Haydn: The Creation / Pearlman, Boston Baroque

$21.99
Label
Linn Records
Release Date
August 28, 2012
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      HAYDN, JOSEPH
    • PERFORMER
      Boston Baroque, Pearlman, Forsythe, Jameson, Deas
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      August 28, 2012
    • UPC
      691062040129
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      CKD401
    • LABEL
      Linn Records
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Choral - Sacred
    Works ⌄

    1. Part I: Die Vorstellung des Chaos (The Representation of Chaos) (Raphael, Uriel, Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas, Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    2. Part I: Im Anfange schuf Goff Himmel und Erde (Raphael, Uriel, Choir)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas, Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    3. Part I: Nun schwanden vor dem heiligen Strahle (Now vanish before the holy beams) (Uriel, Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    4. Part I: Und Gott machte das Firmament (And God made the firmament) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    5. Part I: Chorus: Mit Staunen sieht das Wunderwerk (The marv'lous work beholds amaz'd (Gabriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    6. Part I: Und Gott sprach: Es sammle sich das Wasser (And God said: Let the waters under the heaven) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    7. Part I: Rollend in schaumenden Wellen (Rolling in foaming billows) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    8. Part I: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde Gras hervor (And God said: Let all the earth bring forth grass) (Gabriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    9. Part I: Nun beut die Flur das frische Grun (With verdure clad the fields appear) (Gabriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    10. Part I: Und die himmlischen Heerscharen (And the Heav'nly host proclaimed the third day) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    11. Part I: Stimmt an die Saiten (Awake the harp) (Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    12. Part I: Und Gott sprach: Es seien Lichter an der Feste des Himmels (And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    13. Part I: In vollem Glanze steiget jetzt die Sonne (In splendour bright is rising now the sun) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    14. Part I: Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes (The heavens are telling the glory of God) (Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe, Keith Jameson, Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    15. Part II: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe das Wasser in der Fulle hervor (And God said: Let the waters bring forth abundantly) (Gabriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    16. Part II: Auf starkem Fittiche schwinget sich der Adler stolz (On mighty pens uplifted soars the eagle aloft) (Gabriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    17. Part II: Und Gott schuf grosse Walfische (And God created great whales) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    18. Part II: Und die Engel ruhrten ihre unsterblichten Harfen (And the angels struck their immortal harps) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    19. Part II: In holder Anmut stehn (Most beautiful appear) (Trio) - Der Herr ist gross (The Lord is great) (Trio and Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe, Keith Jameson, Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    20. Part II: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde hervor lebende Geschopfe (And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    21. Part II: Gleich offnet sich der Erde Schoss (Straight opening her fertile womb) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    22. Part II: Nun scheint in vollem Glanze der Himmel (Now heav'n in fullest glory shone) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    23. Part II: Und Gott schuf den Menschen nach seinem Ebenbilde (And God created man in his own image) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    24. Part II: Mit Wurd' und Hoheit angetan (In native worth and honour clad) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    25. Part II: Und Gott sah jedes Ding, was er gemacht hatte (And God saw ev'rything that he had made) (Raphael)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    26. Part II: Zu dir, o Herr, blickt alles auf (Trio)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe, Keith Jameson, Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    27. Part III: Aus Rosenwolken (In rosy mantle appears) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    28. Part III: Von deiner Gut', o Herr und Gott (By thee with bliss, O bounteous Lord) (Eve, Adam, Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe, Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    29. Part III: Nun ist die erste Pflicht erfullt (Our duty we performed now) (Adam, Eve)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas, Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    30. Part III: Holde Gattin! (Graceful consort!) (Adam, Eve)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Kevin Deas, Amanda Forsythe

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    31. Part III: O glucklich Paar (O happy pair) (Uriel)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Keith Jameson

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman

    32. Part III: Singt dem Herren alle Stimmen (Sing the Lord, ye voices all!) (Trio, Chorus)

      Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn

      Ensemble: Boston Baroque

      Performer: Amanda Forsythe, Keith Jameson, Kevin Deas

      Conductor: Martin Pearlman




HAYDN The Creation • Martin Pearlman, cond; Amanda Forsythe (sop); Keith Jameson (ten); Kevin Deas (bs-bar); Boston Baroque • LINN CKD 401 (2 SACDs: 96:09 Text and Translation)

I was disappointed in Boston Baroque’s recording of Cherubini’s C-Minor Requiem (Fanfare 30:5), but this Creation has, from its orchestral introduction, an essential rightness—of mood, sonority, drama, and tempo. As with Dinu Lipatti’s Schumann Concerto (the first time I experienced such a feeling), this is the way it should go. Martin Pearlman realizes the work’s character of being very serious yet radiantly joyful. His period orchestra (strings 6/5/4/4/2) has a full measure of both power and tenderness, without having to strain for either. The chorus (7/6/6/6) is magnificent; the opening of “Stimmt an die Saiten” (disc 1, track 11) is so electric that one wants to stand up and cheer. Pearlman’s vocal soloists are each superb, in voice and in delivery; their clean, never ostentatious ornamentations fit this particular work (the florid style of René Jacobs’s soloists is better suited to the more Baroque The Seasons), and they match beautifully in ensemble. The fortepiano continuo is always just right. Above all, the lofty spirit of the whole is thrilling.

The icing on the cake is Linn’s recorded sound, from Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, during October 2011. It is so realistic, so natural, that one might be sitting beside Beethoven at the premiere. Balances are ideal; the chorus is clearly spread from sopranos on the left to basses on the right, and every contrapuntal line comes through. This is Boston Baroque’s first recording for Linn, and it helps explain the vast improvement over its Cherubini. No doubt it is aided by listening on a system of all-Linn electronics (with KEF 104/2 speakers and/or Sennheiser HD 600 head phones). I blamed the Worcester Hall’s acoustics for the Cherubini’s problematic sound; either I was mistaken or Linn’s team, led by Thomas C. Moore of Five/Four Productions, Ltd., has worked miracles. SACD smoothes the sound, lessening the orchestra’s impact, but clarifies the choral lines even more; one has the sensation of almost hearing each individual voice, which is just as it should be. Surround sound restores any lost impact and throws the listener into the performance, a wondrous if slightly unreal effect.

Must there be something wrong? Okay, the side-by-side German/English libretto is in small white print on black pages, making one squint.

I haven’t been counting, but I’ll bet there have been 100 recordings of The Creation. This one stands comfortably at the pinnacle; among its close competitors, Thomas Hengelbrock on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi is sweeter but less dramatic, Neville Marriner’s incomparable EMI soloists steal the show in a modern-instrument performance. In more than six decades of listening, I have found that almost every new recording of any masterpiece brings more doubts, because every performance has characteristics that others lack. About once a decade have I found the recording, one that has everything: Willem Mengelberg’s (Telefunken) Franck D Minor, Otto Klemperer’s 1954 mono “Eroica,” David Willcocks’s “Lord Nelson” Mass, Klaus Tennstedt’s (pirate) live BSO Schubert Ninth, George Szell’s Schumann Second, Riccardo Chailly’s Gurrelieder, James Levine’s Prokofiev Fifth. Martin Pearlman’s Creation joins that list.

FANFARE: James H. North