Busoni’s first mature opera occupied him for seven years (1905-11). He may not have been as natural a man of the theatre as Richard Strauss, who completed two of his greatest stage works – Elektra and Der Rosenkavalier – during those same years. But Die Brautwahl has plenty of fine music in it – at times foreshadowing the splendours of Doktor Faust.
This 1992 Berlin production used a version made by Antony Beaumont, whose completion of Doktor Faust was a great success. As Beaumont explains in the booklet, we get only about two-thirds of the whole, and all aspects of the opera’s subject-matter may not be ideally balanced (if they are in the complete score). This ‘fantastic comedy’ is based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, with the climactic scene in which a bride is chosen (hence the title) leaning heavily on The Merchant of Venice. The action is set in Berlin, but there are echoes of Wagner’s Nuremberg in the text and characterization, especially of the Beckmesser-like civil servant Thusman. Musically, Busoni keeps his distance from Wagner, but without managing to match the potent lyricism and needle-sharp comic timing of Verdi’s Falstaff, one of his ideals. Even so, the music is attractive, and ranges widely in character, as adept at depicting the sinister musings of Manasse as the romantic longings of the bride-to-be Albertina or the serio-comic tussles between Thusman and Leonhard, the mysterious manipulator of events.
This performance is a strong one, with a certain, untroublesome amount of stage noise. No doubt reflecting the staging, the recording occasionally recesses the singers too much for my taste, but the energy and command of Barenboim’s conducting are never in doubt. The energy does not mean that anything is rushed, and the romantic episodes are warmly moulded, the scenes of fantasy properly attentive to matters of colour and texture. The strongest impression among the singers is made by Roman Trekel as Leonhard. A warm yet dramatically resonant baritone, Trekel is the perfect foil to Graham Clark, who tackles the role of Thusman with relish, and with considerable technical skill in music which demands lyrical sensitivity as well as comic agility. All in all, there is much to invite repeated listening, and respect for one of the early twentieth century’s most open-minded composers is considerably enhanced. '