Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) - Penthesilea (live) - Gerd Albrecht

Penthesilea
Oper in einem Aufzug op. 39
nach dem trauerspiel von Heinrich von Kleist
-opname 1982 -

"Schoeck's one-act opera, Penthesilea is an astonishing and masterly score. It seems barely credible that a work so gripping in its dramatic intensity, and so powerful in atmosphere, should be so rarely performed and so little known. It has the listener on the edge of the seat throughout its 80 short minutes and, like any great opera, it casts a spell long after the music has ended. In the Grove Dictionary of Opera, Ronald Crichton wrote that ''at its most intense, the language of Penthesilea surpasses in ferocity Strauss's Elektra, a work with which it invites comparison''. In so far as it is a one-act work, set in the Ancient World, highly concentrated in feeling and with strongly delineated characters, it is difficult not to think of Strauss's masterpiece. Yet its sound-world is quite distinctive. Vaughan Williams once spoke of originality as the power to make a C major chord sound new, citing the example of Sibelius. Though he is a lesser figure, Schoeck similarly renders the familiar language of Straussian opera entirely his own. The vocabulary is not dissimilar yet the world is different.

We are immediately plunged into a vivid and completely individual world, packed with dramatic incident: off-stage war cries and exciting, dissonant trumpet calls. There is an almost symphonic handling of pace, but the sonorities are unusual: for example, there is a strong wind section, some ten clarinets at various pitches, while there are only a handful of violins; much use is made of two pianos in a way that at times almost anticipates Britten. The present performance emanates from the 1982 Salzburg Festival; Helga Dernesch in the title-role commands the appropriate range of emotions as Penthesilea and the remainder of the cast, including the Achilles of Theo Adam, rise to the occasion. The important choral role and the orchestral playing under Gerd Albrecht are eminently committed and the recording is good without being state-of-the-art. There is a useful essay and libretto, though in German, not English or French. However, since the action is drawn from the Iliad this should hardly present problems. Schoeck was only a few years older than his better-known compatriots Frank Martin and Arthur Honegger, yet has never gained the recognition accorded to them. Let us hope that this issue advances his cause. It is a marvellous opera recommended with all possible enthusiasm." - Gramophone


Penthesilea.................................Helga Dernesch
Prothoe......................................Jane Marsh
Meroe.........................................Mechthild Gessendorf
Oberpriesterin............................Marjana Lipovšek
Priesterin....................................Gabriela Sima
Achilles.......................................Theo Adam
Diomedes.....................................Horst Hiestermann
Herold.........................................Peter Weber
ORF-Chor
ORF-Symphonieorchester
Gerd Albrecht
live recording, Felsenreitschule, Salzburger Festspiele, 17-8 1982

1. Was gilt's? Dort naht die Unheilkunde schon [3:34]
2. Hetzt alle Hund' auf ihn! [8:52]
3. Hier, meine wackeren Aetolier, heran! [1:41]
4. Der weicht, ein Schatten, vom Platz [2:48]
5. Sie lebt nicht mehr [4:12]
6. Penthesilea! O du Träumerin [4:07]
7. Er wär' gefangen mir? [6:58]
8. Komm jetzt, du süßer Nereidensohn [10:47]
9. Wir treten jetzt die Reise gleich nach Themiscyra an [3:46]
10. Argiver nah'n, erhebt euch! [4:25]
11. Triumph, Triumph! [2:48]
12. Ein Herold naht dir, Königin [4:43]
13. Ha! Stellt sie sich? [4:10]
14. Entsetzen! O Entsetzen! [2:24]
15. Trauermarsch - Seht! seht ihr Frau'n [3:10]
16. Ach, Prothoe [7:46]
17. Was brütet sie, die Schreckliche, wohl jetzt? [3:42]



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