Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Eine Messe des Lebens (A Mass of Life) RT II/4 (1899-1905)
Roderick Williams (baritone – Zarathustra), Gemma Summerfield (soprano), Claudia Huckle (contralto), Bror Magnus Tødenes (tenor)
Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Edvard Grieg Kor, Collegium Musicum Choir
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra/ Sir Mark Elder
rec. 2022, Grieghallen, Bergen, Norway
LAWO Classics LWC1265 [2 CDs: 94]
In his valuable booklet essay Andrew Mellor remarks that “Delius was undoubtedly more attuned to Nietzsche the poet than to Nietzsche the philosopher.” In Eine Messe des Lebens he set a series of extracts from Also sprach Zarathustra which had been compiled for him by the German conductor, Fritz Cassirer (1871-1926) who was an early champion of Delius’ music.
I must confess to a degree of ambivalence about Eine Messe des Lebens, even though it contains a great deal of magnificent music. My problem lies with the text; Nietzsche’s high-flown imagery leaves me cold, I’m afraid. It’s probably best almost to forget the words and simply listen. It’s not a work that one encounters often in the concert hall; I have a number of recordings in my collection – the famous Beecham 1953 recording (the first one made of the work), a live version conducted with an excellent blend of excitement and poetry by Norman Del Mar on the long-defunct Intaglio label, and Sir Charles Groves’ 1971 account for EMI – but I’ve never had the opportunity to attend a live performance.
I was most interested to learn from the booklet that the performances which Sir Mark Elder conducted in Bergen were the first that he’d given of the work in his long and distinguished career. (I’m unsure if this recording was made live or under studio conditions.) One point in Andrew Mellor’s essay which struck me forcibly was that Delius’ score contains very few expression marks, leaving an awful lot to the interpretative intelligence of the conductor. Apparently, Sir Thomas Beecham incorporated a lot of his own interpretative decisions into his editions of the score, but Mellor includes some fascinating remarks by Elder: ‘I feel some of these [Beecham’s markings] are gilding the lily. I found myself stripping back, taking away expression marks that Beecham had put in – going for something more transparent and simple…I try to make the most of these; the quiet passages really tender and beautifully sustained, combined with aggression and drama where possible.” I think it’s worth quoting these comments at the outset because it seems to me that Elder has communicated his intentions to the performers most successfully; the combined choirs sing with great finesse – and punch when it’s required – while the playing of the Bergen Philharmonic is simply fabulous in every respect.
I must admit that when I played these discs for the first time I was initially disconcerted by the opening chorus (‘O du mein Wille!’) The performance was full of energy but the recording seemed to place the choir a bit backwardly. The Groves recording, made in London’s Kingsway Hall, was much punchier and more present – I expect that the London Philharmonic Choir was positioned in the balcony, above and immediately behind the orchestra. However, as I continued listening to this Bergen version, I came to the realisation that perhaps the Groves recording, for all its virtues, is a bit too immediate. This LAWO recording gives us, I think, a more realistic concert hall perspective and balance; I found that I quickly adjusted and that I liked the sound.
The combined choirs are excellent throughout. They are able to project powerfully when required, and they don’t falter in the face of Delius’ fearsome demands – the writing for the sopranos is punishingly high at times, as in that exhilarating opening chorus, for example. That said, a great deal of the choral writing is more delicate and here the chorus impressed me significantly. For instance, in Part I during the ‘Das andere Tanzlied’ section (CD 1, tr 3) there are some lovely, delicate interjections by the sopranos. A little later, at the beginning of ‘Das Nachtlied’ (‘Nacht ist es’) the singing of the chorus is as magically soft as the playing of the orchestra (CD 1, tr 5). These are just two examples; I could give many more. These Bergen singers give a very distinguished account of Delius’ music.
There are four soloists but Delius gave limited opportunities to three of them by comparison with the baritone’s allocation. I’ve heard Claudia Huckle before but the voices of Gemma Summerfield and Bror Magnus Tødenes were new to me. All three make a favourable impression. Gemma Summerfield has a bright, attractive voice and sings very well. Claudia Huckle is a true contralto – a rather rare commodity these days – and the warmth and richness of her voice is appropriate to this music, especially since the voice is well focused. The Norwegian tenor, Bror Magnus Tødenes produces an easy, lyric tone, always singing with admirable clarity. I liked all three of these singers and felt that their contributions were just right.
