| Site review by Castor May 1, 2008
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
Siegmund von Hausegger (1872-1948) is usually remembered as the conductor who gave the first performance of the autograph edition of Bruckner’s 9th Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932. His subsequent recording of it is, I believe, still in the catalogue. As a composer, his orchestral output is limited to only five works, the Dionysische Fantasie, Barbarossa, Aufklänge, Wieland der Schmied (once performed by Stokowski in Philadelphia in 1913) and this Natursymphonie of 1911 that requires huge instrumental forces including an organ and large mixed chorus. The work is performed in one continuous span, lasting 56’37” in this recording, but falls into four clearly defined movements.
The opening of the symphony, an arresting series of horn and trumpet calls immediately followed by a ‘De profundis’ passage for solo organ, indicates that this is no conventional work, and so it proves to be. The first movement continues with an exciting allegro that eventually yields a marvellous yearning melody typical of those heard throughout the whole work. The various themes are then developed and build to a massive climax before the music recalls the opening material and gradually dies away into silence. The weighty slow movement that follows continues the dark mood, but its ‘ death lament for nature’ finally blossoms into deeply felt and rhapsodic music of overwhelming intensity and power.
The brief demonic scherzo with its chattering xylophone and thundering timpani also melts into another richly melodic passage before returning to the stormy mood of its wild beginning. A crash on the cymbals signals the entry of the chorus for the final section of the symphony, an imposing setting of the ‘Hymnus ewiger Schöpferkraft’ that increases in magnitude and power, finally reaching a consummation for the full forces most reminiscent of the final five minutes of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony.
The multi-channel (5.1) recording, a co-production between Westdeutscher Rundfunk and CPO, captures the fine acoustic of the Köln Philharmonie and accommodates the massive orchestral climaxes with ease while providing a spaciousness that undoubtedly enhances the lusty singing of the WDR Rundfunkchor in the finale. The important organ part is both heard and felt. Ari Rasilainen’s vivid and committed performance and the superb playing of the WDR Sinfonieorchester ensure that this rare and impressive symphony is presented in the best possible light. The eight pages of Eckhardt van den Hoogen’s entertaining, if somewhat discursive, booklet notes do provide helpful background information about both Hausegger and this work.
If your taste leans towards Austro-German late-Romantic music and you are, perhaps, also enjoying CPO’s superb on-going Weingartner series then this SACD is a must. It certainly deserves a top recommendation.
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Copyright © 2008 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
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| Review by JJ July 1, 2008 (3 of 3 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S/MC): / |
The Nature Symphony for large orchestra and mixed chorus by Siegmund von Hausegger (1872-1948) is a work of deep beauty, playing on tone colors with rare delicacy. Never ostentatious, its palette ranges from flamboyant to light. The orchestral mass it requires is impressive. Three flutes, two oboes, an English horn, three clarinets, a bass clarinet, three bassoons, six horns, four trumpets, three trombones, a bass tuba, two harps, a celesta, cymbals, a triangle, a xylophone, a tam-tam, a snare drum, a tenor drum, a kettledrum, and a large organ. For, this inspired score “seems like the destination of a long voyage”, says Eckhardt van den Hoogen, “an apotheosis which is most certainly the right place to stop to examine Siegmund von Hausegger’s work. Not because what came earlier or later was or would be of lesser quality, but because this composition is characterized by an objectivity which resolutely goes beyond his earlier works, “Barbarossa” and “Wieland”. One quickly realizes that this powerful score must in no way be taken as abstract, in spite of its relatively objective orientation.” Conducting the Cologne Radio Symphonic Orchestra with verve, Ari Rasilainen has here signed a major interpretation of a symphony one can no longer ignore. A great moment.
Jean-Jacques Millo
Translation Lawrence Schulman
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