2 DVD - 002.2010 - (c) 2010

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)







Messe in C-Dur, Op. 86 51' 00"
DVD1
- Gloria (Allegro con brio)


- Credo (Allegro con brio)


- Sanctus (Adagio)


- Benedictus (Allegretto ma non troppo)


- Agnus Dei (Poco andante)


Symphonie Nr. 5 in C-moll, Op. 67 37' 00"
DVD1
- Allegro con brio


- Andante con moto


- Allegro


- Allegro Presto






BONUS: "Making of Beethoven!" - A documentary by Günter Schilhan 73' 00"
DVD2




 
Julia Kleiter, Soprano

Elisabeth von Magnus, Alto

Herbert Lippert, Tenot

Geert Smits, Bass



Arnold Schoenberg Chor / Erwin Ortner, Chorus master


Chamber Orchestra of Europe

Marieke Blankestijn, Violin (concert master) Kate Gould, Violoncello
Sophie Besançon, Violin Sally Jane Pendlebury, Violoncello
Fiona Brett, Violin Howard Penny, Violoncello
Christian Eisenberger, Violin Enno Senft, Kontrabass
Ulf Forsberg, Violin Denton Roberts, Kontrabass
Lucy Gould, Violin Lutz Schumacher, Kontrabass
Iris Juda, Violin Eline van Esche, Flute
Matilda Kaul, Violin Josine Buter, Flute
Birgit Kolar, Violin Magdalena Martinez, Piccolo
Sylwia Konopka, Violin Giorgi Gvantseladze, Oboe
Maria Kubizek, Violin Rachel Frost, Oboe
Elissa Lee, Violin Martin Spangenberg, Clarinet
Stefano Mollo, Violin Marie Lloyd, Clarinet
Frederik Paulsson, Violin Matthew Wilkie, Bassoon
Joseph Rappaport, Violin Christopher Gunia, Bassoon
Nina Reddig, Violin Ulrich Kircheis, Contrabassoon
Aki Sauliere, Violin Jonathan Williams, Horn
Henriette Scheytt, Violin Jan Harshagen, Horn
Martin Walch, Violin Peter Richards, Horn
Mats Zetterqvist, Violin Josef Sterlinger, Horn
Pascal Siffert, Viola Nicholas Thompson, Trumpet
Gert-Inge Andersson, Viola Julian Poore, Trumpet
Stewart Eaton, Viola Christopher Dicken, Trumpet
Ida Grøn, Viola Håkan Bjorkman, Trombone
Dorle Sommer, Viola Karl Frisendahl, Trombone
Stephen Wright, Viola Nicholas Eastop, Bass trombone
William Conway, Violoncello Geoffrey Prentice, Timpani
Tomas Djupsjöbacka, Violoncello



Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Dirigent

 
Luogo e data di registrazione
Helmut-List-Halle, Graz (Austria) - giugno 2007
Registrazione live / studio
live
Producer / Engineer
Steierische Kulturveranstaltungen GmbH
Prima Edizione CD
-
Prima Edizione DVD
Styriarte  - 002.2010 - (2 dvd) - 88' 00" + 73' 00" - (c) 2010 - NTSC - Stereo

