SCHUBERTIADE ‘DU HOLDE KUNST, ICH DANKE DIR’ ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE JOS VAN IMMERSEEL 1 MENU › TRACKLIST › ENGLISH TEXT › TEXTE FRANÇAIS › NEDERLANDSE TEKST › DEUTSCHER TEXT › SUNG TEXTS › TEXTES CHANTÉS › GEZONGEN TEKSTEN › GESUNGENE TEXTE SCHUBERTIADE ‘DU HOLDE KUNST, ICH DANKE DIR’ ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE JOS VAN IMMERSEEL CD1 1 STÄNDCHEN (ERSTE FASSUNG) D 920 5’29 MEZZO, VOCAL QUARTET, FORTEPIANO 2 AUF DER BRUCK D 853 3’58 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO 3 GRETCHEN AM SPINNRADE D 118 3’36 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO 4 DIE NACHT D 983C 2’42 VOCAL QUARTET 5 MARCHE CARACTÉRISTIQUE D 886/2 6’27 FORTEPIANO* (FOUR HANDS) 6 DIE JUNGE NONNE D 828 4’45 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO QUINTETT ‘DIE FORELLE’ D 667 VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, DOUBLE BASS, FORTEPIANO* 7 ALLEGRO VIVACE 13’26 8 ANDANTE 7’12 9 SCHERZO 4’32 10 ANDANTINO (THEME & VARIATIONS) 7’47 11 ALLEGRO GIUSTO 7’12 TOTAL TIME: 67’12 CD2 1 NACHTGESANG IM WALDE D 913 6’08 VOCAL QUARTET, HORN QUARTET 2 GANYMED D 544 4’17 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO 3 DU LIEBST MICH NICHT D 756 3’44 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO 4 ANDANTE (TRIO IN E FLAT MAJOR) D 929/2 10’01 VIOLIN, CELLO, FORTEPIANO* 5 L’INCANTO DEGLI OCCHI D 902/1 2’54 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO 6 IL TRADITOR DELUSO D 902/2 3’48 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO 7 IL MODO DI PRENDER MOGLIE D 902/3 4’25 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO DIVERTISSEMENT À LA HONGROISE D 818 FORTEPIANO* (FOUR HANDS) 8 ANDANTE 10’54 9 MARCIA, ANDANTE CON MOTO 3’06 10 ALLEGRETTO 13’50 TOTAL TIME: 63’13 CD3 1 FANTASIE IN F MINOR D 940 18’11 FORTEPIANO* ( FOUR HANDS) 2 DER WANDERER D 489 4’55 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO 3 NACHT UND TRAÜME D 827 3’46 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO 4 DER KÖNIG IN THULE D 367 3’49 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO 5 LA PASTORELLA AL PRATO D 513 1’55 VOCAL QUARTET, FORTEPIANO 6 DU BIST DIE RUH‘ D 776 4’54 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO 7 AN SILVIA D 891 2’50 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO SONATE IN G MINOR D 408 VIOLIN, FORTEPIANO* 8 ALLEGRO GIUSTO 4’58 9 ANDANTE 4’39 10 MENUETTO 2’20 11 ALLEGRO MODERATO 3’54 12 DER TOD UND DAS MÄDCHEN D 531 2’37 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO 13 DIE TAUBENPOST D 965 3’55 SOPRANO, FORTEPIANO TOTAL TIME: 62’51 › MENU CD 4 1 DER HIRT AUF DEM FELSEN D 965 12’20 SOPRANO, CLARINET, FORTEPIANO 2 DER GONDELFAHRER D 809 3’22 VOCAL QUARTET, FORTEPIANO 3 DER ZWERG D 771 5’04 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO 4 ALLEGRO (LEBENSSTÜRME) D 947 14’10 FORTEPIANO* (FOUR HANDS) 5 MEERES STILLE D 216 1’59 MEZZO, FORTEPIANO SONATE (ARPEGGIONE) D 821 VIOLONCELLO PICCOLO, FORTEPIANO* 6 ALLEGRO MODERATO 12’42 7 ADAGIO 4’23 8 ALLEGRETTO 11’23 9 AN DIE MUSIK D 547 2’53 BARITONE, FORTEPIANO TOTAL TIME: 68’22 FORTEPIANOS: Conrad Graf, 1826, Artesis Antwerp (*) Christopher Clarke, 1997 (facsimile of Conrad Graf, 1826), Ruckers Society. JOS VAN IMMERSEEL DIRECTION & FORTEPIANO SOLOISTS CLAIRE CHEVALLIER FORTEPIANO (PIECES FOR FOUR HANDS) YEREE SUH SOPRANO MARIANNE BEATE KIELLAND MEZZO THOMAS BAUER BARITONE DAVID ERLER, KLAUS WENK, THOMAS BAUER & JOACHIM HÖCHBAUER SCHUBERTIADE QUARTETT BAYERISCHER WALD (VOCAL QUARTET) ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE MIDORI SEILER VIOLIN MARTINA FORNI VIOLA STEFANO VEGGETTI CELLO, VIOLONCELLO PICCOLO BELTANE RUIZ MOLINA DOUBLE BASS LISA SHKLYAVER CLARINET ANNEKE SCOTT, MARTIN MÜRNER, HELEN MACDOUGALL, JÖRG SCHULTESS NATURAL HORNS (HORN QUARTET) INSTRUMENTS JOS VAN IMMERSEEL DIRECTION & FORTEPIANO FORTEPIANOS: CONRAD GRAF, 1826, VIENNA, PROVIDED BY ARTESIS ANTWERP (PITCH 430) SOLOISTS CHRISTOPHER CLARKE, 1997, DONZY-LE-NATIONAL (FACSIMILE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED INSTRUMENT), PROVIDED BY THE RUCKERS SOCIETY (PITCH 430) CLAIRE CHEVALLIER FORTEPIANO (PIECES FOR FOUR HANDS) TUNING: CLAIRE CHEVALLIER YEREE SUH SOPRANO VIOLIN: ANONYMOUS, C. 1750, FLORENCE MARIANNE BEATE KIELLAND MEZZO BOW: RUDOLF HOPFNER (COPY OF JOHN DODD, 1804) THOMAS BAUER BARITONE DAVID ERLER, KLAUS WENK, THOMAS BAUER VIOLA: GIORGIO CORSINI, 1960, ROME & JOACHIM HÖCHBAUER SCHUBERTIADE QUARTETT BAYERISCHER WALD (VOCAL QUARTET) BOW: PARCIFAL BRYANT, 1950, LONDON CELLO: NICOLA GAGLIANO, 1737, NAPLES, KINDLY PROVIDED BY COURTESY ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE OF BARONESS MARIUCCIA ZERILLI-MARIMÒ VIOLONCELLO PICCOLO: CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED SCHÖNFELDER, 1750 MIDORI SEILER VIOLIN BOW: FRANÇOIS NICOLAS VOIRIN, C. 1860, PARIS MARTINA FORNI VIOLA DOUBLE BASS: ANONYMOUS (GAMBA FORM BASS, PRESUMABLY VIENNESE), C. 1800 STEFANO VEGGETTI CELLO, VIOLONCELLO PICCOLO BOW: NELLY POIDEVIN, 2010 (COPY OF A ‘DRAGONETTI’ BOW, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY) BELTANE RUIZ MOLINA DOUBLE BASS LISA SHKLYAVER CLARINET CLARINET: AGNÈS GUÈROULT, 2014, PARIS ANNEKE SCOTT, MARTIN MÜRNER, (COPY OF THEODOR LOTZ, 18TH CENTURY, VIENNA) HELEN MACDOUGALL, JÖRG SCHULTESS NATURAL HORNS (HORN QUARTET) NATURAL HORNS: (1) AN., C. 1825-1830, BOHEMIA/AUSTRIA (2) MARTIN MÜRNER, 2004 (FACSIMILE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED INSTRUMENT) (3) FERDINAND KORN, C. 1840, MAINZ (4) RICHARD HOYER, 1870’S, DRESDEN › MENU SCHUBERTIADE Anyone who evokes Schubert also evokes Vienna in the early nineteenth century: tinsel and Sehnsucht, cotillions and coffee houses! The bourgeoisie relished the verses of Goethe, Schiller and Schlegel and consumed musical entertainment more voraciously than ever before. To satisfy that hunger, the Viennese middle class regularly gathered at informal evenings featuring lectures and debates, games and drama, poetry, and political and social discussions. Music, however, invariably played the leading role, with a repertory of songs and social dances – it was by no means rare for these meetings to culminate in parties that went on beyond dawn . Franz Schubert also visited such salons, and as a result was often asked for new songs and chamber music. By the cellist Paumgartner, for example, whose request for a quintet to play at a house concert in Steyr made musical history: the outcome was the famous ‘Trout’ Quintet. The meetings Schubert and his circle of friends organised for themselves had a modest, jovial character. These ‘Schubertiads’ soon enjoyed a special reputation, and their bohemian atmosphere and artistic and intellectual companionship attracted even noble guests. Today ‘Schubertiads’ have acquired a legendary status. Central to the mythical image are Schubert – who often sang himself (‘in a weak but pleasant voice’) and improvised at the piano – and his œuvre; many of his songs and dances (around 400 works in total) may be directly traced back to this context. They testify to an internalised, individualised, intimate musical experience that had found its ultimate habitat in the Schubertian salons. 