Bruckner Spectrum
Zurich Chamber Singers/Christian Erny
Richard Octaviano Kogima (organ); Guy-Noël Conus, Mathieu Turbé, Domenico Catalano (trombones)
rec. 2022, SRF Radiostudio Zürich Brunnenhof, Switzerland
No texts
BERLIN CLASSICS 0302806BC [59]
The booklet accompanying this superb disc tells us that ‘In this programme Anton Bruckner’s motets are presented in a careful sequence combining them with works by Palestrina and Burkhard Kinzler.’ This is important, as the way in which the sequence has been executed could discourage those of a purist disposition. This would be a great pity, so please, read on and keep an open mind.
The first three works of this ‘Bruckner Spectrum’ – see the list below – deal with the Virgin, whereas the subject of the following four, including Palestrina’s O bone Jesu, is Christ himself. The three following works deal with the foundation of the Church, whereas the final group takes us into territory personal to the composer, his devout Christian faith in particular. Finding Palestrina and Bruckner on the same programme need surprise nobody, but the three Kinzler pieces are another matter. They are there, so the booklet note explains, and they ‘feature as a commentary that both hearken back “ad fontes” and towards the twenty-first-century present.’ Let me describe what happens in a little more detail.
Bruckner’s Tota pulchra es features an exquisitely sung solo tenor part from Jonas Salzer, and fine organ playing from Richard Octaviano Kogima, sensitively integrated into the work bearing in mind that the organ plays for only 12 of the work’s 80 bars. Kinzler’s first Bruckner-Brücke (‘Bruckner Bridge’) steals in seconds before the Bruckner has finished, with the same soloist now employed in musing on Bruckner’s closing notes, a descending semitone. Kinzler then develops this device with the full choir by way of a long series of held notes. This is gradually transformed into music that becomes the first notes of the dramatic, trombone-laden, Ecce sacerdos. Kinzler later intrudes into the final bar of Palestrina’s O bone Jesu with such disarming skill that we might think we are still with Palestrina. This second ‘Brücke’ piece is dominated by chords that slither and slide and gradually come together to close on what we then find to be the first chord of the following Bruckner piece, the sublime Os justi. Kinzler’s third piece follows Locus iste after a short pause, but opens with the same chord on which Bruckner’s motet has just closed. A long, wordless, hummed meditation follows on a series of chords, subtly modified each time and punctuated by silence. They are sung with remarkable skill, until the last one blends into the plainsong melody that opens Salvum fac populum.
Whether listeners react positively to this or not rather depends on individual taste. Kinzler’s pieces fulfil an important role in this particular programme, though how interesting they would be as stand-alone works is open to question. It does mean that this is probably not the best choice to dip into from time to time. Rather, it is a sequence best experienced from beginning to end, in a single session. Heard in this way I believe lovers of Bruckner’s small-scale choral words will derive great pleasure from it, as they also will, and above all, from the superb singing and the inspired direction of Christian Erny. The choir’s singing style, vibrato-light and texturally clean, but with a certain, refreshing robustness, is carried over from the Palestrina pieces into the rest of the programme. The Bruckner motets benefit from this, especially those in eight parts, where the harmonies, frequently complex, are so miraculously in tune that you feel you could almost take them down from dictation. 24 names figure in the booklet, and with no one section inferior to any other it seems unfair to draw attention to the solid foundation provided by the superb bass section. I wouldn’t like to say that the choir possesses quite the tonal beauty of the Latvian Radio Choir review, but then, which choir does? But many will prefer the Bruckner here, for its greater textural clarity and less reverberant recording.
Collectors of these pieces, as well as those who have sung or conducted them, will no doubt find details with which to differ in these performances from Zurich, but they will surely be both few and minor. Once collectors have accepted that this is more than a simple choral recital they should sit back, maybe switch off the lights, and submit to this compelling and superbly performed programme.
William Hedley
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Contents
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594): Ave Maria in 5 parts
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): Virga Jesse floruit, WAB 52
Bruckner: Tota pulchra es, WAB 46
Burkhard Kinzler (b. 1963): Bruckner-Brücke I
Bruckner: Ecce sacerdos, WAB 13
Bruckner: Christus factus es, WAB 11
Palestrina: Jesu, Rex admirabilis
Bruckner: Tantum ergo, WAB 32
Palestrina: O bone Jesu
Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke II
Bruckner: Os justi, WAB 30
Palestrina: Exaudi, Domine in 4 parts
Bruckner: Locus iste, WAB 23
Kinzler: Bruckner-Brücke III
Bruckner: Salvum fac populum, WAB 40
Bruckner: Libera me, WAB 21
Bruckner: Ave Maria, WAB 6
