Schmidt (Das) Buch mit sieben Siegen
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Schmidt
Label: EMI
Magazine Review Date: 10/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 107
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 556660-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Das) Buch mit sieben Siegeln |
Franz Schmidt, Composer
Alfred Reiter, Bass Bavarian Radio Chorus Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Christiane Oelze, Soprano Cornelia Kallisch, Contralto (Female alto) Franz Schmidt, Composer Franz Welser-Möst, Conductor Friedemann Winklhofer, Organ Lothar Odinius, Tenor René Pape, Bass Stig Andersen, Tenor |
Author: Robert Layton
Franz Welser-Most’s recording of the Schmidt Fourth Symphony and the Variations on a Hussar’s Song (EMI, 1/96) won a Gramophone Award two years ago – and deservedly so. In it he showed complete sympathy with Schmidt’s world and sensibility, and so it is only natural that he should now turn to what many admirers consider Schmidt’s masterpiece, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (“The Book with Seven Seals”). It was immediately after finishing the Fourth Symphony that Schmidt turned to the last book of the New Testament, the Revelation of St John the Divine, for his text. The score occupied him during 1935-7 and was first given at the Grossersaal of the Vienna Singverein in June 1938, only a year before his death. Along with Wilhelm Sinkovitz’s notes, the EMI booklet reproduces Schmidt’s own commentary on the work included in the 1938 programme-booklet.
There are already four rival versions available. As I said when reviewing the Calig release under Horst Stein, nobility shines through almost every bar of the score – mind you, one can say this of almost everything Schmidt wrote. The Mitropoulos recording which derives from a performance at the 1959 Salzburg Festival falls into a special category and even if some collectors may hesitate at the prospect of a mono recording nearly 40 years old, it has the authority of Anton Dermota – who had taken part in the 1938 premiere – as the Evangelist, as well as the inspired direction of Mitropoulos. As I said at the time, this performance seems to me “to sing with a special fervour” and should not be overlooked.
However, this new recording sees off the rest of the competition listed above with ease. DJF wrote appreciatively of Schreier on the Zagrosek recording but was less convinced by the other singers, and although I found much to admire in the Calig recording under Horst Stein, who also conducts with dedication and sympathy, I thought the recording “by no means state-of-the-art”, with a texture wanting in freshness and transparency and needing a deeper front-to-back perspective. The new Munich recording offers much finer sound, and a performance of great commitment and grandeur. Schmidt portrays John as a young man and apparently wished to have a Heldentenor rather than a lyric tenor sing the role, and this is observed here. The singing throughout is of impressive quality from all concerned – and in particular Stig Andersen – and the sensitive orchestral response leaves no doubt of all the artists’ belief in this visionary and often inspired work. On almost every count this new Bavarian performance does justice to Schmidt’s masterpiece. The technical balance of the recording has been most expertly and musically done. Readers who have been impressed by the Schmidt symphonies and in particular Welser-Most’s Fourth need not – and should not – hesitate.'
There are already four rival versions available. As I said when reviewing the Calig release under Horst Stein, nobility shines through almost every bar of the score – mind you, one can say this of almost everything Schmidt wrote. The Mitropoulos recording which derives from a performance at the 1959 Salzburg Festival falls into a special category and even if some collectors may hesitate at the prospect of a mono recording nearly 40 years old, it has the authority of Anton Dermota – who had taken part in the 1938 premiere – as the Evangelist, as well as the inspired direction of Mitropoulos. As I said at the time, this performance seems to me “to sing with a special fervour” and should not be overlooked.
However, this new recording sees off the rest of the competition listed above with ease. DJF wrote appreciatively of Schreier on the Zagrosek recording but was less convinced by the other singers, and although I found much to admire in the Calig recording under Horst Stein, who also conducts with dedication and sympathy, I thought the recording “by no means state-of-the-art”, with a texture wanting in freshness and transparency and needing a deeper front-to-back perspective. The new Munich recording offers much finer sound, and a performance of great commitment and grandeur. Schmidt portrays John as a young man and apparently wished to have a Heldentenor rather than a lyric tenor sing the role, and this is observed here. The singing throughout is of impressive quality from all concerned – and in particular Stig Andersen – and the sensitive orchestral response leaves no doubt of all the artists’ belief in this visionary and often inspired work. On almost every count this new Bavarian performance does justice to Schmidt’s masterpiece. The technical balance of the recording has been most expertly and musically done. Readers who have been impressed by the Schmidt symphonies and in particular Welser-Most’s Fourth need not – and should not – hesitate.'
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