10 DU HOLDE KUNST, ICH DANKE DIR* ENGLISH With this recording I wanted to organise an imaginary Schubert salon four times over – hence these are not historical reconstructions, if only because we know little about the programmes of the ‘Schubertiads’. From that basic idea and with the Deutsch catalogue as my source, I started puzzling over possible musical scenarios. In doing so, I was guided by several criteria. ‘Varietas’, above all: I aimed for the greatest possible diversity of forces, moods and keys, and tried to ensure all the musicians were heard on each of the four discs. Of course there were practical considerations, such as the number of works and the length of each piece within the ‘dimensions’ of this box. But this ‘Schubertiade’ is first and foremost a personal story; I already had in mind the musicians that I wanted to work with when choosing the programme, and often there was no other motive than my admiration and love for a given composition. Finally, there were some works that must on no account be missing – ‘Schubertiade’ is a tribute to the man who created all of this in the first place: Der Wanderer, the embodiment of Schubertian genius; the ‘Trout’ Quintet, which symbolises his chamber music output; and An die Musik, a touchingly beautiful eulogy to which I can wholeheartedly subscribe. Music for solo piano is absent from this set: that repertory has often been recorded before, and was almost certainly not played at ‘Schubertiads’. On the other hand, I enthusiastically made room for Schubert’s rarely performed output for piano four hands. For Claire and myself, however, this was not self-evident: we usually sit each behind our own set of keys, and a dialogue emerges from our parts. Here each of us plays one half of a whole, there is only one person who can operate the pedal, changes of harmony must be perfectly coordinated, and the dynamics of our interplay is completely different. Nor did I want to miss the opportunity to present some so-called ‘choral’ works – actually intended for vocal quartet: these are hardly ever performed with small forces, but almost certainly figured on the programme of Schubert’s salons. * O gracious art, I thank you 11 Some retrospective observations: a great deal of ‘night music’ has sneaked into this selection – hardly surprising, really, because Schubert was fond of composing at night. Curiously enough, I also realised that tenor songs are missing, whereas Schubert (himself a tenor) composed most of his songs for that voice type! In his experience as a singer, in my opinion, lies one of Schubert’s secrets as a composer of Lieder: his training as a choirboy at the Konvikt in Vienna crystallised in a style of writing that is ideally tailored for the human voice. In addition, the dramaturgical structure of his songs is phenomenal. The piano acts like a stage director: it sets the mood and anticipates the setting of the text – an age-old theatrical principle that Schubert handled brilliantly. A hearing of Der Zwerg with the words of the song in hand illustrates the point with brio! That dramatic power is just one of the Schubertian qualities that so fascinate me. I also find his music very ‘pure’, to the point. Schubert never paid any attention to what others thought: he went his own way, with an original body of work as the result.