AD NOTAM
Mass in C Major, Op. 86
"But dear Beethoven, what is it you have done here?" Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy asked the composer after the premiere of Mass in C Major. The prince had commissioned Beethoven to follow in Haydn’s footsteps and create a mass in celebration of his wife Princess Maria Hermenegild’s name day. What the prince received, however, was neither obedient, courtly music of celebration, nor was it a continuation of Haydn’s tradition. Beethoven had defied so many musical conventions even with the opening notes of this Ordinary of the Mass that the tradition-conscious listeners at the court in Eisenstadt completely turned up their noses at the piece. Even ten years later, the Allgemeine musikalische Zeiung declared that the piece had abandoned what had been considered sacred style for centuries. Beethoven had broken new ground and it was this which drew the prince’s arrogant comment. The maestro answered by promptly departing and refused to dedicate the piece to the prince. When his Mass in C Major was finally published as Opus 86 in 1812, it was dedicated to Prince Kinsky.
Beethoven wrote to the Breitkopf publishing company, “I do not like to speak of my mass, much less of myself, but I do believe that few others have approached the text as I have,” showing that he was well aware he had interpreted the Ordinary of the Mass in a new fashion. Newspapers of the time, attempting to grasp this innovation in words, referred to it as a “noble approach in which only that which is holy manifests itself.”
Beethoven had indeed radically distanced himself from the conventions of the classical cantata mass, conventions which Haydn and Mozart before him had considered obligatory. The maestro had chosen to exclude conventional arias and virtuosic displays by the soloists as well as concerto-like pomp in the orchestra. The resulting piece is symphonic, in the truest meaning of the term, with an organic consonance aimed only at attaining that which is holy.
“To come ever nearer to the divine in order to inspire its radiance in mankind - there is nothing more noble,” wrote Beethoven in his diary. What he meant by divine however was not so much the festively celebrated God of the Catholic Church but rather the everlastin and transcendental creator, whose manifestation is visible in the natural world, Beethoven's desire to compose his music in honour of that which is all-powerful, everlasting and without end had two consequences for his Mass in C Major. Firstly, emotion replaces representation and, secondly, instead of outward pomp, we hear an emphasis more exceptional than any other, an emphasis which stretches past the four corners of the earth to reach the eternal.
In order to ensure the simplicity of the holy, Beethoven drew on an archaic stylistic device, syllabic declamation. There are virtually no melismas in the choral sections of the Mass, with the exception of the great concluding fugues. Syllable by syllable and in emphatic simplicity, the text is declaimed in simple note values. This is especially true in both of the longer movements, Gloria and Credo.
All tone painting, every element that depicts and paints, is created by the orchestra, if at all. The instruments often participate in the declamation, lending themselves as one more voice in an old-style counterpoint with even the soloists adapting themselves to this ideal. Arnold Schmitz wrote, “One would search in vain, not only in contemporary productions of average merit but also in those of Mozart and both Haydns, for accompaniment of this kind, which follows the meaning and diction of the liturgy.”
In his analysis of the piece, the composer, critic and poet, E.T.A. Hoffmann, describes the expression that is created as that of childlike emotion, which stands in contradiction to the expected. As he writes, “Beethoven’s genius sets in motion the lever of awe, of horror. In this way, the critic believes, viewing the supernatural would also fill the soul with fear and that he could express this feeling in notes. However, what is created is an expression of a childlike, mirthful soul - a soul which, thanks to its purity, believes in the mercy of God and cries to him, as to a father who wants the best for his children and hears their pleas.” What Hoffmann neglects to mention are the virtually insatiable, expansive moments in the piece. The Sturm und Drang produced in the presence of the Almighty in the Mass in C Major closely resembles examples in the Missa Solemnis.
Regarding the individual movements of the piece, the Mass begins, without any overture, with a Kyrie by the basses. The descant voices intonate over them with a “sweet theme”, which, as Hoffmann states, is the “prayer of a child confident in mercy and fulfilment.” The theme’s arch blossoms in a rapid crescendo and is then superseded by a second contrapuntal theme from the soloists, which soon leads off into a sombre minor. The Christe, a short, intimate a cappella quartet by the soloists, brings the piece back around to the major. Beethoven researcher Joseph Kerman observed one and the same emotional curve six times within this one movement, calling it a murmur leading to an expectant back and forth, followed by a fearful plea. It is not until the end that the tension is released in a chain of wonderfully suspended chords.
The choir’s Gloria begins attacca and without any lead in. It is wild, an outcry, with the violins striving rapidly heavenward, Ini excelsis Deo. This beginning stands in stark contrast to the quiet Et in terra pax, a nearly halting song of supplication. The Laudamus, however, takes up the Gloria's ecstatic style once more. Beethoven entrusted the solo tenor with the simplest declamation of the Gratias agimus. Like a precentor at mass, the choir answers him in interjections. The Qui tollis is dominated by anxious melodics, an alto solo in F minor, which is accentuated by the strings' sighs, the choir’s pleading misereres and finally, by the four soloists. The Quouiam is, as Hoffmann puts it, a “rather jubilant unison” and the Cum sancto spiritu is a completely free, powerfully escalating fugue.
Hoffmann found the Credo to be a living, fiery movement, whose manifold imitations emerge in a well-ordered, delightful manner. It is much more than just that, however. It is a moment of awe in the presence of God, a mysterious ripple that escalates rapidly towards fortissimo. Ecstasy seizes the entire ensemble, the string figure rolls upward and the choir sharply chants the lines of the creed. A brief clarinet solo segues into the Incarnatus, a quartet of soloists sung over plucked strings, folk-like in its simplicity. The choir’s sombre declamation of the Crucifixus is answered by the soloists with the utmost trepidation in the Passus et sepultus est. Hoffmann describes the movement as enacted in a muffled manner in which the bass solo elevates the Et resurrexit in common time. He goes on to praise the movement as vigorous and ingenious, with alternating tutti and solos as well as manifold imitations, which bear witness to the maestro’s imagination. Furthermore, Hoffmann declares the appearance of the Et vitam a jubilant fugue theme.
The beginning of Beethoven’s Sanctus, much like Schubert’s later version, is immersed in mysterious, pianissimo notes. Schmitz claimed the silence of eternity could be heard more clearly here than in the line “Can you sense your creator?” in the finale of Beethoven`s Symphony No. 9. Hoffmann describes this movement as gentle and stirring, thanks in part to the instrumental atmosphere created by the oboes, A clarinets, middle string instruments and bassoons. The four soloists start the Benedictus unaccompanied. This is yet another simple song of thanks to heaven, which is later taken up by the choir. In 1815, one critic wrote that the soul dwells in the Benedictus quartet, immersed in the glory of the eternal with the continual recurrence of the theme in every harmonic composition. The same critic goes on to describe the segue between the pious song of supplication, Agnus Dei, into the Dona nobis pacem, full of solace and delight, as being of indescribable impact. The Agnus Dei’s triplet bebungs in sombre C minor set up the choir’s pleas. In the Dona nobis pacem, they pass over into a radiant C major, a per aspera ad astra, which corresponds to the segue between the scherzo and the finale in the fifth. The simple, sober music of the Kyrie returns here at the end to round up the mass.
In regards to the piece’s impact, E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote that the tempos are not overhasty, as had unfortunately become the custom at the time, and that the singers and musicians endeavour to do justice to this ingenious piece by adhering exactly to the piano and the forte as well as all other forms of expression. Thus, not only the connoisseur is lifted up and affected but also the listener who is unable to delve into the actual essence of the piece.

