BaL 18.01.14 - Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea

[ardcarp]

I thought Tess K did a really excellent job with such a huge spread of editions and performance styles. 'Editions' is hardly the word, since no definitive version exists. A huge amount of time must be spent by musical directors making performing versions, not only deciding what to include or leave out but also virtually 're-orchestrating' the whole thing. The Raymond Leppard opening simfonia sounded like a different work! This is not to criticise him, for he was a great pioneer in this field, but the sound made by Venixiana with its continuo-focused approach is light-years away...and I love it. I'm not into DVDs, but the Christie seems worth it if only for Jarousky and DdN. Not so sure about the ever-present harpsichord. Venixiana's continuo group seems so 'right'.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'm interested in the low number of replies on this thread compared with what we generate on most post-c1750 works.

Possibly because the performing traditions of the Monteverdi operas don't have the recorded history of the later repertoire. There are no recordings of Poppea supervised by Walter Legge or John Culshaw that some of us have owned for forty or fifty years that we cannot bear to part with (and which we are outraged to hear dismissed or slighted by some young flibbertyjibbet reviewer in their forties in favour of a more modern recording).

Monteverdi is one of the great beneficiaries of the HIPP tradition: sublime Music that was practically ignored in previous generations. I suspect that, if there is an equivalent programme in another fifty years, our equivalents will get quite as hot under the collar that the La Venixiana recording was summarily rejected as "too epic" by the reviewer. Thus shall the tradtion flourish.

Meanwhile, search around and you can find a recording conducted by Karajan. A sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54LwNThC_Q

[ostuni]

Spot on, fhg! And that Karajan is truly remarkable...

[doversoul1]

Dear Andrew
We/I hadn’t forgotten that La Venixiana’s Poppea was your choice for the CD of the Week back in 2010. That was the major reason why I wasn’t surprised by today’s BaL choice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/q6nv

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Is the review available online?

Here's a link to my review of the two Spanish Poppeas on DVD:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1073%3Amonteverdi-lincoronazione-di-poppea&catid=12%3Advd&Itemid=1

[ardcarp]

sublime Music that was practically ignored in previous generations

Practically...but not quite. Nadia Boulanger was known to have introduced her students to the repertoire in a singing round a grand piano sort of way. This was continued in turn by some of the said students with their students, and this all before 1960. The musical sound was far removed from Monteverdi as we know him, but my point is that there were pioneers who recognised his greatness.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Practically...but not quite. Nadia Boulanger was known to have introduced her students to the repertoire in a singing round a grand piano sort of way. This was continued in turn by some of the said students with their students, and this all before 1960. The musical sound was far removed from Monteverdi as we know him, but my point is that there were pioneers who recognised his greatness.

I agree, ardy - the "practically" was intended. Tippett was also involved with Monteverdi performance in the 1940s, and Robert Craft programmed his work in the '40s and 50s - introducing Stravinsky to the sound world that seeps into the opening of The Rake's Progress. But, apart from those French EMI Boulangeries, I believe that the repertoire was untouched by the bigger, "mainstream" recording artists and companies until the emergence of the HIPP artists.

[ardcarp]

Agreed, and thanks for your informed reply.

[verismissimo]

... This despite the undoubted privilege of enduring a concert performance by Kent Opera under a certain R Norrington in 1975. Something about beautiful moments but boring quarter-hours came and still comes to mind

I was there too, LMP, in my case in Cheltenham. And I was hooked. But then it takes all sorts...
Most recently I saw the Glyndebourne production with its bewitching sounds from the OAE, the wonderful singing of Ms Coote and the enchanting stage presence of DdN.

[MickyD]

Harnoncourt's Zurich performance got mentioned, but did Tess Knighton ignore his earlier version for Das Alte Werk with Elisabeth Soderstrom? I have never heard this and would love to hear any comments about it. Must sound dated by now, I guess.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Harnoncourt's Zurich performance got mentioned, but did Tess Knighton ignore his earlier version for Das Alte Werk with Elisabeth Soderstrom? I have never heard this and would love to hear any comments about it. Must sound dated by now, I guess.

I think she did mention it - she certainly mentioned Soderstrom, and gave an illustration from Esswood, which I found utterly ravishing - this is the set I want to get! (Did he sing on the later Harnoncourt set?)

Ah! Yes, he does - but Soderstrom was definitely mentioned at least in passing (not enthusiastically, nor dismissed out of hand).

EDIT: "mention it" added in the interests of making sense!

[ostuni]

No, she did play a clip from the old Harnoncourt CD, featuring Esswood's Ottone. I can't remember what she said about the rest of the singing, though.

I have to say that I feel exactly the same about her winning choice as I did when Andrew first featured it on CDR. Yes, it's great to have an all-Italian cast, and the accompaniment is all the better for not indulging in Jacobs-style excesses (though surely Cavina's continuo lineup is rather more numerous than Monteverdi would have expected?). But then that final duet - with those ghastly added 9ths in the harpsichord, and the 'bluesy' slides and deliberately out-of-time singing. What are they playing at? It ruins it, for me anyway. What do others think?

[MickyD]

Thanks folks..I must have another listen, obviously I was out of the room at the time the old Harnoncourt version got a mention!

Ostuni, I do agree with your comments regarding the winning version - with all those strange things going on, the final duet is pretty much unrecognisable, in my opinion. I know she didn't care much for Jacobs, but his treatment of the final duet is much more to my taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eay2LN8YLyY&list=FLBc5HbFSu_TDvzxC8-xga4Q&index=3

[ostuni]

Thanks for that Youtube of Jacobs - very nice singing from Guillemette Laurens (Nerone). Youtube's links on that video took me to a lovely compilation of no less than 12 Pur Ti Miro duets, here. Many of Tess Knighton's recordings are there; I've only just had a quick whizz through, but very much enjoyed the singing of both Miah Persson & Sarah Connolly on the Liceu/Bicket staged version. My favourite singing, though, is Nuria Rial and Philippe Jaroussky with L'Arpeggiata - video no 4 (the Mezzo one) is less self-indulgent than no. 1, which features the same performers. Nuria Rial is a marvellous singer for this sort of music: it's a shame that she hasn't recorded the complete work.

BTW, was I mis-remembering the Esswood extract from yesterday? It might well have come from the later Harnoncourt version. But I agree, Esswood sounded (unusually) good there - he was almost always a disappointment for me on the Harnoncourt Bach recordings, too often sounding like a poor imitation of Kathleen Ferrier...

[MickyD]

I did the same on YouTube, worked my way through the many versions...but sadly nobody appears to have posted the earlier Harnoncourt one. A pity, Ostuni, that Esswood is not to your taste in the Bach repertoire...his version of "Erbame Dich" in the old Harnoncourt version is one of my favourites.