Search - Petteri Salomaa, Frank [1] Martin, Herbert Bock :: Frank Martin: Golgotha

Lovely Recording of Passionate Music

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 03/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first made my acquaintance with this work last year during Lent and it became my favorite modern setting of the Passion text. Martin's work is beyond profound in it's spirituality, and it's directly communicative vision of the Passion. Unfortunately, the version I acquired last year was a live performance in German and was notable for it's stodgy tempi and less than adequate soloists. And, I felt rather curious to hear the work in it's original French, even though the German version was prepared and authorized by the composer, as the choice of language Martin's work is deeply tied to the effect of the piece. Seeing this current CD at such a bargain price, I felt I had no excuse not to buy it, and I'm glad I did. It has rarely left my CD tray since I got it three weeks ago. Martin was inspired by a Rembrandt etching, the Three Crosses and was undertaken without a specific commission. In a sense, this work is the ultimate act of devotion for Martin, a deeply spiritual man. The text is conflated from the passion stories in all four gospels, interspersed with passages from St. Augustine. Unlike most Passion settings, Martin sets the events from much of Holy Week, beginning with a joyous retelling of the story of Palm Sunday, and including Jesus' preaching in the Temple, the Last Supper and Agony in the Garden, the Trials at the Sanhedrin and before Pilate and the culmination on Golgotha. Martin's pacing in this work is phenomenal, beginning with joy and proceeding to ever darker and more tragic emotions. The challenge in writing Passion music, or indeed in producing any work of art based on this story, is to create the sense of gathering darkness and tragedy. The brutality of the story must be given slowly over the course of the work. If the arrest or trial scenes are too dark musically, the effect of Christ's death is lessened. Martin does this through his meditations using St. Augustine. They have the effect of Bach's arias or chorales...sustained meditations on the Passion theme, putting the story in it's greater context. The result is probably the most moving setting of this story in the twentieth century, even besting the Penderecki St. Luke Passion, and that's high praise indeed.I must agree with Nicholas Deutch's statements regarding the strength of this recording. The soloists are uniformly excellent, particularly the baritone. Herbert Bock leads the chorus and orchestra with sensitivity and drive. The work never bogs down, but has the French lightness of touch that was Martin's hallmark, even in his most Germanic music. Also to my mind, the French version is preferable to the German version. The particular rhythms and tones of French fit Martin's supple vocal writing much better than the sharper German text. What is lyrical and floating in the French text can become merely turgid in German. Bock also has a very fine ear for instrumental color, another hallmark of Martin's style. Martin was a masterful orchestrator, unafraid of unusual instrumental combinations or subtle effects, and these shine through in this recording. My only disappointment with this disc is that the libretto is in French only. As a result some of the nuance of the Augustine choruses is lost unless you have a fairly good reading knowledge of French (which I don't). But that is a minor point. Overall, this is the CD to introduce yourself to this outstanding 20th century choral work, one of the greatest pieces in Martin's output."

Top Recent Recommendation for Towering Martin "Passion"

Nicholas A. Deutsch | New York, NY USA | 01/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This, astonishingly, is a reissue of the performance also available on haenssler classic - and at a preposterously low price! I hope that, like the original issue, this one includes full text & translation - absolutely essential. Here's what I had to say about that performance:
Swiss composer Frank Martin's Passion oratorio GOLGOTHA (1945-48) was inspired by a chance viewing of a Rembrandt etching, "The 3 Crosses"; the composer felt compelled to undertake the daunting project without a commission or guarantee of performance. The result was one of the most direct & moving of all 20th century religious works. In a stroke of inspiration, Martin framed & punctuated the narrative -- a mixture of passages from the Gospel accounts -- with excerpts from the Meditations of St. Augustine. These 7 sections, which serve some of the functions of the arias & chorales in the Bach Passions, are among the most beautiful & heart-piercing that Martin ever wrote, which is saying a great deal.This is a musically first-rate, dramatically gripping performance, conducted with a finely-judged balance of theatrical vigor & meditative calm by Herbert Boeck. The 2 choirs -- the Wiener Singakademie & the Concentus Vocalis -- & the Wiener Jeunesse Orchester do committed & polished work, & there are no weak links among the 5 vocal soloists, though bass Jean-Philippe Courtis's tone occasionally shows signs of wear, & some may find tenor Jorge Perdigon's vocal style rather too "operatic" in places. Petteri Salomaa, the baritone who sings the role of Jesus, is in every way outstanding, with a beautiful & secure sound from top to bottom, which he uses with equal skill in the fierce & gentle aspects of the role. & although only Courtis is a native French-speaker, pronunciation is generally scrupulous, & the level of verbal communication is good.
If you are new to GOLGOTHA, you should consider this a strong contender for top recommendation among the 4 CD versions, especially at bargain price. The 1968 composer-supervised version, conducted by Robert Faller (Erato Ultima 3984-24237-2) is excellent, with a uniformly strong set of French-fluent soloists, but inexcusably comes without text or translation. This haenssler Classic version has both, as does the 1994 one under Michel Corboz (Cascavelle VEL 3004), who had served as chorus master in 1968. (Both 1968 & 1994 were recorded in Lausanne Cathedral.) Corboz is an experienced, sensitive Martin conductor, & he has fine choral & orchestral forces to work with, as well as outstanding soprano & bass soloists, & a good alto & tenor; but some of the more theatrically vigorous scenes seem underenergized, & the baritone, despite a lovely basic sound, is uncommunicative in French & lacks the requisite fire -- no match for Salomaa. The last version, on Audite, is sung in German translation, not in itself a disqualification (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau once sang the role of Jesus in a memorable German-language Salzburg Festival broadcast), but I found that performance disappointingly sluggish. This version stands near the top of the list, & I recommend it. [PS: I had an opportunity recently (Jan 2004) to see the Rembrandt etching that inspired Martin, at a wonderful exhibition at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts - which incidentally owns two versions of it. It is a truly astonishing work, whether in the "2nd state" most commonly reproduced, or the extraordinary "4th state," where the darkness & chaos of this world reach terrifying proportions.]"