BaL 28.01.12 Mendelssohn's Elijah

[Nick Armstrong]

I caught up with this BAL earlier and enjoyed it much more than I expected. That said, my expectations were low - I haven't liked Mr Burnside's broadcasting style in the past and as made clear above have always been distinctly underwhelmed by 'Elijah'. But I found the comparative extracts were interesting both as regards soloists and choirs, and was interested to hear that one or two great performances can make the piece sound ok.

I always think it is the mark of a great composer that their work tends to sound great despite mediocre performances (within reason)... whereas Mendelssohn in my view comes in the second division: composers whose works often sound trite or dull in run of the mill performances but can sound great if given great performances (often by Abbado when it comes to Mendelssohn - interesting that he seems to have passed on 'Elijah'...)

[rank_and_file]

Having a bit of a senior moment I had forgotten that Andrew MacGregor told us we would have a “fairly extensive” extract played on “Essential Classics” today. I tuned in at 11.00 to hear the start of the Second part (number 21) and the extract ended, in essence at No 29 - just about one-sixth of the work. Was there any more earlier?

What surprised me after a few seconds was that this Salomaa, Isokoski, Groop, Ainsley, La Chapelle Royale / Herreweghe version was in German - something neither Burnside nor MacGregor made clear, although the short extract with Isokoski must have been in German?

Anyway, I said I was interested in seeing if there was a really good German version, and I will pass on this one despite Isokoski’s good soprano, more rounded and controlled than Gwyneth Jones on my Frubeck de Burgos version. Interestingly I see the latter is available on offer at MDT at £6.20 compared to £15.80 for the Herreweghe version.

To answer a few comments:
rauschwerk. I agree that the reviewer should have been given more time for a work which lasts well over 2 hours - a second-rate producer’s fault? Having said that, if a broadcaster knows the time available, surely he should pace his talk and extracts to the time available. Remember that Burnside ran out of time about two-thirds the way through the work, missing out the exciting No 34 - Behold! God the Lord passed by” and No 41a, the quartet.

verismissimo. You are very forgiving! I should have thought that the reviewers of Building a Library do need to be didactic above most things, whether we agree with their final educated choice. You suggest he was “cheerful” - I have used other words to describe how he came over to me, but I wonder if others heard the sneer in his voice concerning Isobel Baillie’s reputation, then playing an extract which I thought answered the sneer a hundred fold!

Caliban. I agree with your feelings about Mendelssohn and wonder how he would have developed as a composer had he not died in his late 30s. Certainly a precocious genius with the Octet etc, but “Paulus” for instance seems mediocre to my ears.

[Barbirollians]

How did Baker and de Burgos get on in the survey ? I am happy with it for Elijah's yearly outing on my CD player.

[rauschwerk]

I always think it is the mark of a great composer that their work tends to sound great despite mediocre performances (within reason)... whereas Mendelssohn in my view comes in the second division...

I disagree. Mendelssohn wrote a good number of absolutely first-rate works well beyond his teenage years: the Italian Symphony, the last four string quartets, the second string quintet, the violin concerto, Fingal's Cave, the string quintets, Variations Sérieuses for piano, at least one of the organ sonatas. No doubt there is more which I don't know.

I also disagree with your suggestion that the music of second rank composers is more susceptible to mediocre performances. I'm with Tovey who said, "Nothing is more false than the dictum that great music cannot be ruined by poor performance."

Mendelssohn worked under a great deal of pressure much of the time because of the demand for his services as pianist and conductor. He seems to have found it very difficult to say no to people. But he was an inveterate reviser: indeed, his sister Fanny (a trained composer) used to have a go at him for not finishing pieces. He would not have his second string quintet published in his lifetime because he was dissatisfied with the finale. We are fortunate that he never carried out his threat to radically rewrite the Italian symphony. After the first performance of Eliajh, you may recall, he walked along the banks of the Birmingham canals with the critic H F Chorley and asked him if there were any ways in which the work might be improved. How many composers, of any age, have displayed that kind of humility after a successful premiere?

[Panjandrum]

I haven't liked Mr Burnside's broadcasting style in the past

I wonder if your views about Burnside are the same as mine, viz he has a tendency to swallow the ends of his sentences so that they descend into inaudibility. Unless one is listening in a perfect acoustic environment much of what he says becomes unintelligible. I find myself shouting at the ipod, "Speak up man, dammit!" Ditto AMcG.

[aeolium]

I quite agree with what you say here, rauschwerk. You could also have mentioned the two piano trios, and the Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music, as well as some good overtures and songs. Berlioz was also very impressed by Die erste Walpurgisnacht. Indeed, it's interesting that two such different contemporary composers as Schumann and Berlioz thought so highly of Mendelssohn's work (though Berlioz commented that Mendelssohn was 'still a little too fond of the dead').

[verismissimo]

Front-rank, for sure. For me, his last string quartet (in F mi op80), written after the death of his sister, is a "desert island" work.

[rank_and_file]

Barbirollians.

From recollection we got a bit of D F-D, and a longer praised extract of Baker singing some recitatives: that was it.
Just out of interest I am adding something from "The Gramophone" Archives. We seem to have chosen well with our version!

MENDELSSOHN. Elijah—excerpts. Jones (sop.), Baker (cont.), Gedda (ten.), Fischer-Dieskau (bar.), New PO and Chorus/Friihbeck de Burgos HMV ASD2609 (45s.). From SAN212-4 (10/68). Excerpts: As God the Lord of .Israel liveth; Help, Lord! ; Ye people, rend your hearts. If with all your hearts; Baal, we cry to thee; Draw near, all ye people ... Lord God of Abraham; Is not His Word like fire?, Hear ye, Israel; Be not afraid; It is enough; He, watching over Israel; Arise, Elijah . 0 rest in the Lord; Night falleth round me . . . Behold! God the Lord passed by!; 0 come, everyone that thirsteth; And then shall your light break forth.
This is a very well chosen selection of numbers from the splendid performance and recording of Elijah which I reviewed with great enthusiasm in October 1968. One naturally regrets some of the omissions, such as the scene of the prophet's prayer for rain ending with the chorus "Thanks be to God". The sleeve-note gives all the scriptural references but it would have been helpful to have given also the numbers of each item in the vocal score. A.R.