{"id":15947,"date":"2013-11-13T09:09:12","date_gmt":"2013-11-13T14:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=15947"},"modified":"2013-11-13T09:09:12","modified_gmt":"2013-11-13T14:09:12","slug":"daily-album-review-12-virtually-unknown-beethoven-cantata-a-san-francisco-treat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2013\/11\/13\/daily-album-review-12-virtually-unknown-beethoven-cantata-a-san-francisco-treat\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily album review 12: Virtually unknown Beethoven cantata a San Francisco treat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (Bill Swerbenski photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two months after Beethoven’s 19th birthday, in 1789, Holy Roman Emperor (and Austrian monarch) Joseph II died. The outpouring of grief for a much loved king included a commission for a funeral cantata.<\/p>\n

Beethoven unfortunately,didn’t finish his Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II<\/em> in time for the planned memorial concert, and so the composer never got to hear it performed.<\/p>\n

But, like any practical craftsperson, Beethoven recycled chunks of the cantata into other pieces, including his multiple stabs at writing opera (which became Fidelio<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Joseph Haydn, one of the ever-rebellious Beethoven’s frustrated teachers, was at the peak of his pan-European fame in 1790, and we can hear distinct parallels to Haydn’s style in Beethoven’s music. Besides neat Classical-era forms, the music brims with clear efforts to underline deep emotion.<\/p>\n

The overt emotionalism may have felt familiar to the readers of Goethe, but Severin Averdonk’s libretto comes across as seriously overwrought in 2013. Even after multiple listens, I still find that the opening (and closing) chorus, with appropriate musical punctuation, makes me laugh involuntarily:<\/p>\n

Dead! Dead! Dead!<\/em>
\n A moaning is heard in the desolate night: dead.<\/em>
\n Cliffs echo the cries!<\/em>
\n And you ocean waves, from your depths, cry out:<\/em>
\n Joseph the great is dead!<\/em>
\n Joseph, father of deathless deeds, is dead!<\/em>
\n Ah, dead! Dead! Dead!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"sfso\"<\/a>Fortunately, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Chorus, soloists (soprano Sally Matthews, mezzo Tamara Mumford, tenor Barry Banks and bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams) and music director Michael Tilson Thomas give the work a truly heartfelt, engaging and technically satisfying live performance released on the orchestra’s in-house label.<\/p>\n

The 38-1\/2 minute cantata is paired with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2<\/em> in vibrant, big-modern-symphony sound intelligently spiked and shaped, but sounding a touch ponderous and overlarge in our historically-informed era.<\/p>\n

You can find out a bit more about the album here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The orchestra has also made a promotional video for the album:<\/p>\n