"Tragic" and fascinating Documentary on Elisabeth Schwarzkopf on Arte

The French-German cultural TV station Arte showed last week a fascinating documentary on Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. It may still be available on their site so I would recommend it.

I heard her last recital in Paris back in 1976 and yes her voice was just unique.

In this documentary emerges an artist always in pain never in peace and never happy. Her famous outbursts during masterclasses are those she may have had with herself although to be fair, the two singers she had to work with should not have been put in front of her.

I was not aware of her negative reaction towards Karajan. Maybe what she felt was that by redoing many of the works he had done with her, he was not paying her the respects she would have expected. The Rosenkavalier excerpt was just stunning and for all her artistry, Tomowa-Sintow could never achieve anything like this but then who could ?

Was this excerpt moving ? Thinking about it, probably not but the work on words, colours, projection was of such intensity. In a way, she always sang for herself and probably for her husband but was not a communicator like many of her peers. To make a parallel, I remember eating at a famous restaurant where the chef had the habit of visiting all of his clients. When he would come, he would never ask the question: "Are you enjoying your meal ?", he said "do you appreciate it ?", ie, my meals are really good but can you really appreciate it ? This was Schwarzkopf ...

François-René Duchable

I was yesterday at Victoria Hall to hear the "Orchestre de Ribaupierre" play Brahms Piano Concerto, the soloist in the first being the French pianist François-René Duchable.

International readers may not have heard of him but worked with Artur Rubinstein, played Bartok's third Piano Concerto with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in Salzbourg (I still have the tapes and they are just superb), developed a career then but decided to stop playing in mainstream concert performances in 2003. He actually dropped his piano in a lake ...

He lives near Annecy and performs very rarely at small events. He is recognizable with a trademark red shirt. In fact, I could not believe that I would have a chance to hear him since 2003 and until I saw him on stage was not even sure he was going to be there.

It is difficult to know exactly what prompted him to stop from playing. There are some artists who keep performing probably because they just need it: Gergiev, Barenboim, Domingo, Levine before his health problems ... For others, the act of performing must be a big challenge, physical as well as emotional as well as a deeply unsatisfying one.

Playing with a sympathetic but second-rate orchestra must be a way to relieve from the stress of appearing. Playing rarely must also ensure that routine does not come in. But when he played, it just spoke with eloquence and freshness. Five minutes of Duchable have more content than five hours of Lang Lang ...

Sweet new year

Evocative music

My review of the latest CD of the OSR is on line. One of the work played is Vincent d'Indy's Symphonie sur un chant montagnard. While I avoided any references to D'Indy antisemitic postures but pointed out the uniqueness of its music which resembles none other.

Stepping back, I am struck how a handful of composers manage to create sounds which are evocative of the landscape of their country. Not in a Mahler 3 way, which is an intellectual recreation but in a physical way. D'Indy would be one but so would be Sibelius or Copland with Appalachian Springs. I think that these are unique and would not exist in other, ie non classical, forms of music.

Mendelssohn's Orchestra

... the Leipzig Gewandhaus was in Geneva last week.

Just a few lines to mention how uniquely Germanic and old-fashioned this orchestra is. String tone is firmer and warmer while with more darker tones than say the Vienna Philh or more brilliant ensembles from the US. This enables the line to be maintained while bringing out inner voices very naturally. Who said that all orchestras sound the same and that all are mimicking baroque techniques ? Chailly played these works with Italaniesque fire and used an edition of the Reformation Symphony I had not heard before.

As usual, this concert was under-marketed. There were not even a single poster outside of Victoria Hall but Chailly and the Orchestra were perhaps there for the first time since the last 10 years or so. The hall was not full but on the other hand, silence and concentration were there and we all felt that Chailly and the musicians enjoyed the performance.

Will they make an Opera of it ?

Terra Ferma and EMI Act 5

André Chénier in Geneva and the importance of Subtitles

I was yesterday at the dress rehearsal of André Chénier at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. While it is unfair to make a comment on singers who were marking their roles, J Fiore's conducting was easy and fluid and John Dew staged a lively first part full of ideas with great costumes (there were an integral part of the staging ...) , lightning, ... clear action without sacrificing ideas.

I also surprised myself realising that the work is stronger than I remembered. My last encounter with this work was in 1985 while I was studying in London. The three principals were Domingo, Tomowa-Sintow and Zancanaro ... so singing could not but have been exceptional. But there were no subtitles at this time and this means that appreciating the work had to be limited. Giordano's music is often there to accompany the action and strongly so but one can only appreciate it if one can follow it very tightly.

This should apply to works where words and action are complex. Would the appreciation by modern audiences of say by Janacek be that great if subtitles had not made ease of following librettos far easier ?