Customer Reviews

Caldara - Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo

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Action-packed and luxurious.

Despite the title of this piece, this is not 'churchy' music. It has everything that good drama has, and if it were a book it would be unputdownable. Caldara gives us action, showing himself to be every bit as much dramatist as composer. The story and the pace never flag for a minute. René Jacobs moves it along at a cracking pace and makes it a memorable event. It must have been wonderful to take part.

Amor Celeste and Amor Terreno are battling for the heart and soul of Maddalena. It opens with Fink's stunning Amor Terreno, seductive enough to capture the heart of a stone. In trying to win Maddalena, her ornamentations paint vivid pictures of "drunk with pleasure". Then, in charges Scholl's Amor Celeste, powerful and confident of winning the battle hands down - but then so is Fink's Amor Terreno, full of strength and depth. You can't take sides at their declaration of war, the duet Alle vittorie, because both are convincing - and their voices blend perfectly. The sheer strength of Scholl's voice in this piece brushes aside the familiar accusations of "too ethereal".

Their awesome battle duets punctuate the unfolding drama as Maddalena agonises - in dialogue with her sister - over her choices, and the orchestra supports them with real fire. The chest-thumping opening provided by Chiara Banchini's string band in the duet La mia virtude/Il senso è un nemico makes an impact that would lift you off your seat in a concert hall (if only). When Amor Terreno is finally defeated, the colours of her fury are so vivid you can taste it, and it's clear that the only destiny for such rage is Hell. Amor Celeste's victory-celebration Su, lieti festeggiate has the earthy gusto of mens' peasant dances. A rather earthy sound for Amor Celeste at this point... even the metaphysical Mr Scholl sounds as though he could stomp his feet.

This recording made Maria Cristina Kiehr a star, and she has never sounded better than as Maddalena. Her clear voice expresses longing, indecision, passion and tranquillity with equal facility, and is never less than completely beautiful. Her expressions, as Maddalena changes course, develop brilliantly. Her cry of "Signor, pietate!" is the pivot of the whole thing - high drama indeed.

All the singers are now stars, and every performance is stunning. Un-improvable.

So many of the tunes are completely original and whistle-able, even dance-able, that I am surprised they are not better known. They certainly stick in the memory, if only because the repeat button on the CD player gets a lot of use. This composition is a masterpiece and the 2-CD set a great Baroque luxury.

The very last note is a complete surprise -- pure genius from Caldara.

This is an incredible recording: it is well worth buying just for the marvelous singing of Maria Cristina Kiehr, who is my candidate for the best baroque soprano. She sounds like nobody else: more like a boy treble (with adult lungs) than your typical female soprano. This characterization may strike you as strange, but it is intended as the highest praise. Reportedly, "She sings like a man," was the first sentence di Stefano uttered when he heard Callas for the first time. The rest of the cast doesn't disappoint either. Bernarda Fink and Andreas Scholl are excellent "Amors," especially memorable in their duets. Fink's alto voice is beautiful and controlled. If you haven't heard her Arnalta in L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Gardiner), make sure you buy that recording. Fink's "Oblivion soave," a deceptively simple aria which requires a perfect legato, is the best I've heard. Scholl is great as usual (although I never quite bought into this Scholl hype). Gerd Turk who sings a small role of Cristo has a fine tenor voice, although he suffers from a common baroque tenor "defect" - he sounds kind of "choked," like he has a tight rope around his neck. Obviously, this is not really a defect, but rather a part of a vocal style which calls for the tightening of the voice in order to achieve a higher pitch and to stifle the vibrato. Still, I prefer tenors like Agnew or Padmore who manage to achieve that same characteristic baroque sonority while also sounding relaxed. Anyway, like I said, "Maddalena" is really worth buying. Another recording (from the same series) that will also be worth every penny you'd spend on it is Cavalli Vespro della Beata Vergine. If you like "Maddalena," I guarantee that you will like the Vespro too.

Antonio Caldara is one of those names record companies have ignored for too long. So it was a delight to see Harmonia Mundi interested in this very important baroque composer. The work itself is a masterpiece, the music is gorgeous, this must be one of the most significant discoveries of the 90's. Conductor Rene Jacobs has a superb ear for textures, his pacing is just admirable. The soloists couldn't be bettered, with the pure adorable voice of Maria Cristina Kiehr as Maddalena, and Bernarda Fink and Andreas Scholl as the Amore Terreno and Amore Celeste. If you don't know this oratorio, you are in for a big surprise!

