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Maria Mater Meretrix / Prohaska, Kopatchinskaja, Camerata Bern

$20.99

Details

Composer
Various
Artist
Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Camerata Bern
Format
CD
Label
Alpha
Released
Apr 14, 2023
Catalog #
ALPHA739
UPC
3760014197390

About

Soprano Anna Prohaska and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja are both well known for their taste for eclecticism, experimentation and adventure. As they are also are friends, it was only to be expected that one day they would devise and record a programme together, and here it is: Maria Mater Meretrix … What is the relationship between Hildegard von Bingen and Gustav Holst, Antonio Caldara and Lili Boulanger? The two musicians and their partners in Camerata Bern explore the image of woman through ten centuries of music: the figure of the Virgin Mary – among other works, the triptych Magnificat - Ave Maria - Stabat Mater (1967/68) by Frank Martin, an unclassifiable composer whom both artists venerate – but also Mary Magdalene, in pieces by Caldara and Kurtág. The Saint, the Mother, the Whore … The expression of two women musicians of today, a journey full of meaning and a sensory exploration featuring solos, duets, quartets and works for large orchestra.

REVIEWS:

Here’s a fun proposition. A program comprising works depicting either the Virgin Mary or Mary Magdalene through time, conceived of and executed with flair by the soprano Anna Prohaska and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Both are thoughtful, entirely game musicians, and their passion for the concept and material is evident.

Taking as their theme the archetypes of saint, mother, and whore, Prohaska and Kopatchinskaja traverse many periods and styles in their exploration of the two Marys: Holst, Eisler, von Bingen, Kurtág, and Haydn are just some of the composers jostling for your attention. Undoubtedly the risk for some listeners will be an experience that verges on the musical patchwork, and for some Maria Mater Meretrix is easily dismissed as just another concept album. For this reviewer, the particular alchemy of Prohaska and Kopatchinskaja override any such reservations, and some of the works gathered here are given truly revelatory readings.

Take Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments for one, selections of which are threaded through the track list. They pack a punch despite – or is it because of? – their lengths (the Berceuse lasts all of 59 seconds) and leave you wanting more: more of the composer’s spectral, exquisitely simple settings of Kafka’s diaries and letters, and more of the musicians’ seemingly inherent way with the music.

The spine of the recording is Frank Martin’s Maria-Triptychon, which is similarly taken apart and studded throughout the album. This is another move that won’t agree with some listeners, and the contrast between a selection and its preceding or succeeding piece is sometimes a little too jarring to be entirely fruitful. However, there’s no faulting the commitment of the performers – Prohaska bends and wields her darkly-coloured, rich soprano with feline ease, and Kopatchinskaja matches her with her own glowing, sinuous phrasing. Together they bring to life an emotional world alternating between moments of extreme desperation and rapture, reaching such a pitch of intensity that the more tranquil offerings on the album actually serve as much needed and effective moments of respite.

Hildegard von Bingen’s O Rubor Sanguinis is one such example, drawing the listener into a richly imagistic world of great beauty. The closing “Per il mar del pianto mio” is another such example, taken from a Caldara oratorio that deals directly with Mary Magdalene – Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo. Prohaska is simply gorgeous here, unfurling seemingly endless long lines of deeply felt sorrow and hard-won faith. Her unstinting dramatic instincts have never seemed so in tune with her musical gifts, and she brings something like Eisler’s sly, cabaret-tinged “Lied der Kupplerin” to bold, brilliant life.

Directing the sensitive and dramatically attuned Camerata Bern, Kopatchinskaja thrills in electrifying selections from Haydn’s Seven Last Words and the God-Music movement of George Crumb’s spine-tingling Black Angels string quartet. The violinist’s own improvisatory Felino is a playful nod to the prominent role of cats in Marian imagery.

This recording comes highly recommended.

