Beethoven: Der glorreiche Augenblick, Op. 136/Fantasia in c, Op. 80

Claire Rutter, soprano; Matilde Wallevik, mezzo-soprano; Peter Hoare,
tenor; Stephen Gadd, baritone; Marta Fontanals-Simmons, mezzo-soprano; Julian
Davies, tenor; Leon McCawley, piano. 
Westminster Boys Choir, City of London Choir, Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra/Hilary Davan Wetton

Naxos 8.572783

Total Time:  57:41

Recording:   ****/****

Performance: ****/****

The present release features two relatively rare works by Beethoven.  Neither would likely be considered “essential” works but the release is important because it makes these two lesser known works available on a single disc instead of as part of some massive Beethoven collection.  In the case of Der glorreiche Augenblick,
Op. 136, it may be the only recording available.  The Choral Fantasia, Op. 80, tends to also be a rarity though it occasionally finds its way onto complete piano concerto collection.

In American music, one tends to have plenty of opportunity
to hear patriotic works or music inspired by a composer’s own love for
country.  Beethoven was no stranger to
such patriotic hopes and dreams for his homeland, and Vienna in
particular.  Politically, he had his
moments of disillusionment noted most famously in his renaming of his third
symphony.  In fact, an earlier cantata
for the crowning of Emperor Joseph II (1790) may have been an equally good
template for the work on this release.  And
most certainly the finale of his ninth symphony looks forward to a uniting of
all people with great anticipation.  In
between comes a rather unusual work, Der
glorreiche Augenblick, Op. 126.  The
work is a massive cantata for four soloists, children’s chorus, and full chorus
with orchestra.  The work glorifies the
city of Vienna along with recognition for the kings and princes of Europe in
light of the defeat of Napoleon.  It was
premiered alongside the bombastic Wellington’s
Victory in 1814.  Commissioned by the
Vienna City Administration it was certainly the opportunity for an auspicious
work even if its text by Aloys Weissenbach (and later revised by Joseph Karl
Bernard) was a bit banal at times. 

Most fascinating in the cantata is the melding together of
Beethoven’s own style within this somewhat archaic musical form.  The opening chorus has fugal moments and text
setting and orchestration that one would expect in late Haydn.  It is perhaps Haydn whose shadow is cast most
over the piece at first, but this soon gives way to the sort of choral writing
Beethoven would use again in the ninth symphony.  Beethoven had also recently completed a
revision of his patriotic opera Fidelio
not long before and some of that martial musical style finds its way into the
present piece as well.  Throughout are
many gorgeous solos for violin and cello. 
The string writing can feel at times almost Baroque in its churning
energy and the grand entries of the chorus are certainly an advance upon the
big oratorio moments from Handel.    What is most wonderful is that the music has
a real joy and forward motion that engages its listener from the very
beginning.  In fact, anyone who adores
the ninth will find much here to enjoy as this writing in some ways sets the
stage for that later masterpiece.  At any
rate it is Beethoven at his height and while no one particular moment may stand
out, as a whole, this is still relatively wonderful music.

The performance here by the RPO and its cadre of soloists is
really about the best the work is likely to get on disc for quite a while.  There is not terribly much room for
overemphasis of dynamics or important accents, but when the orchestra is able
to get these moments it works very well and the chorus does equally well.  In fact, the recording does a great job of
imaging the chorus against the orchestra and wind and brass seem to be fairly
well balanced, though one gets to hear a bit more brass in climaxes cutting
through the texture.  The recording has a
good crisp sound with just the proper amount of ambience to warm the
performance.  With all the fugal entries,
it is truly amazing that one can fairly easily follow these lines as the
textures get more complicated.  The music
is certainly designed to get one up cheering by the exciting conclusion and
this committed performance certainly succeeds at creating that atmosphere.  Texts for the work are also included with the
booklet (worth noting since many Naxos releases use an on-line text delivery
system).

This reviewer had the opportunity to perform the Choral Fantasia, Op. 80, last year. 
At first glance, the work feels like one large mess that Beethoven
stitched together to create a great finale for the concert it would appear on
December 22, 1808.  The concert would feature
the premiere of both the fifth and sixth symphonies, the fourth piano concerto,
a vocal work, a choral piece, and the fantasia. 
The latter was to be the grand conclusion to the concert which must have
been quite an evening.  Famously the
rehearsals and performances did not go so well due to the demands being made on
the musicians.  The fantasia itself had
to be restarted at one point due to mis-entries and confusion.  If Beethoven had wanted to compose a work
that included everything but the kitchen sink, the Choral Fantasia certainly succeeds. 
The piece begins with a lengthy piano solo before the large orchestra
comes in, albeit briefly (and often not more than strings).  It is but one of the many surprises of the
piece which features moments that highlight a string quartet, piano quartet
wind quintet, and more.  The chorus comes
in only for the final bars.  But the work
is still amazingly bold and dramatic when all these forces are lined up on
stage and held at bay for much of the work’s near twenty-minute length.

While the opening work tends to focus mostly on the vocal
and choral performers, the fantasia allows for a great overview of most of the
orchestral players with plenty of solos for winds and brass or at least some
well exposed moments where they can demonstrate their balance within the total
ensemble.  The fact that the recording
must balance these larger and smaller forces is no doubt a challenge, but it is
handled wonderfully.  There is more made
here as well of accents and stylistic nuance that is able to be heard
throughout the whole of the work.  The RPO
is no stranger to Beethoven, and yet there is a freshness and energy in this
and the previous performance that zips the work along.  Leon McCawley, whose career started with wins
at the International Beethoven Piano Competition, brings a real understanding
to the work’s wavering between genres of chamber and large-scale style in ways
that help match the interpretation of the orchestral and choral entries.

