Sir Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
A Child of Our Time (1939-41)
Nadine Benjamin (soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Kenneth Tarver (tenor), Roderick Williams (baritone)
London Adventist Chorale
London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir/Edward Gardner
rec. live, 26 November 2022, Royal Festival Hall, London
Text included
London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO-0136 [66]
Just last year, I was very impressed by a recording of A Child of Our Time conducted by Sir Andrew Davis (review). That recording was made under studio conditions. Now, the LPO has issued, on the orchestra’s own label, a live recording of a performance given in the Royal Festival Hall in 2022, a concert which was reviewed for Seen and Heard International by John Rhodes. One thing which the two recordings have in common is the presence of Dame Sarah Connolly as the mezzo soloist.
I learned a couple of interesting things from Stephen Johnson’s valuable booklet notes. One is that the LPO took part in the premiere of A Child of Our Time in 1944. The other concerns the libretto. Apparently, Tippett showed his scenario for the oratorio to T S Eliot and asked him to turn it into a verse libretto for him. Eliot declined, however; he felt he would produce too ‘poetic’ a text whereas what was wanted was, in Johnson’s words. “a simpler text, fused with music, [which] would make the point more directly”. Eliot’s judgement was sound, I think. Tippett therefore devised his own libretto. I usually struggle with Tippett’s texts, finding them verbose and over-complex in their imagery; happily, A Child of Our Time is an exception.
As is well known, Tippett was inspired by an event which took place in 1938. A young Polish Jewish boy, Herschel Grynszpan, murdered a German diplomat in Paris and this was the excuse for the horrifying series of pogroms in Germany and Austria known collectively as ‘Kristallnacht’. In his secular oratorio the composer reflected on these events and their consequences, though, as Stephen Johnson justly observes, “Tippett wanted to focus, not so much on one incident, as on its ‘archetypical’ nature”. So, we find that both the soloists and the chorus act both as protagonists and commentators. Perhaps the most famous feature of A Child of Our Time is the inclusion of five African-American Spirituals; these occur at various points as the work unfolds and, structurally, they fulfil a similar function to the chorales which Bach employed in his Passion settings. Given the crucial role of these Spirituals, it was a nice touch to invite some twenty singers from the London Adventist Chorale, who have such music in their blood, to join with the London Philharmonic Choir for this performance.
Edward Gardner benefits from a very strong solo team. Nadine Benjamin has just the right sort of voice – and stylistic approach – for the soprano role. She’s very expressive in ‘How can I cherish my man in such days’, singing with a fulness and richness of tone which is most affecting. Her diction is good and she invests the text with proper feeling. This first solo proves to be a harbinger of her contributions throughout the performance. The way she handles the seamless transition into ‘Steal away’ is most satisfying, while her keening vocalisations as that Spiritual is sung are beautifully judged. Much later in the work, I was very impressed with her delivery of ‘What have I done to you, my son?’ Sarah Connolly made a fine impression on me in the Andrew Davis studio recording; here, in a concert rendition, she’s just as good. All her contributions are first class but she’s at her peak, I think, in ‘The soul of man is impassioned like a woman’. The American tenor, Kenneth Tarver is very well cast. The first time we hear him is in Part I (‘I have no money for my bread’). At once, it’s evident that his clear, ringing voice is a great asset, as is his excellent diction. The way he delivers this solo engaged my sympathies. Later, his contribution (‘Mother! Mother!’) to the scena involving all four soloists is suitably impassioned. His rendition of ‘My dreams are all shattered’ is no less impressive and moving. Roderick Williams’ way with the baritone solos is ideal. In the passages where his function is that of the narrator, he tells the story in an involving fashion; as ever with this singer, the enunciation of the text and what he does with the words are impeccable. The baritone has a key part to play in the penultimate Spiritual, ‘Go down, Moses’; here, Williams is commanding.
The chorus work is consistently very fine indeed. In the very first chorus (‘The world turns on its dark side’) the sound produced by both the singers and the orchestra has just the right amount of dark weight and it’s noticeable how acutely the accents are observed. This is a suitably intense opening. The first Spiritual (‘Steal away’) is marvellously sung by the choir and later on I very much admired the incisiveness with which they (and the orchestra) deliver ‘Nobody knows the trouble I see, Lord’. At the point where the choir becomes the mob (‘Burn down their houses’), the singing is vitriolic while the chorus which opens Part III (‘The cold deepens’) beings in a chilly, oppressive fashion and then gradually becomes very powerful indeed. At every turn, I thought the choirs’ response to the music was just right; very skilled and completely ‘in the moment’.
One feature of this recording is the first-class balance which the engineers have achieved between singers and orchestra. This enables us to hear a myriad of detail in the orchestral parts; it’s very evident that the orchestra is a major protagonist in this score. The LPO’s playing is terrific, not least in the wide dynamic range they display which means that the forceful passages, of which there are a good number, make their full impact.
Presiding over all this and knitting Tippett’s fabric together, is Edward Gardner. I don’t think it’s an accident that up to now the two finest recordings which I have heard of A Child of Our Time have been led by conductors with significant operatic experience: Sir Colin Davis and Sir Andrew Davis. To this number I can now add Gardner, another conductor who is highly experienced in the opera house pit. Gardner brings out to the full – but never in an exaggerated fashion – the dark drama in this score. I was thoroughly convinced by his way with the music. I recall that my colleague Philip Harrison was impressed by two earlier Tippett releases by this conductor and orchestra (review ~ review); clearly, Gardner has an affinity for Tippett.
I alluded earlier to the recorded sound. The technical side was in the hands of K&A Productions; producer Andrew Walton and engineer Deborah Spanton have done an excellent job. The recording is truthful, has a good dynamic range and all the presence that a score such as this needs.
By a complete but poignant coincidence, this CD found its way to the top of my pile of discs to review just a few days after the atrocity at the synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur. Did that colour my response either to Tippett’s work or to this particular performance? I honestly don’t think so. However, that appalling event serves as a stark reminder that dark forces are all-too present in our world today, just as they were at the time that Tippett was composing A Child of Our Time.
This outstanding performance does justice to Tippett’s emotionally charged response to the dangerous times in which he was living in the 1930s.
Buying this recording via the link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