Though the title sounds rather dreary, this is a most beautiful and gorgeous score. The performance is superb, please don' t miss it!

.... and 'Caldara vincit omnia'! Of the forty-plus oratorios that Antonio Caldara composed during his career(s) in Venice, Rome, and Vienna, "Maddalena ai Piedi di Cristo" was not particularly acknowledged as his masterpiece by his contemporaries. It was just one of his many brilliant accomplishments, probably composed in Venice around 1698, perhaps dispatched to Rome as an "audition' piece for Papal attention, certainly performed in Vienna in 1713, fortuitously preserved in archival amber until our times. But, whether his contemporaries or even Caldara himself realized it, "Maddalena" IS a masterpiece, both as pure composition and as musical theater-without-staging. It's the story of the harlot Mary Magdalene washing the feet of the rabbi Jesus, the Nazarene 'Cristo'. There are several distinctive musical 'innovations' in this oratorio, which make it especially appealing to modern sensibilities. First, there's the simple yet sublimely effective device of thematic and melodic repetition; Caldara sets various arias to essentially the same music, but with different accompaniment and different affect, rather than the typical baroque practice of new notes for every aria. Several of the arias are, for a welcome change, NOT da capo. Likewise, Caldara uses 'arioso' techniques to establish continuity through the various recitativos, none of which are perfunctory 'seco' rhetoric. This is thus an oratorio that feels like a unified musical whole. It's also a lushly instrumented oratorio, with a large corps of violins and cellos plus gambas, two lutes, organ, clavecin, and two prominent bassoons. The bassoon parts are among the most exciting to play and to hear in all the baroque repertoire.

And it's really all about Maddalena; Cristo doesn't appear until the 9th track on the second CD. In fact, the entire libretto is an "agon" -- the Greek root of 'agony' means a 'wrestling match' -- between Amor Terreno (Earthy Love) and Amor Celeste (Heavenly Love), with Maddalena as the Prize. The genius of this libretto, and of the music that expresses it, is that the fight is not 'fixed'. Both sides are musically attractive. Earthy Love has the first word, singing a tender lullaby to Maddalena, which Heavenly Love interrupts harshly and aggressively. The debate continues, with Earthly Love's musical affect rich with enticements and embellishments, while Heavenly Love's music is restrained, serene, but just a touch severe. In other words, these two allegorical figures have plausible musical personalities, and the choice in this performance of a woman soprano for Earthly and a male soprano for Heavenly emphasizes the contrast between their appeals marvelously.

Maddalena is portrayed as sorrowing and guilt-stricken, yet tormented with doubts. Her sister Marta weighs in on the side of Heavenly Love, assuring the beautiful sinner that forgiveness is possible. It's Marta who first instructs Maddalena to seek out 'the Nazarene'. Meanwhile the 'agon' continues between the two Loves, becoming ever more frenzied and recriminatory. The first part of the oratorio (CD 1) ends with a quarrel duet, with both Loves vowing a fight to the finish.

The 'Parte Seconda" (CD 2) introduces a new antagonist, a Pharisee in the company of the Nazarene, sung by a bass. The Pharisee is the voice of propriety, of the Old Law, rejecting the notion of effective repentance, and striving to deny Maddalena the right to approach the rabbi. Eventually, Cristo, a tenor, rebukes the Pharisee for his sanctimonious hardness and allows Maddalena to perform her penitential abasement, washing and anointing his feet. In the background, the battle rages on between Earthly and Heavenly, both appealing to the "stars' for justification. Earthly Love's final aria is a raging submission to defeat, blaming her stars. Maddalena sings the last recitativo and aria, with words of penitence sung to music of beatific consolation.

This performance was recorded in 1995, by the faculty and some students of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the "Harvard and Oxford" of Early Music, with René Jacobs conducting. The recording was a labor of Love, in several senses, with concertmistress Chiara Banchini leading an orchestra of stars and future stars. The six singers must have known that they were performing the roles of their lives; all of them have recorded often, but none of them have ever exceeded their performances here. That's especially true of countertenor Andreas Scholl, who sings Amore Celeste; this is his finest singing, both in expressive vocal timbre and in technical virtuosity. Bernarda Fink (Amor Terreno) matches him in virtuosity and contrasts with him perfectly in timbre; she is thoroughly, enticingly 'earthly'. Tenor Gerd Türk is at his best in the role of Cristo, and basso Ulrich Messthaler sings the grim Pharisee's arias with musical grace and emotional hatefulness, a compelling performance elevated by the potent two-bassoon obbligato ferocity. Rosa Domiguez sings the smaller but touching role of the loyal sister Marta; her several arias are effectively poignant. The finest performance of all is that of Maria Christina Kiehr as Maddalena; once again, I have to say that I've never heard a more polished and poised performance from a bona fide 'star' of baroque performance practice. Everyone involved in this recording knew how fine the music was and how definitive their performance of it would be.

