Die Winterreise (review) Benjamin M. Ayotte

Notes, Volume 66, Number 3, March 2010, pp. 634-635 (Review)

Published by Music Library Association DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/not.0.0291

For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/376386

[ This content has been declared free to read by the pubisher during the COVID-19 pandemic. ] 634 Notes, March 2010 is intentionally genre-defying (Bang on a of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports, where Eno Can All Stars, “About,” http://bangonacan openly appreciates the work Bang on a Can .org/all_stars/about [accessed 18 Novem - brought to his music. He believed that ber 2009] ). Bang on a Can brought emotion to the mu- The first part of this film frames the mu- sic that he originally did not put there. sical landscape from which Bang on a Can The film follows a logical progression in emerged. The film almost exclusively fo- presenting all the elements surrounding cuses on New York City, with music of the Bang on a Can’s formation. The interviews various composers set against the backdrop with composers influential to Bang on a of city scenes interspersed with interview Can do well in explaining musical and cul- footage. Interviews with Steve Reich, Philip tural circumstances from which the group Glass, and others who influenced Bang on emerged. Additionally, the excerpts from a Can, as well as Bang on a Can musicians each of these composers’ works, set against are included throughout. Reich and Glass the backdrop of New York City scenes, en- discuss how their minimalist music was hance these explanations both aurally and originally ostracized by the American aca- visually. As a result, viewers will emerge demic establishment, which is in part why from this film better able to contextualize Bang on a Can musicians were originally at- Bang on a Can’s role within the current tracted to their music. Founders Michael American musical landscape, as well as Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe also achieving a heightened awareness of some discuss how the forming of their group was of the issues currently surrounding Ameri- a means of bridging “uptown” music (asso- can music as a whole. ciated with the “academy” and high art) The program notes accompanying this and “downtown” music (associated with DVD, in both English and French, do well minimalism, inspired in part by popular to frame the context of both films, and also music). The film eventually transitions to a serve as a means of tying both together. It is focus on Bang on a Can itself, with mem- useful to read these prior to viewing the bers Gordon, Lang and Wolfe acknowledg- films. ing the influence of Reich and Glass on their music, as well as Dutch composers Louis Andriessen and Martijn Padding. Towards the end of the film, the focus Peter H. Lisius goes back to Bang on a Can’s arrangement Kent State University

Christa Ludwig, Die Winterreise. DVD. Produced and directed by Eugene Sánchez Lansch. [Halle, Germany]: Arthaus Musik, 2009. 102 147. $24.99.

The performance of Die Winterreise pre- “Christa Ludwig: Lieder Recital,” which was served on this disc took place in Athens in not received for review here. 1994 and was specially prepared for televi- The liner notes that are included with sion; it was not for the benefit of an imme- this recording include a transcript (in diate audience. The performers, renowned English and French as well as the original mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig and accom- German) of an interview with Ludwig con- plished pianist Charles Spencer (who is ducted in December 2007 during which the also professor of Lied Interpretation for singer discusses (1) approaching the per- singers and pianists at the Hochschule für formance of Winterreise, describing the is- Musik in Frankfurt), are of one mind—in sues of the “female perspective,” transposi- perfect accord—as they bring forth Schu - tion, and contemporary significance of the bert’s great song cycle to life. As a bonus, poems; and (2) her own musical back- the disc contains the first part of a master ground and pedagogical philosophy. This class showing Ludwig publicly coaching material yields insight into her conception three aspiring professional singers in mat- of the cycle as the “journey of a soul” ters of phrasing and interpretation. The which, to her mind, renders moot the ques- second part of the class is on another disc, tion of whether the cycle is more appropri- Video Reviews 635 ately performed by a man or a woman. This the disc in reverse order, in order to study is despite the decidedly masculine perspec- Ludwig’s teaching, observe per pedagogical tive of several texts, e.g., “Das Mädchen emphases and, only then, to listen to their sprach vor Liebe, die Mutter gar von Eh’” application in her own performance. She [“The girl spoke of love, her mother even coached Stella Gregorian (soprano), of marriage”] of Gute Nacht or “Ich such’ im Markis Pelz (baritone), and Velerij Serkin Schnee vergebens nach ihrer Tritte spur” (tenor). Her emphasis in each case was on [“I sought in vain for a trace of her foot- the legato performance of the melodic line print in the snow”] and “Wenn meine and the dramatic expression, whether mu- Schmerzen schweigen,wer sagt mir dann sical or physical, that the situation requires. von ihr?” [“When my pain has abated, what She counsels the singers, also, to strive for shall remind me or her?”] of Erstarrung. an even crescendo and to vary musical rep- Even bearing this in mind, Ludwig’s com- etitions using either dynamics, articulation, ments are well taken that the journey itself, or ornamentation. It nearly goes without which is depicted in Schubert’s Winterreise, saying, when considering an artist of Lud- is not specific to either sex. She suggests, wig’s stature, that her dramatic and musical rightly I think, that women “think differ- interpretation of Schubert’s music is first ently about love [and] death . . . that rate, her phrasing and expression is natural women are more sensitive and have greater and expressive, and that, when (minimal) emotional depth than men” (p. 9). On the physical gestures are used, they are appro- subject of transposition, Ludwig admits to priate to the text or dramatic situation be- freely transposing the songs in the cycle ing expressed, e.g., flicking eyes and grasp- “so that they always lie within [her] natural ing hands in Die Krähe, open, imploring range, where [she] can best express the hands during Einsamkeit, or clenched fists meaning of the word.” She speaks, in the in Mut. interview, of “[wanting] to make [the I would recommend this disc for pur- songs] as simple as possible, like a folksong chase by all music libraries; it is an exem- you sing in a range that suits and your own plary performance of Die Winterreise in every timbre” (p. 10). musical respect, and an important one inas- The second section of the interview, much as the cycle has been recorded by few Ludwig’s comments on her pedagogy and women (Christine Schäfer, Mitsuko Shirai, her musical upbringing, is particularly and Lotte Lehmann are others), but is a meaningful when applied to the master mainstay of the baritone/tenor repertoire. class excerpt. She says, “my credo for teach- This disc also affords the viewer a glimpse ing singing is a bit like a table resting on its into the pedagogy of a great artist and can legs: these are breath control and upper be enjoyed by all musicians, but especially register—the two most important things— by singers and teachers of singing. and after that you can start putting the other things on the table, the food and so Benjamin M. Ayotte on, but that is the basis” (p. 11). I watched Westland, Michigan

Scènes de Quatuor: Autour de La Grande Fugue de Beethoven (Strings Attached: Around Beethoven’s Great Fugue). DVD. Directed by Bruno Monsaingeon. Paris: Medici Arts, 2008. EDV 1333. $24.99.

Since forming in 1989, the Berlin-based tet and documents their preparations for Artemis Quartet has earned an interna- an April 2001 Paris recital. Packaged with tional reputation as one of the most excit- footage of the recital, this new DVD care- ing and intellectual young string quartets fully depicts the challenges, risks, and re- on the concert circuit today. French film- wards of chamber music and offers valuable maker Bruno Monsaingeon offers a brief insight into the complex nature of musical glimpse into the working methods and mu- collaboration. sical acumen of this renowned quartet in Interspersing the reflections of individ- his 2001 film Strings Attached: Around Beetho- ual quartet members with excerpts from ven’s Great Fugue, which profiles the quar- the ensemble’s Paris recital, the film’s