Search - Hannu Niemelä, Thomas Mehnert, Ernest Bloch :: Ernest Bloch: Macbeth

Exciting Performance of Bloch Rarity, But Must Be 2nd Choice

Nicholas A. Deutsch | New York, NY USA | 01/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bloch's only opera had its premiere in Paris in 1910, when the composer was 30. Though the influence of Wagner, Musorgsky & Debussy is obvious, the music has a distinctive, dark sound, both harmonically and orchestrally, which suits the violent, bloody story (closely based on Shakespeare) very well. The scenes between Macbeth & Lady Macbeth are set with particular psychological subtlety. Overall, I find this one of the most rewarding and fascinating rediscoveries of French-language opera in recent years, and recommend it to anyone with a taste for music drama of this era.
This is the 2nd recording to be issued: like the 1st one, it preserves a live performance, but otherwise the 2 versions are very different. The other one (Actes Sud #34100) stems from a concert conducted expertly by Friedemann Layer, with the excellent Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier L.-R., & a generally strong cast headed by Jean-Philippe Lafont & Markella Hatziano. The French is mostly native - a definite plus in this work - & there's a full libretto (French only). Layer makes one big cut, Act II, Scene 2 - the "Lady Macduff scene": this omission is composer-sanctioned, but perhaps regrettable on both dramatic & musical grounds.
This new set comes from the German stage premiere in Dortmund (1998). It's an exciting performance, led with great forward momentum by Alexander Rumpf, which confirms the music's theatrical power, while slighting some of its subtleties. It also shows that the piece can work even without a single native speaker in the cast: the French ranges from decently schooled to pretty murky. Act II, Scene 2 is included, though slightly abridged & with the unfortunate substitution of a tenor for a mezzo-soprano in the role of Macduff's Son (think Debussy's Yniold & Musorgsky's Tsarevich Fyodor). There are over a dozen other cuts & omissions of varying length (including 2 composer-authorized ones), most notably in Act III, with the result that the playing time is actually 4' shorter than the Actes Sud version. (These cuts are not insensitive or stupid, but on disc I think the composer's full text is preferable.) Finally, there is no libretto, only a skimpy synopsis. My recommendation: get the Actes Sud version; then, if you really fall in love with the piece, try to hear this performance for its raw dramatic energy & the "missing" scene."