Customer Reviews

Albéniz - Merlin / Álvarez, Domingo, Henschel, Martínez, Eusebio, Orquest Sinfónia de Madrid

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Where has this been hiding for so long? This opera deserves to be placed up alongside the so called greats. The lyricism of the Spanish Zarzuela has often been dismissed by opera snobs as somewhat inferior to the Italian and Italianates, but how wrong can people get, and this is further proof of the quality, breadth and depth of Spanish opera, one that oozes artistry and care, love and passion, reserve and subtleness, intelligence and brilliance.

For me this work (opera in three acts) not only confirms Albeniz as a major operatic composer but places him amongst the greats.

Carlos Alvarez, Placido Domingo, Jane Henschel and Ana Maria Martinez do the honors together with the National Choir of Spain and the Choir of the Community of Madrid Alfonso X "El Sabio".

So "be wise", if you really like opera you will love this.

This work is indeed "a vast and noble achievement".

regards,

martyn_jones@iniciativas.com

Ok, the libretto is poor (taking far too many liberties on the legend it is based on though that is by no means the only reason) and yes the Spanish cast does roll a few too many R's when singing in English (which is the original language it was written in); but with that said, I found it quite enjoyable. The choruses are stirring, the music is exciting and the orchestrations are quite engaging. While those with Verdian and Puccini preferences will find this work frustrating, if you enjoy the likes of Richard Straus, Bartok, Mahler and Wagner (which heavily influenced this work) you will be pleasantly suprised.

While this is the only version available, the all around quality of the recording is very good.

As a classical music and opera lover, and as a Spanish music enthusiast, I looked forward to hearing this world-premiere release of an Albeniz opera once thought lost--especially one on the subject of King Arthur. However, after listening to it straight through, I am sorry to say that this is one Spanish work I will probably never really warm up to, and I say that as a listener who is even beginning to like Verdi's "Falstaff", not his most accessible opera.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with either the singing, the playing or the conducting, except for the fact that hardly a word can be understood because the all-Spanish cast is singing in English! The choral and orchestral passages are quite impressive and are (to me) easily the best attributes of the music. The arias, however, sound like a cross between Debussy and Wagner, the sort of music which does not really consist of melodies, just endlessly flowing sung notes. This, no doubt, will impress Wagner lovers as well as fans of Debussy's magnificent but extremely difficult opera "Pelleas et Melisande". "Merlin" is clearly not for lovers of Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Puccini, Handel,Gershwin, or even Berlioz. It is a demanding work that isn't "catchy", "melodic", or even moving. It is the sort of musical composition that one can admire, but never really like or love, and even if you love a work like Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", you may have a tough time with this one.

However, Placido Domingo, who was the driving force behind getting this work recorded, and who, as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Opera, is accomplishing wonderful feats in re-discovering long forgotten and/or neglected Spanish opera, is to be congratulated. He sings the role of King Arthur here--excellently, and conductor Jose de Eusebio deserves enormous credit for accomplishing the reconstruction of this opera. I sincerely hope Domingo will follow up with other Spanish operas.

I won't waste the reader's time with a long review, I'll only say that this is stunning music accompanying pretty lame poetry, but it tells a good story when all is said and done. I don't find the work difficult at all, and compare it to the likes of Massenet and other Wagner admirers who also found much to enjoy in Grand Opera, Paris style.
As far as the performance, it is top notch, with folks like Placido Domingo singing their guts out so everyone wins. The orchestra likewise sounds like they are having a great time, because this music is, well, serious in the manner of a great Star Trek episode: Campy and satisfying both because and in spite of the camp, with lots of costumes and big gestures.
This is a great recording when you're wore out on Wagner, not in the mood to auditorily work hard enough for Italian or French, and yet not feeling folksy enough for Vaughan Williams.

