Beethoven: Ruins of Athens

 

There are a few differences between The Ruins of Athens and The Consecration of the House, but essentially they are very similar works. Naxos includes the few differences as individual pieces before the full incidental music to The Ruins of Athens proper begins.

This recording is marked as a 'World Premier Recording' of the version with narration, here in its original German. I am surprised it has taken this long for The Ruins of Athens to be presented in this way, for Egmont has long had recordings paired with narration. Yet, now having listened to the spoken story with characters, here voiced by five different German actors, I can understand why. 

Whereas the music of Egmont worked hand in hand with the music, I do not sense the same in Ruins. Perhaps the voice actors are merely too understated here, but I do not get any sense of Athena's loss of Athens emotionally, neither in the music nor across the parcels of speech. Athena is essentially walked around by a tour-guide, hoping to see something of the humanity she knew in the past. I normally don't mind narration aside Classical Music, however, there is no elevation by having the two together here.

I do believe Markus Bosch has since recorded The Ruins of Athens with narration on CPO. In their version, they have updated the language to meet listeners in the 21st Century. Here on Naxos, Segerstam presents the original dialogue, deemed by Bosch to sound too antiquated. Of course, there are many recordings of the incidental music alone, occasionally with a spoken word or two added, but not the whole shebang as here.

In any case, let me get to the music. Before The Ruins of Athens begins, listeners are treated to The Consecration of the House by way of an orchestral overture, a choral number, and an orchestral song. Furthermore, Segerstam presents a chorus from The Ruins of Athens separately, sans dialogue, which will appear again in the incidental music with dialogue later on.

There are a few well-known pieces from The Ruins of Athens which have become popular - the overture of course, but also the Turkish March, and maybe even the Dervishes chorus. As is the case in Beethoven's other incidental music scores, there is a lot of graceful music across the runtime, here exacerbated by Segerstam's rather broad tempos. I enjoy the sound behind the full weight of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, for they offer pastoral and woodsy, fulsome tones, but the music sags just a bit under the Finnish conductor.

As to the vocal soloists, bass singer Juha Kotilainen fares the best, with a solid tone throughout. However, Reetta Haavisto's vibrato is simply too wide. Strange too, as Haavisto hits the pitch of her notes dead center, only her vibrato enters later in wide oscillations, a matter of technique methinks. Otherwise, her sound is lovely, although she has a quite large voice too.

I wish I could say better things regarding the Cathedralis Aboensis Choir, but they hamper their portions of this music just as they did in Beethoven's Mass in C Major, also with Segerstam on Naxos. A couple of issues: First, I think the choir's numbers are too few, allowing individual voices to stand out, affecting balances yes, but also making the few singers have to work extra hard in Beethoven's tough ranges. I would also guess the age of the group leans towards pensioners. The sopranos in particular suffer in tone quality here, especially in their top range where the highest singers are simply tasked beyond their ability. Thus, these elements effect pitch and sustainability for the singers over the long run, although the men's sections end up in a stronger status.

Too bad... Akin to the Guildford Choral Society on Hyperion, I try to give choral ensembles multiple chances to show their worth, usually over the course of time with different directors, particularly since choral singers are non-paid amateurs. Like Guildford, I am beginning to get the feeling I will be avoiding recordings of the Cathedralis Aboensis Choir in the future, for each time I hear them, I have issues with sound production and tone quality, especially in big choral/orchestral numbers like this. And there are a lot of choruses in The Ruins of Athens!

So what to make of this recording? The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra is an outstanding ensemble in each of their Beethoven outings with Leif Segerstam. Here, their conductor drags a fair bit more than he should, and the choir lets down the production as well. The soloists are fine, especially the baritone, while the voice actors are a little understated, neither elevating nor complementing the music, or vice-versa. The physical media does not include spoken or sung texts printed in the booklet, but you can find them on the Naxos website; a small bother.

Personally, I would stick to recordings with only the incidental music to The Ruins of Athens and The Consecration of the House. There are fine recordings of the music alone from Claudio Abbado (with Sylvia McNair and Bryn Terfel as soloists (!)), or Bernhard Klee from previous generations, both on DGG.

But for those wanting to hear the music of The Ruins of Athens aside narration, and with the pieces attached to The Consecration of the House as well, this is probably the most comprehensive place to get it. After all, Bosch updated the words for his performance, so I doubt I would start there, even if I don't speak German. Plus, those who value sheer volume of music, this one comes in at over 80 minutes of music to a single disc!

 

 

Works
Ruins of Athens, op. 113 (52.54)
    Schmückt die Altäre, Op. 114 (6.55)
Consecration of the House, op. 124 (12.00)
    Folge dem mächtigen Ruf der Ehre!, Hess 118 (3.28)
    Wo sich die Pulse, WoO 98 (6.24)

Soloists
Reetta Haavisto, soprano
Juha Kotilainen, bass
Angela Eberlein, narrator
Claus Obalski, narrator
Roland Astor, narrator
Leah Sinka, narrator
Ernst Oder, narrator

Performers
Cathedralis Aboensis Choir
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 2020
Total Timing: 81.54

 

Why wasn't this recording cast to The Kraken as Beethoven's Mass in C Major with these same performers was, bearing many of the same musical issues?

For the most part, this recording is the only one of its kind. While I don't think the narration helps the music, hearing does bear some importance.

Plus, the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra is a continuously pleasurable ensemble to hear.

 

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