On its way:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/heinrich-von-herzogenberg-columbus/hnum/7971819 (https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/heinrich-von-herzogenberg-columbus/hnum/7971819)
Thanks for that heads-up!
Sounds very intriguing! One for the Christmas list, for sure!
And just in time for Columbus Day...
Not a great work, this. Its main interest is to demonstrate the direction the composer's music was taking before his decision to follow Brahms-style classicism. Otherwise, although it has plenty of meaty drama, it's rather a case of huff and puff to little memorable effect. Mind you, the huff and puff can be quite exciting - and loud! But there's very little melodic content that truly engages the ear - which is definitely not true of Herzogenberg's later music.
A brave undertaking, but not one I shall be returning to with any great regularity, I think.
There's a very good contribution from tenor Michael Schade, however. I wonder why he was attracted to the work? The Columbus, Andrè Schuen, is also rather fine. This makes for a rather exciting duet in track 3 of CD2 where the work finally rouses itself to somewhat greater heights.
Overall, though, the impression is of The Flying Dutchman without the tunes...
Thanks for the reviews, Alan. Not being Herzogenberg's greatest fan at the best of times, I'll give this one a miss.
It's memorable for its idiom - and for the intriguing thought that Herzogenberg would have been a very different, probably more individual composer if he hadn't aligned himself so tightly to Brahms. Not that I don't like the later Herzogenberg. I actually do!
Although immune to the charms of much of Herzogenberg's music, I do enjoy the Wagnerisms of his Odysseus, which post-dates Columbus by a couple of years. Perhaps I'll wait until the download is available and take a punt....
Oh, on that level you'll enjoy it, I'm sure. I certainly did; I just don't think it's a great work.
Alan, what did you think of the recording itself, as opposed to the music? I just listened to it and didn't like it at all. The soloists are far too loud compared to the orchestra and chorus -- the first entry of Markus Butter sent me scrambling to turn the volume down -- while the sound is deadly dry, devoid of reverberation, which is fatal to choral music.
The one good thing that happened as a result of my encounter was being reminded of Die Geburt Christi, which I returned to and found quite beautiful in an austere, J.S. Bach sort of way. I have the Hanssler set, though I am curious how it compares to the CPO.
Re. Columbus, John: I can't remember. I'll get back to you...
I'm listening to it now, having realised it had slid from where it should have been under letter 'h' into a neighbouring stack of CDs of composers from later in the alphabet!
I don't find the overall sound-picture excessively dry myself, although I too would have preferred more reverberation. However, the soloists are indeed too close for comfort. There's plenty of 'punch' to the sound, though.
The piece itself is a fascinating study in the composer's early (1870) engagement with the progressives of his day - I'm actually enjoying it far more than I did the first time round (the danger, I suppose, of making snap judgments).
I have pulled my share of discs from the give-away pile and placed them permanently back on the shelf after a second or third hearing changed my opinion. This was the case with "Die Geburt Christi", which I suddenly adore.
We used to have a member here who found this bewildering. He said he formed a permanent opinion, good or bad, on first hearing and never wavered. He found comments about "growing to like something" or similar changes of opinion incomprehensible.
Oh well.
That's so not according to my experience. Except in the case of Rubinstein's Moses ;)