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
It is understandable that a work as popular as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 should be entwined with anecdotes. One of these is particularly characteristic of the piece: Beethoven’s triumphant C major tones so compellingly suggested the heroic figure of Emperor Napoleon, that a veteran of the Grand Armée jumped up after just the first bars had been played and called out, “C’est l’empereur! Vive l’empereur!”.
Beethoven, however, very unlikely sought to create a political association of that kind. In fact, in 1808, as Vienna was threatened by war, Beethoven aligned himself with those who stood against the Emperor. The great per aspera ad astra of Beethoven’s Symphony in C minor does suggest a heroic battle and perseverance in the face of fate, but on a very general level, not affiliated with the warring parties. And yet, the Symphony is a piece of combative vigour, an expression of Beethoven’s wish to understand military strategy as well as he understood the art of composing. He was convinced that were this the case, he could certainly defeat the French emperor.
Napoleon and his Grand Armée have the Symphony No. 5 to thank at least for their emotional appeal as Beethoven concretely borrows from the French revolutionaries’ songs for his piece. The throbbing rhythm at the beginning of the piece was inspired by Cherubini’s Hymne dn Panthéon, with the heroic oath, “We swear, with iron in our hands, to die for the Republic and the rights of mankind.” The music of the revolution’s aesthetic ideal, namely the elan terrible and éclat triumphal, are classically manifested in Symphony No. 5.
The first movement is the most extreme execution of elan terrible imaginable. It is unrelenting in its development of the famous opening motif charging ahead almost without caesura and with only a scarce idyll in the secondary theme, which is accompanied by an unsettling basic rhythm. When confronted with the manner in which this movement unrelentingly charges ahead, Wilhelm Furtwängler once asked himself how Beethoven could be considered a classical composer, “It is made up of just the driest facts, no ambiance. Is that a classical composer? At any rate, not a romantic one. It has nothing to do with these historical terms. It is the sculptor, or better yet, the dramatist who speaks here. It is all development, everything is portrayed at the moment it is acted out”.
Even the flowing andante con moto of the second movement, with the cellos’ stirring notes in A flat major, is interrupted by the brute force fanfare of military music, creating a triumphant episode which detaches itself from the main theme in unrestricted variations.
If the Symphony’s climax and ultimate objective is the segue between the sombre C minor into the radiant C major, then Beethoven’s segue in the scherzo and finale is consummate. The musical path starts with the tentative beginning of the scherzo and continues on to the theme’s blaring horns, finally arriving at the overwhelming escalation just before the break through to C major, with this immense arc of tension being interrupted by the contrapuntal trio. In the finale, Beethoven summons all the sounds of the éclat triumphal: vibrant trumpets, blaring horns, trombones and piccolos and a constant wave of string and woodwind instruments. There is no differentiation of expression here. Rather, the nervous emphasis of victory and the insatiableness of apotheosis reign supreme here - until the notorious conclusion that can find no end.