The lion’s share of the solo writing is given to the baritone. There’s a photo in the booklet taken after the work had been performed in concert. I thought it was rather significant that Roderick Williams’ place on the platform is over to the conductor’s right while the other three soloists are positioned together, to Sir Mark’s left. Williams and Elder have recorded Delius together before; some years ago, Williams sang on the Hallé recording of Sea Drift and Cynara (review). This assignment is in a different league of magnitude, though. The baritone part is huge and makes great musical and interpretative demands on the singer. Williams is marvellous. In his very first solo (‘Erhebt eure Herzen, meine Brüder’) he invests the music with life and perfectly matches the light-footed approach that Elder adopts with the orchestra (CD1, tr 2). A little later on, he’s wonderfully expressive at ‘O meine neuen Freunde’ (CD 1, tr 3, from 7:50). Indeed, this is the start of one of the most inspired sections of the work and everyone involved is really on their mettle – Claudia Huckle offers calm and poised singing in her ‘O Zarathustra’ solo (from 9:58).
Moving into Part II, Williams’ singing continues at the same exalted level. Time and again, he finds the right colour for the music and he consistently characterises the words with great understanding. The solo which begins at ‘Die Sonne ist lange schon hinunter’ contains some of the most poetic music in the whole score; Williams’ singing brings out all that poetry. When he gets to his last solo, ‘O Mensch! Gib Acht’, he delivers words and music raptly – and surely inspires the choir to be no less communicative when they take over (CD 2, tr 7, 7:36 – 11:01). Williams is one of the twin pillars of this performance; his singing commanded my attention from first to last.
The other pillar of the performance is, of course, Sir Mark Elder. He assumed the post of Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic in the 2022/23 season This recording, which I believe is his first with the orchestra, was made in September 2022, right at the start of his tenure. I presume he’d worked with them before but on this evidence the new relationship has got off to a very auspicious start. I’ve heard the Bergen Philharmonic on a number of recordings with their present Chief Conductor, Edward Gardner, and his predecessor, Andrew Litton. I know from those recordings that the orchestra is a very fine one; on this Delius recording their playing is as excellent as anything I’ve heard them do. Elder must have worked intensively with them in preparing this performance because the finesse of their playing and the detail which is revealed is remarkable. Listen to the quiet subtlety of the playing at the start of ‘Nacht ist es’ (CD 1, tr 5). Even more breathtaking is the magical playing in the hushed Introduction to Part II. Here. the playing is marvellously controlled so that we hear hushed but intense music – the distancing of the echoing horn is just perfect. Further into Part II, Elder and his musicians convey beautifully the sultry summer ambience at the start of the ‘Mittag’ episode – the chorus also play their part in creating the atmosphere (CD 2, tr 5).
Elder has clearly prepared every aspect of this music with scrupulous care. It seems to me that onto this careful preparation he has grafted a perceptive and very deep understanding of the music. It may well be the first time he has conducted the work but one would not know that, so idiomatic is his conducting. I should mention one detail that caught my eye – and ear – and which illustrates Elder’s attention to detail. Customarily, orchestral harpists find themselves positioned towards the rear of the orchestra, usually off to the conductor’s left-hand side. For this performance, as the photos show, Elder had the two harps placed right in front of his rostrum. We can hear the benefit of this placing several times during the performance: no ‘spotlighting’ is needed but the instruments make their presence felt, just as Delius surely intended.
This is a marvellous performance which has made me appreciate Eine Messe des Lebens anew. It has been presented in very good sound by balance engineer Thomas Wolden and in a way that is thoroughly musical. Wolden has allowed a great amount of detail to come through – I love the way that soft, deep tam-tam contributions register at several points – and the many felicities of Delius’ writing for the woodwind are expertly revealed. The four soloists are heard to good advantage, their voices prominent (as they would be in the concert hall when standing at the front of the stage) but not in an overpowering way. In short, the recorded sound does full justice to the skill of all the singers and players.
The documentation is good – Andrew Mellor’s essay is excellent. My only quibble is that I wish the track numbers had been indicated in the text and translations.
Devotees of Delius and, equally, collectors who are still to be convinced of the stature of Eine Messe des Lebens should hasten to hear this outstanding recording.
John Quinn
Previous review: Nick Barnard (January 2024)
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