Joachim Raff - Welt-Ende, Gericht, Neue Welt

[Mark Thomas]

The recording and performance deliver a pretty impressive punch, conductor Gregor Meyer emphasising the dramatic vigour of the work. The baritone Andreas Wolf has a powerful and dynamic presence and soprano Marie Henriette Reinhold, with a much smaller part, is also excellent. Both are recorded a little forward of the choir but not excessively so and the chorus itself sings with gusto and finesse as the music demands. The purely orchestral passages come over very well, the fierier ones genuinely exciting, and the pace of the piece is absolutely spot on - Meyer doesn't hang around and that's what's almost always needed with Raff. I suppose I'm so familiar with the work from the old LP recording, a noble but flawed effort, and this is such a (literally) dramatic improvement, that at present I'm rather bowled over by it. In this performance it really does come over as the master work Raff hoped it would prove to be. 

[Alan Howe]

First: the music. It's extraordinary. As John says, this is unique. Sure, there are influences, e.g. Berlioz's Requiem in the grand passages for brass, but the word that keeps crossing my mind is 'luminous' - and forward-looking, which makes me think of some of Liszt's late music. It's a one-off piece, demonstrating Raff's huge range and creativity.

Secondly: the performance. It's beautifully recorded, with just the right amount of space around the orchestra and soloists. However, and it's a gripe that I feel could have been avoided - the baritone's technique is surely faulty: he has a habit of starting a note without vibrato which then turns into a 'bleat'. (The mezzo is better, although she shares something of the same tendency.) Nevertheless, it's a strong voice and, from what I can tell, his tuning is excellent. I would also have preferred less HIP-influenced string-playing from the orchestra, although the recording's resonance helps to impart a certain glow to their performance. I'm left wondering why an HIP approach was chosen but, like Mark, I was frequently bowled over the sheer magnificence of the music.

[Justin]

What is your opinion on the Lachen performance versus the Leipzig one?

[Alan Howe]

I'm probably not competent to judge. I think the new cpo recording is fine, but could have been better if it had avoided an HIP approach. I dislike the baritone soloist and the vibrato-free string-playing. But it's a mandatory purchase.

[Mark Thomas]

I'm away from home now, without access to either recording, but from memory my impression was that the Leipzig performance has a tad more drive and immediacy. Of course, that may be down to the different acoustic and balance of performers.

[CelesteCadenza]

After acquaintance with this work via the Empfingen performance on LP, I was skeptical of this new attempt, but have been totally won over. It's like hearing the work for the first time and I look forward to many plays of the cpo issue.

I do have a question for those who purchased the physical CD. I note that the streaming/download version have discrepancies in timings vis-à-vis the booklet: e.g. CD1 track 04 Part I, Welt-Ende B.Die Apokalyptischen Reiter Recitative by St John Und ich sah, dass das Lamm is listed in the booklet as 07:14 while the download track is only 0:56 in duration. Among other discrepancies, the final track of CD2 (16 Part III, Neue Welt Chorus Komme, ja komme bald, Erlöser!) is stated to be 02:04 while the streaming version is 05:46

cpo, for all their merits, have a bit of track record at messing up tracks (punintentional) on their printed brochures and trays, but thought I'd check here if the physical CD actually matches the booklet timings. FWIW, the streaming version plays smoothly with no jarring segues from track-to-track. TIA.

[Mark Thomas]

The CD has the same discrepancies between the printed track times in the booklet and the actual ones, which are the same as the downloads. You're missing no music.

[Alan Howe]

How hard can it be to get this right?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Don't get me started.

[Alan Howe]

Much as I admire and value cpo, their production values often leave much to be desired. Track timings, eccentric booklet notes and poor translations into English done by native German speakers are among the defects that really need urgent attention.