Josef Beheimb
(Translation: Fiona Begley)

At the first rehearsal in the Helmut-List-Halle in Graz, Nikolaus Harnoncourt surprised the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with his own insights into the Fifth Symphony, which was completed at about the same time as the Mass in C Major.
“In the preparation for this concert, I found out two things: The Mass and the Symphony were composed simultaneously. Whenever Beethoven got in the wild mood of the Symphony, he composed the Symphony, and when ideas of piety and smoothness came up to him, he shifted to the other table in order to compose the Mass. I think this is very interesting for the programme, you can feel the connection. But until one week ago, I did not know what the Symphony really means.
Now, I am convinced that the first movement of the Symphony shows how a population is depressed because of dictatorship: everybody is afraid, every justice is injustice, people have been imprisoned, and nobody knows why. So it is maybe a pre-revolution situation, the main point being that there is no justice. The famous beginning means people in chains who want to free themselves. This goes through the whole piece. There is a great revolutionary energy in the work, not a victorious energy, but the energy of the oppressed. The second subject is like a vision of light: How could it be if we all were free? The main part of the first movement is really
bold.
The second movement - I am sure - means a prayer. Here in Graz, I was a boy during Nazi time, and it was not really allowed for us to go to church. So, to go there was a prayer of the believing part of the population who prayed: "Please, God, free us from that oppression." That is what Beethoven meant with the first subject of the second movement. In the middle sections of the variation movement you can hear the others who do not believe in God: Your prayer is for nothing. We have to take our guns and free ourselves from oppression without God’s help!
The third movement is a revolution of the students who are very idealistic, but not very effective. In the trios we hear the students with their student song, in the main part the real population who say: Wait! That is what the beginning of the movement tells us. "Let us wait for the right moment." In the great repetition it is the story of the act of liberation.
What does the end of the Symphony mean, when the trombones, the piccolo flute and the double bassoon come in? It is open air music, it has something to do with agitation. It is victorious, triumphant music: Now, we have won!"


Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929-2016)
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