PAPAGENO: Right, then, that's still how it is!
Since there is nothing holding me back,
good night, thou false world!
-- most of our Magic Flute translations by Robert A. Jordan
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (b), Papageno; Berlin Philharmonic, Karl Böhm, cond. DG, recorded June 1964
Or in English: "Fare thee well, thou world of pain!"
[in English] John Brownlee (b), Papageno; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Bruno Walter, cond. Live performance, Dec. 26, 1942
by Ken
We were just looking at Mozart's and Beethoven's exceptional use of minor keys for opening movements of symphonies and concertos, and one point I could have made more explicit is how frequently -- among these admittedly infrequent cases -- the "thematic" material that inspires such a plan is more "motivic" than really melodic -- think of Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto (No. 20) or of Beethoven's Fifth and Ninth Symphonies.
But of course the minor mode doesn't preclude great tunes, and I think that's what planted the thought of this great moment from The Magic Flute in my head. It's the moment when Papageno the lowly bird-catcher is driven by his loneliness to the ultimate despair, and I think the Fischer-Dieskau performance in particular makes it clear that Mozart plays this moment "for real." (Not to worry, we're going to hear the complete scene, er, eventually.)
As I suggested in Friday night's "double preview," "Enter the bird-catcher; exit Sir Colin Davis," we're focusing this week on Papageno, though as we often do, we're going to start with the Overture.
OUR THREE PRINCIPAL PAPAGENOS
AND THEIR DISTINGUISHED CONDUCTORS
Sunday Classics: What comes after Mozart's and Beethoven's minor-key symphonic opening movements?
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What comes after the monumental, mysterious opening movement of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, which we heard last week? At the link, Christian Thielemann conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in what seems to me a grindingly prosaic rendering of the thunderingly dramatic scherzo.
by Ken
I realize I should have been saying more about this amazing music we've been hearing, dipping into the two symphonies apiece for which Mozart and Beethoven composed opening movements in the minor mode. But really, when it comes to an incandescent movement like the opening one of Mozart's great later G minor symphony, No. 40, could I really have said anything more helpful than, say, "Wouldja listen to that?" And ditto when it comes to the opening movements of Beethoven's Fifth and Ninth Symphonies. I mean, we're talking here about two of the monuments of human civilization, and I thought talking should take distant second place to listening.
My point was, if we accept that writing a minor-mode symphonic first movement is an uncommon and nervy thing to do, and is likely to happen only if a composer has been seized by some gripping musical material that requires it, where does he want to take his audience next?
"Sunday, Bloody Sunday" and the depths of Mozart's humanity
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The trailer for John Schlesinger's Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971)
by Ken
I tried to figure out how to work in a reference to Sunday, Bloody Sunday in writing earlier today about Mozart's Così, but couldn't figure out how to do it. I hoped maybe I'd find a clip online that shows the way director John Schlesinger used the great trio from Così to characterize his central character, a doctor (played by the great Peter Finch) who only now, in late mid-life, finds himself grappling with his sexual ambivalence. I came up empty, but it's still a great movie. I haven't seen it in ages, and probably ought to see it again.
The film was still very much on my mind when I reviewed Georg Solti's lovely first recording of Così fan tutte. Here's the trio from that lovely recording:
MOZART: Così fan tutte, K. 588: Act I, Trio, "Soave sia il vento"
Gentle be the breeze, Calm be the waves, And every element Smile in favour On their wish.
Pilar Lorengar (s), Fiordiligi; Teresa Berganza (ms), Dorabella; Gabriel Bacquier (b), Don Alfonso; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded 1973-74
And as long as we're listening to this glorious trio, here it is again, from Karl Böhm's 1962 Così recording.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (s), Fiordiligi; Christa Ludwig (ms), Dorabella; Walter Berry (bs-b), Don Alfonso; Philharmonia Orchestra, Karl Böhm, cond. EMI, recorded September 1962
In some odd way that I can't explain, there's a dividing line in Mozart's creative life, not between the three operatic masterpieces written with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte and the later Magic Flute, but between the second and third of the da Ponte operas, Don Giovanni and Così. It's fascinating how often conductors who are in the groove with The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni aren't with Così and Magic Flute, and vice versa. Somehow both Solti and Böhm seemed always to have a much stronger affinity for the later pair, Così and Magic Flute, than with Figaro and Don Giovanni.
Here is the great Act I farewell quintet -- often, and understandably, associated with the Così trio -- from Solti's later Magic Flute recording, and from Otto Klemperer's beautiful 1964 one. I've edited the quintet brutally, after the Three Ladies of the Queen of the Night have given Tamino and Papageno their marching orders for rescuing the Queen's daughter, Pamina, from the clutches of the supposedly evil Sarastro, and given Tamino a magic flute and Papageno a set of magic bells for protection, but we'll make that up some other time. (Recordings note: Böhm's glorious 1964 DG Magic Flute is one of my most beloved opera recordings, and I once had it on CD, but I can't find the CD edition. I could have dubbed it from LP, but I think Solti and Klemperer will represent this amazing music just fine, thank you.)
