Raff De Profundis

[edurban]

April 27and 28, 2019 at the Fisher Center:  Raff's 'De Profundis'.  Part of Botstein's TON (The Orchestra Now) series.

[Mark Thomas]

Beat me to it! De Profundis is a magnificent 40 minute long choral work - serious but, as you'd expect from Raff, highly melodic.

[Mark Thomas]

It will also be performed by the Berliner Capella on 21 November at the Berlin Konzerthaus.

[edurban]

Somehow I missed this one...the only performance I can actually attend: Thursday, May 2, 2019  at Carnegie Hall.  Concert starts at 7pm.                 

Mark, did Botstein consult with you about this?

[Mark Thomas]

No, but they sourced the score and parts through me.

[edurban]

Excellent. Really looking forward to this...

[eschiss1]

Identified as "Op.14" (!) in JS Dwight's (disappointed) review of an 1878 Erfurt performance (Dwight's Journal of Music, August 17 1878 issue, p.285 and environs.) ... Anyway. That happens... (he mentions Erdmannsdorfer's (Raff-dedicated) piano trio - performed the same day and place (May 24)? - on the same page, which is useful information since it wasn't published until 2 years later.)

[Justin]

The performance has been uploaded to YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kLOL-3lPF0

[Alan Howe]

It's Raff's Op.141, written in 1867 and published the following year, i.e. between Symphonies 2 and 3. Details here:
http://www.raff.org/music/detail/vocal/profund.htm

[Mark Thomas]

I haven't listened to Botstein's performance yet, but this is a very welcome airing for a fine and moving work. Thanks for the heads up, Justin.

[Alan Howe]

This is an absolutely magnificent work, at once dazzling and profound, and beautifully written. Why on earth isn't it in the standard choral repertoire? I'm staggered...

[Mark Thomas]

The differences between Leon Botstein's interpretation and the only other recording we have of this grand work, directed by Henrik Schaefer on the Sterling label, are profound. At the most basic level there's the question of tempo - Botstein's are almost always faster and he takes just over 29 minutes against Schaefer's 40. As with Järvi's Raff orchestral recordings on Chandos this huge contrast with what one's been used to is both jarring and exciting. The climaxes with Botstein are thrilling, but are they as profound and deeply felt as those delivered by Schaefer? The closing double fugue on Et ipse redimet is taken at a breakneck speed (nearer to Raff's minim/half-note = 100 metronome marking than Schaefer's, I think) and, again, it's very exiting, but it's at the expense of choral clarity and articulation, which is all a bit of a jumble.  Elsewhere, Schaefer seems to be nearer Raff's generally moderate to slow tempi indications for all the preceding sections, though, and at first comparison the work gains in stature and gravity because of that. Botstein's is a recording on YouTube of a live performance and sonically isn't in the same league as the Sterling one, but it does favour the choir more, which is certainly a bonus. First impressions, after one hearing, are that Schaefer conveys the spirit of what is, after all, a religious work more satisfyingly than does Botstein. There's a grandeur to his interpretation which Botstein's lacks, and Schaefer isn't a slowcoach in absolute terms, just slower than Botstein. But if it's Raffian excitement you crave, then Botstein's is the performance to go for and, on that basis, I'm more than happy that we now have both. 

[Alan Howe]

Yes, I too noticed the muddle in the closing section - something that could be corrected in a studio recording, but which is the unfortunate consequence of the excitement of a live performance. Still, what a piece!