August 8, 2014

  • Academic Exercise Completes Two Enescu Works

     

    Enescu: Isis; Symphony No. 5
    Marius Vlad, tenor. NDR Chor; Deutsche Radio Philharmonie/Peter Ruzicka
    CPO 777 823
    Total Time:  60:39
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    When this disc appeared for review, I was a bit intrigued and confused as I had only known Enescu to have completed three symphonies.  The Rumanian composer George Enescu (1881-1955) is primarily remembered today for his orchestral rhapsodies and is otherwise a bit of a footnote to musical history.  He was a brilliant orchestrator whose other works remain unjustly neglected all the same.  Part of this is due as much to the period in which he lived with its world conflicts casting him into the role of exiled musician and conductor.  The present disc features two recently orchestrated works by Enescu musicologist Pascal Bentoiu.

    As a composer, it is a bit disconcerting to think that your sketches may someday be mined for more music by someone else.  There is usually good reason why a work is abandoned.  The explanation given in the CD notes here is that Enescu’s own bursts of creativity meant that many of his works are in sketched form—highly suspect commentary.  In the case of Isis, the music was sketched out onto three staves containing some specifications for instrumentation.  Even the notes suggest that the music itself had many corrections, crossed out sections and emendations making it difficult to determine the composer’s intentions.  I may wryly suggest that his suggestion was to junk the work which is why it was left incomplete.

    That snide commentary aside, Isis at its surface is a somewhat Impressionistic ethereal work originally begun in June 1923.  The personal connections refer to his mistress, and later wife, Maruca Cantacuzini whose pet name was Isis.  Mythologically it technically refers to the Egyptian goddess.  There are a couple of primary themes that flirt across the texture a la Debussy more than Wagner (which is suggested by the annotator).  The female chorus tends to float in and out of the instrumental texture here.  The result is a musical style reminiscent of the period and akin to Florent Schmitt.  The problem is that the work feels very episodic and disconnected, though not without some moments of great beauty.  It can be heard as a lesser Impressionistic work of the 1920s with touches that sometimes feel far more contemporary than one would expect.  Some of the big climactic moments are interesting but the work flounders under the 20-minute playing time and becomes more a curious academic exercise.  It sort of just floats away in the final bars.

    Enescu evidently sketched out the music for what might be a fifth symphony by the end of July 1941.  Here the first movement feels more fully-formed with complete orchestration up to the recap.  The second movement features reflections of Rumanian folk music.  The third movement is a fast-paced scherzo that features some thematic unity with the opening movement and provides a link to the final movement which is a marche funebre.  This last movement includes a setting of Rumanian poet Mihail Eminescu’s “I Have One Last Wish.”  This is certainly an opportunity to connect this work with Enescu’s life struggles and the growing tensions of WWII perhaps.  The lushness of Enescu’s writing gets a chance to be heard a bit here and one can appreciate the general shape and beautiful textures he pulls out of the orchestra.  This is the sort of longing ultra-romantic musical styles one hears in works by Scriabin, or Alfven.  The music is already a bit unusual for 1940, but no less beautiful and at times a sort of menace seems to enter into the music hinting at things to come.  There is an almost Mahler-ian feel to this music in spots.  Some of the material is really stunning.  The real issues come in how things transition between ideas which must have been the sketchiest of the material available.  So, the end is a somewhat interesting piece with gorgeous melodies that moves from rich orchestral ideas to somewhat nebulous ones along the way.  The music thus moves from a sort of stream of consciousness flow to episodic shifts.  Sometimes this works and the structure of the movements themselves can be sensed here.  It proves to be an interesting exercise all the same.  This can make the final movement feel a bit sprawling and unfocused at times.

    Conductor Peter Ruzicka likes to bring to light lesser-known composers and their masterpieces.  One can hope that he will take a look at the completed symphonies of Enescu.  These performances are interesting and bring to light possible orchestral essays by this neglected composer.  It is just hard to know sometimes just what is Enescu and just what is someone’s thoughts about what Enescu might have intended.  That is always murky water academically speaking.  The orchestra responds well though not without an occasional rough spot in ensemble (again this may be more an orchestration issue).  As a person who certainly appreciates Enescu’s music, I am somewhat grateful at the attempt here.  The fifth symphony is an interesting essay that can only hint at what Enescu might have accomplished more fully on his own.  Certainly it can lead the way to discovery of the other more serious works in his catalogue.