MOZART: The Magic Flute, K. 620: Act I, Quintet, "Lebet wohl! Wir wollen gehn!" . . . "Drei Knäbchen, jung, schön, hold und weise" . . . "So lebet wohl!"
THE THREE LADIES: Farewell, we are going. Farewell, until we see you again! [All are about to go.] TAMINO: Yet, fair ladies, tell us . . . PAPAGENO: How the castle may be found. TAMINO and PAPAGENO: How the castle may be found. THE THREE LADIES: Three boys, young, beautiful, gracious, and wise, will accompany you on your journey. They will be your guides, follow nothing but their advice. TAMINO and PAPAGENO: Three boys, young, beautiful, gracious, and wise, will accompany us on our journey. THE THREE LADIES: They will be your guides, follow nothing but their advice. ALL: So farewell, we are going; farewell, farewell, until we see you again!
Adrianne Pieczonka (s), Annette Kuettenbaum (ms), and Jard van Nes (c), Three Ladies; Uwe Heilmann (t), Tamino; Michael Kraus (b), Papageno; Vienna Philharmonic, Sir Georg Solti, cond. Decca, recorded May and Dec. 1990 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (s), Christa Ludwig (ms), and Marga Höffgen (c), Three Ladies; Nicolai Gedda (t), Tamino; Walter Berry (bs-b), Papageno; Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, cond. EMI, recorded March-Apr. 1964
[11/4/20111] Preview: Finally we're back where we started in Act III of "Tannhäuser" (continued)
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WAGNER: Tannhäuser: Act III, Wolfram, "Wie Todesahnung Dämmrung deckt die Lande" . . . "O du mein holder Abendstern"
Like a portent of death, twilight shrouds the earth and envelops the valley in its sable robe; the soul that yearns for those heights dreads to take its dark and awful flight. There you shine, o fairest of the stars, and shed your light from afar; your friendly beam penetrates the twilight gloom and points the way out from the valley.
O you my fair evening star, I always greeted you gladly; from a heart that never betrayed its faith, greet her if she passes by you, if she soars above this mortal vale to become a blessed angel in heaven.
Bryn Terfel, baritone; Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado, cond. DG, recorded 2000-01 [audio link]
NOW WE'RE GOING TO HEAR TWO MORE WOLFRAMS . . .
. . . one we've been tracking all through the series, Heinrich Schlusnus (1888-1952; this is his 1935 recording), plus -- in a near-contemporaneous recording -- a "new" Wolfram, from whom we'll be hearing more on Sunday, the outstanding lyric baritone Gerhard Hüsch (1901-1984).
WAGNER: Tannhäuser: Act III, Wolfram, "Wie Todesahnung Dämmrung deckt die Lande" . . . "O du mein holder Abendstern"
Heinrich Schlusnus, baritone; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Leo Blech, cond. EMI, recorded 1935 [audio link] Gerhard Hüsch, baritone; Berlin State Opera Orchestra, Hans Udo Müller, cond. EMI, recorded August 1936 [audio link]
I KNOW THIS IS A LITTLE CRAZY, BUT NOW WE'RE JUST GOING TO PLUNGE RIGHT IN . . .
. . . and hear the whole first half or so of Act III, from the Prelude through Wolfram's "O du mein holder Abendstern," right up to the moment of Tannhäuser's delayed return from his futile pilgrimage to Rome seeking absolution from the Pope. The conductor of our performance eventually recorded a complete Tannhäuser, but our extremely well-known Wolfram and Elisabeth never recorded their roles commercially.
We'll have proper English texts Sunday; for tonight, Milton Cross's plot synopsis will get us through.
WAGNER: Tannhäuser: Act III, from Prelude through Wolfram, "O du mein holder Abendstern"
Hermann Prey (b), Wolfram von Eschenbach; Leonie Rysanek (s), Elisabeth; Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georg Solti, cond. Live performance, Dec. 17, 1960 [audio link]
Note: Since the source CDs contain Act III without track points, I thought I'd take advantage of it and offer this chunk without the awkward track switches we usually have to endure, except that I've started Milton Cross's plot synopsis on a track of its own, which you can skip to go directly to the Act III Prelude. Then (and we'll be talking about all of this Sunday) --
7:55 -- Wolfram's act-opening "Wohl wusst' ich hier sie im Gebet zu finden" ("I knew well I would find her here in prayer") 11:18 -- The return of the Thuringian pilgrims -- all except Tannhäuser, that is -- from Rome 15:56 -- Elisabeth's haunting prayer, "Allmächt'ge Jungfrau" ("All-powerful Virgin") 22:30 -- Wolfram's plea to Elisabeth to let him accompany her, followed by his "Wie Todesahnung" recitative at 25:02 and finally "O du mein holder Abendstern" at 26:51
OKAY, YOU'LL FIND GERMAN AND ENGLISH TEXTS . . .
. . . for the portion of the scene up to Wolfram's "Wie Todesahnung" here.
