Written by Ralph P. Locke
Carl Nielsen’s vivid Biblical opera saul and davidhere combined with a remarkable concert adaptation of Helge Bonnen’s poetry. spoon river anthology.
Thomas Jensen Legacy, Vol. 15: Nielsen: Saul and David.Helge Bonnen: Spoon River Anthology
Vocal soloist (Nielsen) and actor (Bonnen), Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor. Thomas Jensen.
Danacord 925 (2 CDs) 130 minutes.
Classical music thrives in many countries. It thrives not just as a performance art (Chopin recitals in Spain, Turkey and China), but as a living tradition where local composers bring fresh impulses.
This is a CD album that reminds us of the musical creativity of a relatively small country called Denmark. This production includes a re-release of Carl Nielsen’s historic first recording of his highly influential 1902 opera. saul and david (Saul and David) by Carl Nielsen, best known today for his symphonies. Plus an amazing piece for storyteller and orchestra by Helge Bonnen, a composer (and famous pianist) I had never heard before. Let’s start with Nielsen Opera.
saul and david It is based on the story of the Book of Samuel, which music lovers will be familiar with from other musical works such as Marc-Antoine Charpentier. david and jonasus (I’ll review it here soon) and Handel’s vivid and dramatic oratorio. saul. The script also incorporates other Biblical texts such as the Psalms.
Thomas Jensen (1898-1963), a pioneer of Nielsen conductors.
The 1960 recording appears to have been previously released on CD, but it was not widely distributed. On the other hand, it is easy to find reviews praising subsequent recordings conducted by Jascha Horenstein (sung in English), Neeme Järvi, and Michael Schoenwand (video). A great video production with English subtitles directed by Sixten Ehrling is available on YouTube. The famous Leaf Loar plays the tormented King Saul.
So this opera, which has always existed on the fringes of the repertoire except in Denmark, is more familiar now than it was a few decades ago. The current re-release of that first recording is vol. 5 of his 15-volume set of his Danacord releases called the “Thomas Jensen Legacy.” Jensen (1898-1963) was one of Denmark’s most important and active conductors and a pioneering performer of Nielsen’s works. He certainly shows Nielsen’s keen sense of music here, delivering energetic performances but also contemplative calm and deep sadness at the right moments.
The opera is performed in an abbreviated version that was first broadcast live from a Danish radio studio in 1960. The voices come through clearly, but the orchestra is a bit distant, unlike Järvi’s excellent recording at Chandos. Strangely, it is not revealed which of the listed cast members will sing which roles. My guess is that bassists Frans Andersson and Odd Volstad are Saul and Samuel respectively, tenors Niels Müller and Otte Svendsen are David and Jonathan, soprano Ruth Guldbeck is Solomon’s daughter Michal, and mezzo Inge. -Frey is a female (or some say “witch”) Endor. Everyone sings clearly and more or less cleanly. The love duet between David and Michal that concludes the first act is gentle, jubilant, and unforgettable.
Composer Carl Nielsen (centre) in Stockholm (1931) with the cast of his opera Saul and David.
No script was provided, only a synopsis. Fortunately, you can download the entire booklet of Chandos’ recordings, including the essay and libretto in Danish and English. YouTube also offers the entire Horenstein recording, with the English words sung appearing on the screen. This recording is notable for the mesmerizing singing of Bulgarian bassist Boris Kristov, who plays the manic King Saul, but his English pronunciation is awkward.
Now it’s easy to know saul and david,What do you think? My first impression was that it was a great musical experience. It was like listening to a Nielsen symphony (lots of colorful rhythmic work for gliding winds, brass, and strings), just with the vocal line on top. Even better, these lines are well written for the voice and memorable with balanced phrasing (a bit like Puccini). The music is more individual, if not necessarily more dramatic, than his other two Danish operas during Nielsen’s lifetime, Peter Heise’s 1878, which I recently reviewed here. Doroth Og Marsk and August Enna’s 1895 cleopatra.
This 2-CD release is even more valuable because it includes the first release of the remarkable 1937 quasi-song cycle recording by pianist and composer Helge Bonnen (1896-1983). Bonnen here presents 13 of his sentences from his famous 1915 collection of poems. spoon river anthology, by American author Edgar Lee Masters.Several arts fuse Readers will know that it was adapted on Broadway (with lots of dialogue and a few songs) by a stellar cast, including the famous actress Betty Garrett, and released on a vivid and varied Columbia LP in 1963. You may remember that. (Garrett was “Hildy” in the movie version of the musical) on the town Unfortunately, it featured only a few of Leonard Bernstein’s musical numbers. ) The Columbia recording was re-released on CD in 2016 with three additional tracks. I just listened to it on Spotify and was in turn delighted and amused. , I touched on it.
In Masters’ widely beloved book, each poem is written, either candidly or mournfully, for his own gravestone by someone who died in the (fake) town of Spoon River, Illinois. This is an inscription. Here, Bonnen has students read Ove Brusendorf’s translations by Tudrik Johansen, Kristen Moller, and Elise Pio. Again, no textbook is provided, but the master’s book can be found at public libraries or at www.gutenberg.org.
Composer Helge Bonnen (1896-1983).
After the opening movement, which is nearly eight minutes long (on which the poem “The Hill” is based), most of the rest are about two minutes each. The musical moods are very varied, befitting the variety of characters buried at Spoon River Cemetery (some gruff and sombre, some cheerful and cheerful). The actors become very specific with each new persona. Aspiring young opera and musical/comedy singers may learn something about vocal characterization and the various ways in which vocal devices can be used by listening to performances by these seasoned actors. And Bonnen’s music is effective and approachable, with the occasional folky or jazzy tinge showing up for good measure.
I would like to see a live performance of this Bonnet work in English, using the master’s original poems instead of the Danish version. (I would think it would be the perfect job for a conservatory or music school!) If it were recorded that way and with a more contemporary sound, it would be welcome as well.
I wonder what else Helge Bonnen created in his 87 years? Are some of them equally communicative and cherishable? Indeed, the same words apply to Nielsen’s relatively unknown operas. It is clear that classical music has flourished in Denmark over the past century. And how many other countries are there whose culture most of us know relatively little about?
Ralph P. Locke Professor Emeritus of Music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Six of his articles have won his ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for outstanding writing on music. His last two books are Musical Exoticism: Images and Reflections and Music and exoticism from the Renaissance to Mozart (both Cambridge University Press). Both are now available in paperback. The second book is also available as an e-book.Ralph Locke also contributed american record guide and online art magazines new york art, today’s operaand boston music information station. His papers have been published in major academic journals. oxford music online (Grove Dictionary), and in the program books of major opera houses such as Santa Fe (New Mexico), Wexford (Ireland), Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, and the Bavarian State Opera (Munich).This review was first published american record guide We kindly post it here.