What's the consensus around here about this opera? I mention it because it's the only one of his operas that has a available recording as far as I know. Worth exploring? (hidden masterpiece even?)
Worth exploring: most definitely yes. Hidden masterpiece: no. It's a very likeable, lyrical but comparatively light piece, and pretty much what you might expect from the Raff of, say, the orchestral suites rather than the Lenore or Im Walde symphonies. My German isn't good enough to gauge the merits of Raff's self-written libretto, but I'm told that's it's not the opera's strongest component. There's a good chance that Sterling will issue in the near future a CD of the 2002 concert performance, using SWR's original recording, unlike the bootlegs currently available which are off-air dubs of the subsequent broadcast.
I will explore it then. You must know Raff better than anybody, was he a man of the theater? Any one of his (6?)operas worthy of a serious reevaluation? do they rank with his chamber and orchestra pieces?
QuoteThere's a good chance that Sterling will issue in the near future a CD of the 2002 concert performance, using SWR's original recording, unlike the bootlegs currently available which are off-air dubs of the subsequent broadcast.
I'm getting a little confused, I thought there already was a recording of Benedetto Marcello commercially available? I even remember seeing it somewhere before.
EDIT: I found where I remember seeing it before - http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php?topic=5322.0 Is this a bootleg copy?
Raff was married to an actress and he certainly had a lot of knowledge of the theatre (he was even a reluctant newspaper theatre critic), but that doesn't necessarily make his works effective theatre. Like everybody else, I have heard only
Benedetto Marcello and, attractive though the music certainly is, I'm not at all sure that that there's enough dramatic substance in the piece for it to work on stage.
Die Eifersüchtigen, Raff's final opera, is blessed with another of Raff's self-made libretti, this one a farce set in 16th century Florence. His own wife regarded it as "innocuous", which doesn't bode well. I suspect that his models were Rossini's or Mozart's comedies, but he was clearly no da Ponte. Once again, the music way well be very enjoyable, but I suspect that the piece wouldn't work on stage.
The other two comedies
Dame Kobold and
Die Parole strike me as being much stronger. The former, to a libretto by Reber after Calderon's
La Dama Duende is set in 17th century Spain, and was staged with some success in the 1870s. To me the action seems well-paced and faithful to the famous original. I have heard a midi-rendition of most of the score and the music fairly fizzes along - the Overture gives you a good idea of what you'd hear throughout the piece. It's successor
Die Parole, sets Raff's own libretto based on someone else's play. The comedy is gentler than
Dame Kobold, but is much better paced than
Die Eifersüchtigen. I can't judge the effectiveness of Raff's writing or word-setting, and I don't know the score well enough to pass judgement on the music, but it was written when Raff was at the height of his powers, so I'd be confident that it would stand up musically at least.
Which leaves us with the first two operas. Certainly the first one, the "Grand, heroic opera"
König Alfred was successful and highly praised when it was premiered, but despite Liszt's enthusiastic endorsement it failed to find a place in the repertoire. To me, it looks to be musically impressive and Glogau's libretto has all the right grand opera elements
a la Scribe. The five act Wagnerian music drama
Samson, what I have heard of it (again in midi renditions of the vocal score) sounds terrific and the piece wouldn't lack spectacle, with an extensive Act V ballet as a prelude to the hero's pulling down of the temple on the people of Gaza. It was extravagantly praised by most people who saw the score and in particular by heldentenor Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, the creator of Wagner's Tristan, who was desperate to play the title role. His sudden death robbed
Samson of its planned premiere, and it has never been performed.
As a canon the operas will probably be, as is so often the case with Raff, a curate's egg. I suspect that they all have musical merit - he put a lot of work into each one, the latter two in particular with no realistic prospect of performance or publication. I rather doubt that the final three:
Die Parole,
Benedetto Marcello and particularly
Die Eifersüchtigen would merit staging, but that
Samson,
Dame Kobold and possibly
König Alfred would. If it came down to supporting just one of the six for revival, it would undoubtedly be
Samson.
QuoteI thought there already was a recording of Benedetto Marcello commercially available? [...] Is this a bootleg copy?
Yes. It's taken from the 2002 radio broadcast of a concert performance.
Thank you for that lengthy and very informative summary Mark.
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Tuesday 02 July 2019, 16:07
There's a good chance that Sterling will issue in the near future a CD of the 2002 concert performance, using SWR's original recording, unlike the bootlegs currently available which are off-air dubs of the subsequent broadcast.
