Soloists; Kammerchor Stuttgart; Frieder Bernius
Description
BBC Radio 3's Record Review said of this recording:
• "A fine new edition"
• "Bernius' forces certainly know their choral Mendelssohn by now as this series of recordings demonstrates"
• "It's a good recording too"
BBC Music Magazine:
"A zestful performance - immaculately recorded."
Goethe's dramatic ballad The First Walpurgis Op. 60 (Die Erste Walpurgisnacht) inspired Mendelssohn to compose a magnificent and vivid portrayal of the conflict between an old pagan community and the new aspirations of the 'Christianisation', between belief and superstition and the witches' sabbath, steeped in legend.
It became one of his most successful choral works, but is rarely recorded - it can be compared to Elias and Paulus.
Walpurgisnacht ("Walpurgis Night") is a festival based on pagan rituals and celebrations. It is derived from local myths and folklore, which have it that witches used to whisk on their broomsticks to the highest peak of the Harz Mountain (Brocken) on this night, and to other locations of pagan sacrifices, to have a get-together with other witches and devils to celebrate the retreat of winter and the arrival of spring.
Were it not for that pagan text, the work could be called an 'oratorio'.
Frieder Bernius has recorded the work on CD with the Stuttgart Chamber Choir, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and soloists Renee Morloc, David Fischer, Stephan Genz and David Jerusalem in the solo parts.
The recording also includes excerpts from Mendelssohn's incidental music 'Oedipus at Colonus Op. 93' to Sophocles' tragedy.
With this recording, Frieder Bernius once again demonstrates why his Mendelssohn recordings have achieved benchmark status worldwide.
Tracklisting
Hans-Christoph Rademann, NDR Chor Hamburg
Frieder Bernius, Klassische Philharmonie Stuttgart, Barockorchester Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart
Soloists; Hans-Christoph Rademann; Dresden Chamber Choir; Stuttgart Philharmonic
Nicolas Fink; Schweizer Jugendchor
Chamber choir of the Freiburg University of Music; Schuldt-Jensen
J. Brahms
Mields/Hofbauer/Erler/Schneider/Poplutz/Mäthger/Wolf/Rumpf/Schwandtke/+
Bernius/Kammerchor Stuttgart/Barockorchester Stuttgart/+
Soloists; Kammerchor Stuttgart; Frieder Bernius
