After the 5e Symphony by Mahler, who was able to attract a lot of attention to the OSM-Payare tandem, PentaTone publishes on Friday March 15 Ein Heldenleben (A hero’s life) by Richard Strauss, a record which will undoubtedly consolidate the excellent image projected by the Montreal orchestra and its conductor.
A bit like the 5e Symphony by Gustav Mahler, published in March 2023, A hero’s life is what the Germans call “ Ein Paradestück “, that is to say a brilliant work allowing a great orchestra to be presented in its best light.
Although, due to the presence of the famous Battle central, we can imagine that Ein Heldenleben will favor the spectacular and the flashy, highlighted by a Dionysian direction (a discipline well mastered by Payare), the substance of things is very different. Strauss’ symphonic poem exposes the orchestra much more than the 5e Symphony by Mahler.
Goldsmith’s work
In Mahler, it is the collective work, the ability to preserve a strong tension, that counts. In addition to the chef’s architectural vision, the one that allows the building to hold up after the second movement.
Ein Heldenleben “individually exposes the collective”, if we can allow ourselves this image. A version without a major solo violin falls apart. An orchestral translation with harsh “American-style” brass attacks, 1970s and 1980s style, identifies the provenance of the interpretation and places it a thousand miles from Munich and Vienna. You also need a group of uniformly good wood, because the gossip of Hero’s adversaries pass through them.
And, above all, you need ropes. A mellow sound that makes you feel “at home”, as is the case with the two immense versions: Karajan-Berlin (EMI, 1975) and Kempe-Dresden (EMI, 1973), but also our “joker” recording », Haitink-Amsterdam (Philips, 1970), to which no one really refers, because the leader is not recognized as a demiurge and that Heldenlebendue to Battlehas always been associated with supposedly strong leaders, such as Solti, Karajan or Maazel.
We had no doubts about the way in which Rafael Payare was going to grab the famous Battle, but the challenges of the OSM were elsewhere: in all the aforementioned potential traps, and in particular the grain of the strings. This is where the surprise is major. Not only is Andrew Wan (as we suspected) imperious, but the texture and orchestral sounds absolutely hold up against the best versions. This is how it happens in a key moment, one of the most magical moments in the entire musical repertoire, the heart of The hero’s retreat (track 7, at 2 minutes 40 seconds), the ephemeral transition towards a lyrical violin theme of which only Strauss has the secret. It is stated here in a tender, but almost modest way with true colors.
Big risk
On this soil can be grafted the “Payare bonus”, even more evident on the record than in the concert: the alliance of impact and a teeming of details. The polyphonic readability of the Battle, to return to this exposed episode, is an unexpected masterpiece. This is the great advantage of this major interpretation, even more perceptible on the disc than during the concert in March 2023. We then titled the report “Did we win the jackpot?” “. Already, at that time, we had written: “What we heard yesterday is what we hear on record with the greatest. » Confirmation now.
The suspense in the international reception of this publication will however be the reception given to Rückert-Lieder with Sonia Yoncheva and the impact this could have on the record as a whole. Will the supposedly posh complement undermine the essence of the point? Or will it draw attention to the musical proposition (because the OSM continues in excellence, as shown by the textures of the orchestral support of the last Lied, Ich bin der welt abhanden gekommen) ?
What is more palpable on the record than in the concert is that the singer, specialist in bel canto, made a lot of effort to transform itself into Liedersängerin. The microphones give a little substance to the lyrics and also to the excess of zeal surrounding them, like Um Mitternacht, with, phonetically, a spitting “ch” instead of an “r”. This remains a counter-use in our eyes, and no one needs it.
So we listen to the poetry of the orchestral support and we dream that Warner could have loaned Marie-Nicole Lemieux for the occasion, or that Rafael Payare had the idea of propelling the international career of Rose Naggar with such a great record. -Tremblay.