Beethoven Edition, Vol.18 - Secular Vocal Works

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Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Ludwig van Beethoven

Label: Complete Beethoven Edition

Magazine Review Date: 13/1997

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 149

Mastering:

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Catalogue Number: 453 794-2GCB2

Tracks:

Composition	Artist Credit
Elegischer Gesang	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Ambrosian Singers London Symphony Orchestra London Symphony Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor
Opferlied	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Ambrosian Singers London Symphony Orchestra Lorna Haywood, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor
Bundeslied	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Ambrosian Singers London Symphony Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Michael Tilson Thomas, Conductor
Ah! perfido	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Cheryl Studer, Soprano Claudio Abbado, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Prüfung des Küssens	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Vogel, Bass
Mit Mädeln sich vertragen	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Vogel, Bass
Primo amore	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
No, non turbati	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Ne' giorni tuoi felici	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Eberhard Büchner, Tenor Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer
Tremate, empi, tremate	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Arthur Apelt, Conductor Berlin Staatskapelle Eberhard Büchner, Tenor Hanne-Lore Kuhse, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Vogel, Bass
(18) Italian Partsongs	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Astrid Pilzecker, Contralto (Female alto) Christina Klopsch, Soprano Gisela Fetting, Soprano Günther Beyer, Bass Heidi Person, Soprano Hella Weigmann, Contralto (Female alto) Joachim Vogt, Tenor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Peter Maus, Tenor Ralf Lukas, Baritone Siegfried Hausmann, Bass Wolfgang Wagner, Tenor
Abschiedsgesang	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Günther Beyer, Bass Joachim Vogt, Tenor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Hausmann, Bass
Cantata campestre	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Christa Jehser, Soprano Dietrich Knothe, Conductor Joachim Vogt, Tenor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Hausmann, Bass Walter Olbertz, Piano Wolfgang Wagner, Tenor
Gesang der Mönche	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Günther Beyer, Bass Joachim Vogt, Tenor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Hausmann, Bass
Hochzeitslied	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Berlin Soloists Christa Jehser, Soprano Dietrich Knothe, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Walter Olbertz, Piano
Lobkowitz-Kantate	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Berlin Soloists Dietrich Knothe, Conductor Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Siegfried Hausmann, Bass Walter Olbertz, Piano
(49) Canons, Epigrams and Jokes	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Berlin Instrumentalists Berlin Singakademie Berlin Soloists Dietrich Knothe, Conductor Heidi Person, Soprano Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Peter Maus, Tenor Ralf Lukas, Baritone Ulrike Helzel, Contralto (Female alto) Volker Horn, Tenor
Chor auf die verbündeten Fürsten	Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer Andrew Davis, Conductor BBC Singers BBC Symphony Orchestra Ludwig van Beethoven, Composer

Author:

In this, the 18th of their 20-volume edition, DG’s compilers and consultants are delving deep into Beethoven’s barrel, and at least they emerge with their hands full. One wonders whether any disc has had so many tracks as the second of these – 70 in all! Another ten are on the first disc, among them the scena and aria Ah! perfido, so famous that it seems almost scandalously out of place, as does the starry name of its singer, Cheryl Studer. There is also one short masterpiece, the Elegischer Gesang for chorus and orchestra, the first track of all, going immediately to the heart with a depth of feeling and urgency of expression utterly and unmistakably personal, with the Opferlied following it in sympathetic mood. And the rest consists of bits and pieces, some of which are welcomed to the daylight with delight while others slip through the fingers back into the barrel.
Least characteristic are the settings, usually for three voices without accompaniment, of texts by Metastasio. When there are two versions to put side by side the comparisons are interesting (with one, Nei campi e nelle selve, both are delightful, the second having more pointed contrasts, while with another, Quella cetra ah pur tu sei, it is almost as though Beethoven has said “Come on, you can do better than that” – and does it). Mostly one senses that the Italian texts, courtly and conventional, have stimulated the hand but not the mind behind it. The canons, or musical jokes, are different – very personal, most of them, and often amusing.
Here, regrettably, it becomes necessary to make the same complaint as was raised by JW in his review of a comparable issue on Berlin Classics (1/97). Many of these canons are ‘in-jokes’ and, though some puns and other references are explained in footnotes, a good deal more is wanted. Accompanying these discs is a booklet of 125 pages, attractively produced; but, as is so often the case, more thought has been given to appearance than to practicality. What we need, especially in a programme of such short pieces, is the information relevant to each piece or each group made available in one place. Here we look in the index for track numbers and names of artists, and in the essays (involving a search) for historical or other commentary, all the while keeping a finger in the page which has text and translations. If by any chance the dates or other details about the original recordings are required, then a separate back-page has to be consulted as well, preferably with magnifying glass.
Such complaints, however, do not extend to the quality of recording or of performance. The canons are neatly sung, intonation is carefully checked (and it needs to be) in the Italian ensembles, and the works with orchestra are given with conviction and skill. Lorna Haywood, closely recorded, copes well with the mezzo-soprano tessitura of the Opferlied, and Studer brings a splendidly fresh voice, if not a particularly compelling imagination, to Ah! perfido. This may not seem to be among the most essential of volumes in the series, and yet it is in just this kind of thing that the value of a complete edition lies.'