This is, without hesitation, the GB Must-Buy CD set for march 2010. Let's make that the Must-Buy of the decade, a magnificent performance of a major masterwork, music that places Caldara in the Pantheon of baroque composers.

A STELLAR RECORDING WITH FIRST CLASS SINGERS, GREAT MUSIC AND EXCELLENT DIRECTING!

'Mary Magdalene at the feet of Christ' is a rare gem of Baroque sacred music by Antonia Caldara (1670-1736), who ranks among the most prolific of the late-baroque composers associated with the Oratorio. Building upon established traditions, the Venetian composer, who was a master of the genre, achieves an astounding dramatic instensity in this work. The Oratorio as a musical form emerged toward the end of the 17th century as a kind of spiritual exercise encouraged by the 'Oratorio Congregation of Rome'. The most prolific composer in this genre was Caldara, who wrote approximately 43 oratorios, and no doubt many more have been lost.

'Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo' was probably wrttten around 1700 in Rome. The cohesive libretto by Lodovici Forni is based on Luke 7:36-50, with the addition of Martha from John 11: 1-2 and 12: 1-4. For dramatic purposes the figures of 'Celestial and Earthly Love'(representing Good and Evil) is in combat for the soul of Magdalena, whose anguish-not shown in the Bible story- are movingly depicted.

There are 6 characters in this oratorio: Maddalena (Maria Christina Kiehr-soprano); Marta (Rosa Dominguez-soprano); Amor Terrano (Bernarda Fink-alto); Amor Celeste (Andreas Scholl-countertenor); Fariseo (Ulrich Mesthaler-basso); Cristo(Gerd Turk-tenor).

The part of 'Amor Celeste' was given to the countertenor (sexless,so to speak) to denote the heavenly spheres. The part of 'Amor terrano' in the sensual raiment of a woman, is supposed to represent worldly seduction. It is these 2 protagonists, moreover, who motivate the plot. 'Amor terrano' metamorphoses from a figure cast in neutral terms at the beginning to a "devlish" but defeated seductress at the end. In the process the merit of having conquered the depths of evil devolves upon Maddalena. She is elevated into a position which exemplifies Christian salvation. The modest share allotted to Christ as a "dramatis persona" (not a bass, but a soaring tenor) emphasizes Maddalena's merit all the more.

This is conventional music for its time; all arias are in 'da capo' form, some are small-scale and intimate and scored for 'continuo' only while others are expanded and more flamboyant and operatic. The instrumental writing is ever imaginative and expressive, and many of the arias, especially those of Maddalena who gives up her worldly pleasures and turns to Jesus.

Under Rene Jacob's expert guidance the singers and the instrumental group provide fluent and expressive performances. Kiehr has a lovely clear voice and converts Maddlena's emotions with much feeling. Fink's final aria'"Voi del Tartaro"(You, O Horrible Caves of Tartarus) is brilliantly defiant, while Dominguez is quite effective as Martha. Andreas Scholl sings in his usual skillful manner, not quite as celestial as I would prefer, but always with strength and security of sound. Gerd Turk as Cristo (an all too-brief role) has such an excellent resonant sound; I really love his overall vocal quality. Messthaler, also in a small role ,as the Pharisee, projected his role with clarity and skill.

This is a stellar production with Rene Jacobs' magic touch and inspired conducting AND a wealth of unforgettable arias sung by a stellar cast!

It took almost a year 'till I finally got this CD and it was worth while waiting. This is undoubtedly the best CD in my collection (out of 400 titles), and I would highly recommend it to any Baroque lover: pure celestial voices, perfect direction and an amazing music which brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, eventhough I'm not religious nor christian.
Dear reader, trust me on this - you must have it!

The records of René Jacobs are always outstanding. "Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo" is a real peculiarity. This music and the composer Caldara attracts attention. The singers and the orchestra are great. The voices of Bernarda Fink and Andreas Scholl in their duet are marvelous together as "Amor Terrene" and "Amor Celeste". This CD is a pearl of baroque music.

I bought this CD just because I loved Seibben Crudele from the Italian Art Songs book. It was a gamble and I was "rewarded" with this marvelous work, which is now one of my favorites.

Enjoy!