Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974)
Aladin op.43 (1941), fairy-tale opera in three acts and five scenes
Michael Ha (tenor), Aladin
Frank Blees (bass), Nazzredin, the Sultan
Solen Mainguené (soprano), Princess Laila, his daughter
Oleksandr Pushniak (baritone), Mulak, the Grand Vizier
Selçuk Hakan Turaşoğlu (bass), The Blind Beggar / The Spirit of the lamp
Chor des Staatstheaters Braunschweig
Staatsorchester Braunschweig/Jonas Alber
rec. live, 8-11 March 2017, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Germany
Booklet contains biography, synopsis and full libretto with texts in German and English.
cpo 555 161-2 [2 CDs: 120]
Kurt Atterberg is a composer who has often been accused of being a Nazi collaborator. Although he was officially cleared of any charges, the scent of collusion still clings to him even to this day. Although the world premiere was in Stockholm in 1941 the second production occurred in Chemnitz later that same year. It seems that the music of the Swedish Atterberg was more than acceptable to the Nazi authorities and the local public and press gave it a resounding welcome. Hearing it today, it sounds just a little old fashioned for its time, rather as if it had been composed a good 30 years earlier. Atterberg uses an incredibly rich orchestral palette and his music has a certain amount of grandeur and sweep to it. His themes are frequently melodic but they are usually brief. The one thing that Aladin lacks is one or two really memorable tunes which might have kept it alive after the fall of the Nazis. Something akin to Korngold’s “Das Glück, das mir verliebt” would have done wonders for this work. As it stands much of the music of Aladin is amiable, with some lovely, iridescent orchestral passages and can claim some attractive choral writing. However; this opera is ultimately a last gasp of echt-Straussian music and this recording will likely be the only way to hear it for many years to come. The recording was made over six years ago by the German radio at a series of live performances in Braunschweig. There is no applause evident but one can distinctly hear stage noises throughout.
The cast of relatively young singers is headed by Michael Ha’s Aladin. His light, clear, unforced tenor works well to convey the youth of Aladin but when the composer calls for Aladin’s phrases to expand, Ha’s voice begins to tighten and he can’t comply with the composer’s wishes. Solen Mainguené does well as the naïve Princess Laila. She has a basically pure, lyric sound but it loses focus and clarity as she ascends the staff. Oleksandr Pushniak as the villainous Vizier has a vocally weighty presence although his vocal timbre is not a particularly memorable one. Selçuk Hakan Turaşoğlu is authoritative as the Blind Beggar/Spirit of the Lamp despite a somewhat gummy-sounding tone, and he needs to work harder at making the words much clearer. Similarly Frank Blees as the Sultan has a mushy tone which doesn’t contribute much to the proceedings. The real success of this set is Jonas Alber’s classy rendering of the score. He keeps the orchestral and choral parts tightly focused throughout the long performance. Unfortunately even he is not able to disguise the composer’s occasional lapses into rather pedestrian writing, such as in the transformation music from Aladin’s hovel to the magic palace. This is a typical example of an important plot situation where the composer needed to do a little better.
Mike Parr
Previous review: Jim Westhead (September 2023)
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