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| Page 7 | Music Page - CD | December 2010 |
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Impressions of Christmas, Musical footsteps in the snow, CD, Gift of Music, CCL CDG1174, 60 min. distributed in Canada by Naxos
Schubert - Winterreise, Baritone Russell Braun with Carolyn Maule, piano, CBC Records, MVCD 1171, 79:12 minutes
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By Alidë Kohlhaas Impression of Christmas, Musical Footsteps in the Snow is an hour-long CD of particular charm. which though aimed at Christmastime, it will perhaps also capture a listener's heart as the winter months progress into late winter. While some of the pieces are only related to Christmas, others are of a general nature depicting the mood of winter. Its cover celebrates winter rather than Christmas by featuring a detail of Childe Hassam's painting Snow Storm, Fifth Avenue. It reminds one a bit of the harsh winter this continent is experiencing at the moment, and yet also arouses nostalgia. Featured performances on this Gift of Music produced CD, made available in Canada through Naxos, are by The Choir of Worcester College, Oxford, directed by Christopher Sparkhall, The London Symphony Orchestra directed by Don Jackson, and The Southend Boys & Girls Choir as well as unnamed soloists. The latter, to this reviewer is one of the drawbacks of Impressions of Christmas. One example is Track 2, Claude Debussy's Footsteps in the Snow. It is a beautiful work performed by an unknown pianist with just the right touch. Still, one has to take the good with the bad and remember that this is a compilation, and that liner notes can add quite a bit to the cost of a CD. There are 14 tracks on this CD. The opening number is The Time of Snow by British coral composer Bob Chilcott. He takes Mary and Joseph's journey to the stable in Bethlehem and sets it against a wintery landscape. The lyrics and composition capture the winter season and time of year in a way that invites one to listen again and again despite a slight sense of melancholy. Sir John Goss' See amid the winter's snow will be familiar to anyone, who attends church service at Christmastide as will be Hector Berlioz's The Shepherds' Farewell. Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker Ballet is one of those pieces that always leaves one happy. Other works on this CD are The Twelve Days of Christmas, Vivaldi's The Four Seasons: Winter, Schumann's Knecht Ruprecht, the title of which has been wrongly translated as Father Christmas, and other songs traditionally sung in the festive season, though not necessarily so. January 2006
By Alidë Kohlhaas How is it that someone who has always maintained she isn't very enamored of Schubert lieder, has come to not just praise, but to ask for more of the kind of musical interpretation that baritone Russell Braun has presented to us on his latest CBC Records CD? Well, the answer rests with Braun and his musical accompanist. The baritone has taken Franz Schubert's Winterreise (Winter Journey) cycle of songs and raised them to such a high musical experience that even I am won over. There isn't a note out of place, or an emotion misused. This CD's musical tone quality is outstanding. Braun's voice beautifully captures the mood of the 24 songs, which Schubert's friends considered his musical adieu to the world. These are songs that must be sung not only with vocal lyricism, but with heart. Like Die Schöne Müllerin, the song cycle recorded by tenor Michael Schade, the songs in Die Winterreise were set to poems by the Prussian poet, Wilhelm Müller. He published them in 1821, and Schubert returned to them in 1825 to create this outstanding song cycle. Three years later the composer died at age 31 from the ravages of a then incurable syphilis. Müller, by the way, just three years Schubert's senior, died in 1827 at age 33. Over the years Russell Braun's voice has matured to such an extend that it is a pleasure to hear him sing in just about any musical genre in which he chooses to express himself. On this CD he is accompanied on piano by Carolyn Maule, who also happens to be his wife. The two are, to me, in perfect harmony as they perform this song cycle. And then there is that charming front cover that so perfectly captures the Canadian winter with Braun and Maule shown in a gentle, private moment. It is a perfect winter journey. If I have any complaint, then it is the usual one — the English translation in the liner notes fails to capture the real tone of the poems. I cannot speak for the French translation. But, that minor complaint should in no way distract from the enjoyment of this CD. Those who do not speak German do not have to be afraid that the meaning of the original poems is lost in the translations despite the frequent lack of poetic phrasing. For anyone who loves Schubert Lieder, this is an absolute must CD to have. |
