive style. The soloists are in top form, dispatching their parts with distinction, and the Collegium Japan’s chorus is superb as always in the big choral numbers with trumpets and timpani that open and close each of the cantatas.
As I believe I’ve mentioned in a previous review, when it comes to Bach’s secular cantatas, I still tend to favor the performances by Helmuth Rilling on Hänssler. Rilling doesn’t buy into Suzuki’s countertenor option, using female alto soloists instead, and Rilling’s Bach Collegium Stuttgart is mainly a modern instruments ensemble, which purists may object to, but personally I find the playing a bit more polished for that. In any case, if you’ve been collecting Suzuki’s secular cantata releases, you won’t want to be without this one. | |
|
Support us financially by purchasing this disc from eiher one of these suppliers. 
FR -
U.S. -
UK
-
CA -
DE -
JA
-
 Un achat via l'un ou l'autre des fournisseurs proposés contribue à défrayer les coûts d'exploitation de ce site. |
|
|
|
|
|
Cliquez l'un ou l'autre
bouton pour découvrir bien d'autres critiques de CD |
|