One may wonder how a first-rate composer like Isaac Albeniz could take it on as a sort of magnum opus project to set a series of operas, in English, to libretti by the English bankier Francis Burdett Money Coutts. Merlin was planned to be the first installment in a Ring-like trilogy of operas based on the Arthurian Legend (the sequel, Lancelot, was begun but not completed - it would be nice to have what exists of the music, however). Only Merlin was completed, and together with Albeniz's other operas (with the possible exception of Pepita Jimenez) it quickly sank into oblivion - the fascinating story of the work is recounted in José de Eusebio's engaging booklet notes. Part of the reason is surely that the text is simply dreadful (although it should be mentioned that Coutts did have a certain talent for writing effectively for the stage per se) - does the music, however, hold up on its own?

Merlin is an ambituous, thoroughly Wagnerian, musical drama in three acts ending in the entombment of Merlin. The plot is bewildering and static, although some of the many loose ends can be explained by the fact that sequels were indeed planned. The music, on the other hand, is lushly and thickly late romantic with heavy reliance on leitmotifs (although there are several striking themes and they are skillfully interweaved and developed). The scoring is opulent and surprisingly effective - in short, Albeniz was usually able to transcend the hopeless material he was given to create a quite remarkable work, one which seems strangely disconnected to the text (absolutely not a negative thing here), particularly impressive in its use of light and shade and its ability to convincingly sew together Wagnerian drama, touches of impressionism and archaic forms, even - possibly - folk music and reminiscences of (surprisingly) Stanford, Bantock and Elgar. On the other hand, it would be hard to guess the identity of the composer if you didn't already know, apart from in the dance music of the third act. The vocal parts are very well constructed musically, but I sort of regret that the work wasn't written in a language I don't understand, so bad is the text and so disconnected is the music set to it. Albeniz is left with little opportunity to create believeable characters, but still manages to build of a dramatic sweep which is all the more effective if the words are overlooked. Highlights include the dazzlingly glorious depiction of the Drawing of the Sword from the Stone in Act 1, the thrilling conclusion to the same act and the imaginative use of plainsong and the morning music and dance scene at the beginning of act 3.

It receives an absolutely scintillating performance, however. Domingo is a strongly characterized, magnificently sung and even youthful-sounding Arthur. Álvarez, on the other hand, sounds mature and appropriately warm as Merlin. Jane Henschel is a multi-faceted (vocally) Morgan le Fay and gives a very convincing performance, although sounding perhaps just a tad strained in certain places. Martinez's Nivian is superb, however, innocent-sounding and touching but not without depth (she also has the best developed character in the whole plot). The prize must go to the choral and orchestral contributions, however. The Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid is simply superb, richly opulent and without letting their attention to detail get in the way of sweep and dramatic development. The choral contributions - perhaps in particular the Monks - are equally magnificent. In short, this forgotten but rewarding work receives a performance that could hardly be bettered, and the sound quality is superb. It deserves a firm recommendation, then, even if it is no turn-of-the-century masterpiece on the level of, say, Zemlinsky's or Schreker's best works.

I'm assuming that Albeniz didn't understand a word of this English libretto. It ranks as just about the worst I've ever encountered. One unintentionally hilarious line has the soprano ask of Merlin "I pray, grant me to hold your rod..." meaning his magic wand (of course). I was really disappointed that the octet of countertenor gnomes is so short (no pun intended. They also sound just like the chorus of fairies (ditto-females) that sing in response to them. Too bad. The orchestral music is beautiful, and the performances quite good, but what a waste. There's just no drama here.

Well, I think this isn't the opera we've waited for so long. I can imagine other operas of which I love to have a recorded version. The presentation is up to Decca's (London) high standards but the recording is only 'good'. The singing, alas, in some cases is very, very ugly. Ms. Henschel is yelling around - when is this lady going to stop? - and Mr. Domingo does his utmost best singing Spenglish.

After I while I got bored because the story and the text were so 'old fashioned'. And, hearing Domingo and Alvarez singing English is like hearing Japanese speaking Dutch. Have you heard him (Domingo) singing Wagner? No, well don't try because you get tired.

All in all I found this whole enterprise a missed opportunity.

1 star for Adventurism and 1 star for presentation.