Translated material
Watching from afar
Although Metzmacher is known as an expert on the 20th century repertoire, the main piece here is Strauss's "Life of a Hero": music of the 19th century, both in time of creation and in spirit, continuing the tradition of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique. It's no surprise that one of Germany's best orchestras plays Strauss perfectly; It's interesting how confident he feels in the music of two such different composers as Strauss and Edgard Varèse. However, the juxtaposition of “The Life of a Hero” with Varèse’s “Americas,” one of the manifestos of new music, is strange only at first glance. The point is not even that Varèse has hidden quotes from Strauss: in fact, “America” is nothing more than a symphonic poem, the model of which for the author was the works of Strauss, as for Strauss - the works of Liszt. Moreover, Varèse's first major work - the subsequently destroyed symphonic poem Bourgogne - was performed precisely on Strauss's initiative. So it’s quite natural to compare two masters within the same program.
Varèse is not played very often in the world, although his music sounds so fresh, as if it was written today, or even tomorrow. “America” is a composition from 1921 that has long become a classic and even now sounds revolutionary: imagine the shock experienced by the first listeners of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring”, and multiply it several times. “America” is a very noisy and at first glance chaotic work, with a siren, with reinforced groups of wind and percussion, but noise here is not an end in itself. After listening, you can discern an extraordinary positive energy in it, admire the imagination of the composer, who is not afraid of new sounds, and the skill of the orchestra, coping with such unusual music.
Kaija Saariaho. Love from afar (Harmonia Mundi). The opera boom in Finland began in 1975, when Aulis Sallinen's The Horseman was staged at the Savonlinna Festival. Since then, Finnish opera has flourished: a number of composers and successful productions can be named. The greatest international triumph of Finnish opera was the success of the works of Kaija Saariaho, written at the request of the Salzburg Festival (Love from Afar, 2000) and the Paris Opera (Adriana Mater, 2006). It’s hard to believe that “Love from afar,” written for orchestra, choir and three soloists, is Saariho’s first opera: turning to a new genre for herself, the composer created a masterpiece comparable to Debussy’s “Pelléas et Mélisande.” In the 21st century, this is not only the best opera, but also one of the most successful: in ten years it has gone through seven productions, which is incredible in these days.
“Love from afar” is unexpected in the context of both modern music and the work of Saariaho herself, which is often quite radical. Contrary to how the genre has developed in recent decades, the opera is based on full-fledged singing, all vocal parts are exceptionally beautiful and melodic. Until recently, only DVD was available, with Peter Sellars's intricate production detracting from the music; Now the recording has been released on CD, the performing merits of which are even higher. The story of how in the 12th century the troubadour Jofre Rudel falls in love with a Lady whom he had never seen, becomes mortally ill on the way to her and dies in her arms, is presented by maestro Kent Nagano with unusually reverent and subtlety. The highlight of the recording is the Russian singer Ekaterina Lekhina, who in 2007 won first prize at the Placido Domingo Operalia competition. The role of Clémence, the distant lover, was originally written for the outstanding singer of our day, Dawn Upshaw; Lekhina sings it at least as well.
In general, describing music in words is a thankless task, but for the opera “Love from Afar” this is doubly true: seemingly incompatible elements here make up a single, organic fabric. On the one hand, there is no doubt that this is a work of our days, the author of which is superbly equipped with current techniques of compositional technique: a six-minute introduction, not the brightest page of the opera, is a typical example of modern Finnish music. At the same time, you become more and more immersed in “Love from Afar,” barely having time to think that it seems that it is not customary to write such emotional music these days. There are many powerful moments in the opera, but the most unexpected is the finale, when Clemence angrily turns to God, who took away her hope for love. It’s very sad that Lekhina is not the first and not the last Russian singer whose success we watch from afar.