The Otterphile – Easter Edition

Anne Sofie von Otter with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert:

Happy Easter!

Gratuitous Dorothea Röschmann Post – If God Be For Us (Messiah)

Dorothea Röschmann is one of the singing actors who helped to reignite my interest in opera a few years ago. She got her “big break” doing early music, and many of these lovely recordings are still available. 

This is one of my favorite arias from Handel’s Messiah. This recording (from the late 1990s) conducted by Paul McCreesh contains some alternate versions of familiar arias, and unfortunately (for DR fans) splits the soprano role between two singers. (This is good news for fans of Susan Gritton, who also participated in Claus Guth’s staging of Messiah a few years later.)

Messiah – Theater an der Wien, 2009 (Part 3: Not Your Mother’s Messiah, Either)

Claus Guth's staging of Handel's Messiah is strange and wonderful; weird and exquisite; disturbing and comforting. 

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion

Wonderful, exquisite, and comforting all describe the musical performance; and all six adjectives describe the staging. His alienating gray and institutional set is on a turntable, making scene changes swift. This plus the stark contrasts of light and shadow give the production a cinematic feeling. 

Messiah – Theater an der Wien, 2009 (Part 2: Strange and Wonderful)

I noted in the previous post that Claus Guth has chosen to add a new layer of narrative to Messiah. He builds on the emotions and images from Handel's text, but doesn't stage the oratorio in a literal way.

The action begins at a funeral. People are sad, some are angry. In Every valley the minister (tenor Richard Croft) preaches comfort, but is uneasy, and seems to know more than he is telling. An angry man, perhaps the deceased’s brother (bass Florian Boesch) opens the casket to reveal that the deceased slashed his wrists. Another brother (?) (countertenor Bejun Mehta) freaks out, exhibiting remorse, fear, grief, and anger. Meanwhile, the chorus seem to be the people that are walking in darkness. Asking, questioning, reassuring, usually clustering together or moving close to walls, and almost always moving as a unit.

Messiah – Theater an der Wien, 2009 (Part 1: Not Your Father’s Messiah)

If you want a traditional concert performance of this hallowed oratorio or if your entire idea of Messiah is the Christmas section plus the Halleluiah chorus, this DVD is not for you. On the other hand, if you have heard Handel’s Messiah at least once a year for the past (mumblemumble) years, have sung it many times, know it well and/or have many recordings of it, and you wonder what new light could be shed on this work, this version staged by Claus Guth just might be the thing for you. 

Stupid Reviewer Comments

Amazon reviews can be the source of thoughtful insights. If undecided about purchasing a particular recording, I will often consult the customer reviews. Frequently I find the negative reviews, if not helpful, at least infinitely entertaining.  

Usually they tell us a lot more about the reviewer than about the music. What they sometimes tell us is that the reviewer is kind of stupid. 

This type of comment is one of the reasons I started a blog! Here are some of my recent favorites:

I am not a particular fan of Dorothea Röschmann, who nevertheless gets a lot of plum jobs in opera and choral works nowadays. (Brahms Requiem)

Lucky for her he's not her manager!