Beethoven: Christ on the Mount of Olives

 

I get a strange feeling when Jesus is set as a sung character in musical works. What sort of vocal range would the Son of Man have? What timbre should his singing voice sound like? What sort of presence should his voice portray? Commanding? Pious? Gracious? Authoritarian?

Tenor James King portrays the King of Kings as vehement, soldiering, and full of fire, set in the Garden of Gethsemane by Beethoven. Thus, I think such characteristic oddities need to be placed upon Beethoven rather than King. What proceeds are six sections of arias and choruses following the arrest of Jesus before the ultimate Crucifixion. To my ears, the music of Beethoven's oratorio Christus am Ölberge sounds much too sensational for its Biblical setting, delighting in over-the-top operatic theatrics rather than religious devotion or fervor.

The coloratura soprano represents a Seraphim, where her solo is full of impressive vocal gymnastics. Elizabeth Harwood does not have a silvery youthful voice; rather her soprano is full-bodied and direct, with perhaps a smidgen of age as well. Franz Crass is properly imperious as St. Peter, with a rock-solid bass tone, perfect for his small part at the very end.

As of the date of this blog post, Bernhard Klee passed away under a year ago. With this Beethoven Large Choral Works set I am listening to for my Works Series, I mentioned Christian Thielemann as a modern-day patrician of Austro-Germanic orchestral repertoire. Klee is the perfect example of such a kapellmeister from previous generations, having come up through the ranks by way of Wolfgang Sawallisch, and memorably found with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna, and Dresden, among other Teutonic-based ensembles. Thus, Klee can sound a little old fashioned, taking his time with Beethoven's music, molding musical lines quite thoughtfully, but never underplaying the big moments.

I should mention Klee is leading the Vienna Symphony Orchestra here, not the more famous Philharmonic. The VSO are still a high-class ensemble, but purists will want to take note of the difference. Each choral section of the Vienna Singverein are perfectly heard, yet their placement dates this recording to some degree. I can't quite place the exact sentiment I am looking to describe as to the audio quality of the chorus, where they are clear, yet set back and divided within the acoustic. The solo cello in the Third-Part duet is a bit tin-can sounding too, an unfortunate quality for that player.

I might enjoy this trio of soloists under Klee more, but I think I enjoy Nagano's production on Harmonia Mundi even more, at least as a whole. Nagano elicits a dreamy string quality from his German orchestra and suaver choral work from the Berlin Radio Choir there, even if the male soloists on that recording show their advancing vocal age too much.

Still, if you enjoy a grand operatic vision from Beethoven, this would be a fine recording. As far as I know, Bernhard Klee's DGG LP recording never made it to CD on its own, thus I am covering it as part of my Works Series from Volume 19 (Large Choral Works) of Deutsche Grammophon's Complete Beethoven Edition.

 

Work Series
Vol. 5 from Beethoven Large Choral Works on DGG


Works
Christus am Ölberge, op. 85

Soloists
Elizabeth Harwood, soprano
James King, tenor
Franz Crass, bass

Performers
Vienna Singverein
Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Bernhard Klee, conductor

Label: DGG
Year: 1970; 1997
Total Timing: 56.12

Find more Beethoven recordings HERE!