Due at the beginning of the year.
https://www.amazon.com/Benedetto-Marcello-Raff/dp/B07ZLJ5VBP/ref=sr_1_165?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1574803607&refinements=p_n_date%3A1249114011&rnid=1249111011&s=music&sr=1-165 (https://www.amazon.com/Benedetto-Marcello-Raff/dp/B07ZLJ5VBP/ref=sr_1_165?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1574803607&refinements=p_n_date%3A1249114011&rnid=1249111011&s=music&sr=1-165)
And here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Joachim-Raff-Benedetto-Marcello-Lyrical/dp/B07ZLJ5VBP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=raff+benedetto&qid=1574807239&sr=8-1 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Joachim-Raff-Benedetto-Marcello-Lyrical/dp/B07ZLJ5VBP/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=raff+benedetto&qid=1574807239&sr=8-1)
Marvellous! I saw in the other thread Dame Kobold is to be performed...hope it gets a recording too!
EDIT: 2002? what on earths been the hold up? it must be some sort of record been on ice this long.
EDIT 2: Lovely cover too.. none of the modern and silly trend of conductors with silly hand gestures and poses! Ugh!
Quote2002? what on earths been the hold up?
Well, Sterling's practice has often been to mine radio archives for its releases. Some have dated back decades. So, this isn't a question of a recording that Sterling's had for years - more a matter of a performance that's been around waiting for a label to issue it (and, of course, raise the funds to do so).
Yes, that's exactly right, Alan. I've been involved in a small way in engineering a commercial release for this radio recording, and Sterling were only able to secure rights to Südwest Rundfunk's recording, and waivers from all the artists, a few months ago. So actually things have moved rather quickly..
Thank you Sir for getting it released!
Duly advance ordered! With many thanks also to those concerned in any way!
This is fantastic news! You have no idea how much I look forward to this release. If someone had told me 45 years ago (when my interest in Raff began) that I would actually hear one of the operas, I would have thought them daft. This release can't come soon enough for me.
So that's two sold at least, then. 😊
Three - in spite of the fact that I already have the previous private issue :-)
For people living in Germany without postage costs it's only €19,99 at jpc https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/benedetto-marcello/hnum/9558631
I've just received a preview copy. In terms of packaging, and compared to many current opera releases, Sterling has done a good job: as well as the two discs there's a full libretto (both original German and an English translation) and a separate illustrated booklet containing a synopsis and a short essay about the opera and the background to its composition, again in both languages. I haven't yet had chance to listen to the recording itself, but the sound should be an improvement on the broadcast recording which has been circulating for years.
Excerpts here:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/benedetto-marcello/hnum/9558631 (https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/benedetto-marcello/hnum/9558631)
104 minutes long, Raff channelling Janacek - nice!
I have absolutely no idea what that means, Kevin. Care to elucidate?
Janaceks mature operas(his last four) are all around that time span, Janacek was a master at succinctness, my hope is the Raff work will be on the same level(I'm a glass half full kinda guy :))
Ah, in the sense that the expression Raff channeling Milhaud, if it were to fit, could mean a 10-minute opera but not necessarily a polytonal one. :) (proviso: I haven't heard Milhaud's 3 opéras-minutes from the late 1920s, and am not meaning to mock, but! (And I like Milhaud's music, so no, I don't mean to mock. So we return you to.))
And yes, looking forward to hearing B... M... ... (I don't think I've heard this recording in its earlier incarnations, immortal or otherwise.)
I would appreciate it if you did a review, Mark, on Raff.org. Always been the first stop for me in Raff reviews as far as I'm concered.(I'm getting it anyway BTW)
I haven't been updating raff.org as I have been focusing on another very big Raff project which will come to fruition next year. In the meantime, there's a review here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/news/reviews/bad_urach/urach_3.htm) of the actual concert performance, the recording of which will be issued by Sterling.
Yes, I noticed the site doesn't get updated often - it's still the definitive source on Raff though.
''very big Raff project'' sounds very cool... 8)
Oh yes, it's as cool as they come ;)
Already in the Jan '20 RI catalog.
And already on order! But contrary to Mark's experience there is NO libretto!!!!