Mozart/Beethoven: Ballet Music
Vasterås Sinfonietta/Roy Goodman
dB Productions 148
Total Time:  77:51
Recording:   ****/****
Performance: ****/****

The present release is an import from Sweden with a photo onits cover of Roy Goodman that looks like it belongs on a disc of swing musicfrom the 1940s.  That dance-master styleshot, though somewhat odd, is a bit appropriate to an album of ballet music insome ways.  The Vasterås Sinfoniettaconsists of “half-time” musicians who come together for this chamber ensemblethroughout the year.  Their attention to performancepractice of the 18^th and 19^th centuries is perhaps one ofmany remarkable traits that is on display in the present recording.

Ballet in the 18^th century was in many respects atrue cosmopolitan affair finding its main outlets in the  bustling cities of London, Paris, andVienna.  Part of this was due to one ofthe great early masters, Jean-Georges Noverre. Noverre would befriend Mozart and commission eventually his Les Petits Riens (1778).  The ballet music from Idomeneo (1781), rarelyheard in concert or on disc, makes for an interesting pairing with a later workby Beethoven, the two works some twenty years apart.  Beethoven would be more fortunate inobtaining a commission for his Creaturesof Prometheus from the Viennese court. But though both may claim a central home, they are quite distinct.

Mozart was no stranger to dance music having composedhundreds of minuets, contredanses, marches, serenades and other smaller “background”social music.  But the chance to includea ballet in his opera was part of a social expectation influenced by a Frenchpractice where ballets often were inserted into operas.  Many times the ballet would have nothing todo with the actual plot, or even have music by the same composer.  In Mozart’s case, he was able to compose themusic himself and there are four movements that are the result (K. 367).  If one is familiar with Rameau’s music, thereis certainly a sense that Mozart had the style in the back of his mind whenwriting these pieces.  The first “chaconne”is strikingly in a High Baroque style, minus a harpsichord continuo.  Paired winds are far less common in the musicthan one might expect and only gradually does the music seem to move closer tomore “Classical” style.  In fact, themusic owes a bit perhaps to Haydn’s music from the previous decade.

Beethoven’s ballet for dance master Salvatore Vigano is alsounique.  Vigano had developed a sort ofhybrid of mime and dance allowing the accompanying music to work quite similarto the way one perceives the underscore in a film—though far more prominent.  From a musical point of view, Creatures is most fascinating.  It too bears some resemblance to Haydn’s later,more firmly “Classical” style.  Haydn’s Creation oratorio was actually performedin the same venue as Beethoven’s work only two years prior.  The contrast in paired winds playing verymuch like one would expect is set against some quite beautiful solo writing forthem all.  And the colors as they arecombined with one another and with different string voices is quiteexquisite.  Something also worth notingis that this is one of the very few works where Beethoven wrote for harp whichappears first in the fifth movement with delicate and gorgeous solos for eachwind instrument.  The finale of theballet features a theme that would appear in the great conclusion to his Eroica symphony.

Pairing these two works together is quite revealing.  For in the Mozart we can hear that connectionto the Baroque and the bridge into the Classical style.  Too often, Mozart’s music tends to be used asexamples of form alone and we often miss the intriguing way his orchestralwriting can be very rooted in late-Baroque style.  It is something that actually occurs in hismore mature music whereas his early symphonies might perhaps be said to be morea Rococo effort linked more to the likes of J.C. Bach than his father.  Beethoven’s music too provides a fascinating listenas we hear classical orchestration quite firmly, with many of his dramatictouches beginning to shift into what we will eventually hear as forebears ofRomantic style.  Certainly the tempest ofthe introduction is one such place and the 14^th movement “allegrocon brio-presto” could easily fall into one of the first two symphonies.  Clarinetists will certainly wish the composerhad written a concerto for them with some of the great solo passages thatappear in the ballet (especially one in the “Solo della Signore Cassentini”movement).  Here in particular Beethoven’sdramatic style is very much a part of this music with punctuated drums andpercussion, and those great crescendos into brass fanfare sectionsforeshadowing the great orchestral works to come.

What makes these connections even easier to hear is thechamber orchestra itself which consists of some 30 players.  The Vasterås Sinfonietta certainly is on finefooting here in music that really showcases their sections and illustratestheir ability to capture the style of the period well.  The result is that many of the textures arecrystal clear and exposed in ways that allow a deeper appreciation for themusic itself.  Roy Goodman’s recordedrepertoire surely prepared him for such an understanding of capturing theessence of the style with tempos that work well for the music and bring out thetext without too much over-interpretation. There have been a few recordings of the Mozart over the years, includingperiod instrument ones (this is not a period instrument performance) and whilesome very good recordings of the Beethoven appeared in the mid 1990s, most ofthose recordings (save perhaps the one with the Orpheus Orchestra) featured farbigger ensembles than is heard here.  Andone might expect that the performances emphasize the more Romantic tendenciesof this music.  The overture has anynumber of fine performances by ensembles big and small.  But nowhere can you hear these two workstogether and performed with such amazing attention to period style and detail.

Highly recommended!