-- Limelight

Tracklist 20 tracks

  1. 1 4 Songs, Op. 35: No. 1. Jesu sweet 02:43
    Track
    1
    Title
    4 Songs, Op. 35: No. 1. Jesu sweet
    Duration
    02:43
    Composer
    Gustav Holst
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  2. 2 Nu alrest leb ich mir werde, "Palästinalied" (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra) 05:44
    Track
    2
    Title
    Nu alrest leb ich mir werde, "Palästinalied" (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra)
    Duration
    05:44
    Composer
    Walther von der Vogelweide
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  3. 3 Black Angels: 13 Images from the Dark Land, "Images I": Part III: Return: No. 10. God-music 03:50
    Track
    3
    Title
    Black Angels: 13 Images from the Dark Land, "Images I": Part III: Return: No. 10. God-music
    Duration
    03:50
    Composer
    George Crumb
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  4. 4 Ave maris stella (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra) 04:20
    Track
    4
    Title
    Ave maris stella (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra)
    Duration
    04:20
    Composer
    Guillaume Dufay
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  5. 5 Maria-Triptychon: I. Ave Maria 04:08
    Track
    5
    Title
    Maria-Triptychon: I. Ave Maria
    Duration
    04:08
    Composer
    Frank Martin
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Emilia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  6. 6 Ave Maria (arr. M. Wiancko for orchestra) 01:33
    Track
    6
    Title
    Ave Maria (arr. M. Wiancko for orchestra)
    Duration
    01:33
    Composer
    Tomás Luis de Victoria
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  7. 7 Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part I: No. 5. Berceuse I 01:00
    Track
    7
    Title
    Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part I: No. 5. Berceuse I
    Duration
    01:00
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  8. 8 Maria durch ein Dornwald ging (arr. W. Katschner for voice, violin and orchestra) 03:20
    Track
    8
    Title
    Maria durch ein Dornwald ging (arr. W. Katschner for voice, violin and orchestra)
    Duration
    03:20
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  9. 9 Maria-Triptychon: II. Magnificat 10:52
    Track
    9
    Title
    Maria-Triptychon: II. Magnificat
    Duration
    10:52
    Composer
    Frank Martin
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Emilia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  10. 10 Crucifixus a 10 (arr. M. Wiancko for orchestra) 02:30
    Track
    10
    Title
    Crucifixus a 10 (arr. M. Wiancko for orchestra)
    Duration
    02:30
    Composer
    Antonio Lotti
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  11. 11 Pie Jesu (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra) 03:21
    Track
    11
    Title
    Pie Jesu (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra)
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Lili Boulanger
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  12. 12 Felino 01:03
    Track
    12
    Title
    Felino
    Duration
    01:03
    Composer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Performer
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  13. 13 O rubor sanguinis (O ruby blood) 01:30
    Track
    13
    Title
    O rubor sanguinis (O ruby blood)
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Hildegard von Bingen
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska
  14. 14 Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words), Hob.XX:1A: Sonata 3: Mulier, ecce filius tuus, et tu, ecce mater tua! (version for orchestra) 09:57
    Track
    14
    Title
    Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words), Hob.XX:1A: Sonata 3: Mulier, ecce filius tuus, et tu, ecce mater tua! (version for orchestra)
    Duration
    09:57
    Composer
    Franz Joseph Haydn
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  15. 15 Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part IV: No. 7. Wiederum, wiederum 01:39
    Track
    15
    Title
    Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part IV: No. 7. Wiederum, wiederum
    Duration
    01:39
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  16. 16 Maria-Triptychon: III. Stabat Mater 06:36
    Track
    16
    Title
    Maria-Triptychon: III. Stabat Mater
    Duration
    06:36
    Composer
    Frank Martin
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Emilia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  17. 17 Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe: Lied der Kupplerin (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra) 02:39
    Track
    17
    Title
    Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe: Lied der Kupplerin (arr. M. Wiancko for voice, violin and orchestra)
    Duration
    02:39
    Composer
    Hanns Eisler
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  18. 18 Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part III: No. 2. Der Coitus als Bestrafung 00:21
    Track
    18
    Title
    Kafka-Fragmente, Op. 24: Part III: No. 2. Der Coitus als Bestrafung
    Duration
    00:21
    Composer
    György Kurtág
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  19. 19 Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words), Hob.XX:1A: Il terremoto (The Earthquake) (version for orchestra) 01:42
    Track
    19
    Title
    Die Sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze (The Seven Last Words), Hob.XX:1A: Il terremoto (The Earthquake) (version for orchestra)
    Duration
    01:42
    Composer
    Franz Joseph Haydn
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja
  20. 20 Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo, Aria: Per il mar del pianto mio 04:51
    Track
    20
    Title
    Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo, Aria: Per il mar del pianto mio
    Duration
    04:51
    Composer
    Antonio Caldara
    Performer
    Anna Prohaska, Emilia Kopatchinskaja
    Ensemble
    Camerata Bern
    Conductor
    Patricia Kopatchinskaja