From the RI website:
Kunst und Liebe [Art and Love], as this, Raff's fifth opera (1878), was initially titled, is a work on a modest scale, its drama domestic rather than epic, concerning itself with relationships, love and loss, its main characters the composers Marcello and Johann Adolf Hasse. With colorful but transparent orchestration, dynamic variety and awash with lightly-applied local color and dance rhythms, it captures a baroque sensibility without aping baroque musical styles. 2 CDs. No libretto. Detlef Roth (baritone), Johannes Kalpers (tenor), Melba Ramos (soprano), Margarete Joswig (mezzo), Men's Choir of the Amanduskirche Bad Urach, Kaiserslautern Radio Orchestra; Grzegorz Nowak.
Review here of: link doesn't work for me, does its .root need to be replaced by raff-org?
Yes, I read that too, but as far as I'm aware Sterling do intent to include a libretto - they certainly paid for an English translation and my preview copy has one. I'll try to get a definitive answer...
They should have the libretto as a free download on their website like some other record companies do. The libretto is essential to enjoying the work especially an obscure one like Benedetto.
As I wrote earlier, I'm checking with Sterling.
Bo Hyttner confirms that a full libretto in German and English is included.
Might it be worth pointing this out to Records International?
He's already doing so...
Good.
Heard an excerpt on Record Review this morning - thought I was listening to late Richard Strauss (it was that magnificent coloratura aria) and was amazed to find it was BM. Perhaps Raff's the missing link between Mozart and Strauss?
That's not as far fetched as some might think. Raff idolised Mozart and Strauss acknowledged Raff as an early influence, although he'd never have heard Benedetto Marcello, of course. The aria is indeed gorgeous, and especially effective as it's preceded by a much simpler version, shorn of the decoration and sung by the other female lead. Like all Raff, even when he's uninspired, it's clever.
I thought I was listening to Zerbinetta in Ariadne! But I was in the car at the time...
This was quite lovely to listen to. There's a nice Dvorakian lyricism going on, but very much melodically Raffian(he's not far beyond Dvorak in that field). Short and sweet too, well paced. What a wonderful time we live in when we can hear rare beautiful works such as this for the first time, makes one happy to be alive. :)
Having received my copy this afternoon, I'm pleased to report that the set came with an intoductory booklet and separate full German-English libretto.
Phew!
Just one small thing: I note that 'lyrische Oper' has been translated 'lyrical opera', whereas I think the genre is actually 'lyric opera' - no?
RI have removed the incorrect information on their website concerning the lack of libretto.
And what an opera this is. Pure unalloyed joy from start to finish. I can't think of anything remotely like it. Beautifully performed and sung too. Kudos to all concerned.
Yes, Alan, it should be "lyric opera". It is indeed a rewarding work, and one which I think shows us Raff at his most natural; by the time he composed Benedetto Marcello he had pretty much given up hope of any of his operas being performed and so was writing just for himself.
You have it right in your notes!
True, true. I 'd forgotten that I'd written that.
My copy (ordered at Amazon) arrive today. They are CDRs...
I was wondering about that. Mine played OK, though.
CDRs are pretty much a given with Sterling releases now (and have been since they started being distributed by Nimbus)
So I was quite lucky to have my two last CDs (Jaques-Dalcroze and Scherber) being issued as authentic CDs :-)
The topic of Sterling (and other companies) issuing recordings on CDRs has already been discussed exhaustively in this thread (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,7279.msg77013.html#msg77013). Please don't reopen it here.
It's good to see that both the music and the performance merit a resounding thumbs up from Jonathan Woolf at Music Web International (http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Feb/Raff_Marcello_CDO1123.htm).
Quite right too.
For those with German, here's a review at Opera Lounge (http://operalounge.de/cd/oper-cd/kunst-und-liebe). As author of the booklet notes, I must say that a lot of the background information in Ingrid Wanja's piece has a very familiar ring to it! ;)
Another glowing review (https://onlinemerker.com/cd-joachim-raff-benedetto-marcello-lyrische-oper-in-drei-akten-mitschnitt-der-welturauffuehrung-vom-4-10-2002-in-bad-urach-sterling-world-premiere/) - in German again, but Google Translate yields a fair approximation.
This review by Ralph Locke originally appeared in American Record Guide and can be read here at Opera Today: https://operatoday.com/2020/12/joachim-raff-benedetto-marcello/ (https://operatoday.com/2020/12/joachim-raff-benedetto-marcello/)
What a thoughtful, open minded and accurate review. It's a pleasure to read. Thank you, John.
Yes - thanks, John. If only all music journalism were as well-informed, generous and open-minded as this. It was a joy to read.