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Monika
Mauch (Seelewig, Singkunst), Ute Kreidler (Sinnigunda), Heidrun
Luchterhand (Herzigilt), soprano; Franziska Gottwald (Gwissulda, Echo),
mezzosoprano; Sebastian Hübner (Künsteling, Malkunst), Hans Jörg
Mammel (Ehrelob, Eitelkeit), tenor; Armin Gottstein (Reichimuth),
baritone; Ulrich Maier (Trügewalt), bass
I Ciarlatani
Dir.: Klaus Winkler
rec: July 22 - 24/26, Karlsruhe (Ger), Studio SWR
CPO - 999 905-2 (77'09")
Manuela Mohr, Lucia Dimmeler, recorder; Isacco Colombo, bombard; Klaus
Winkler, shawms; Christoph Hesse, Ulrike Winkler, violin; Michael
Spengler, viola da gamba; Ursula Bruckdorfer, dulcian; Werner Engelhard,
horn, sackbut; Johannes Vogt, theorbo; Ulrich Wedemeier, chitarrone,
guitar; Alexander Weimann, harpsichord, organ, regal
"In the first decades of the 17th century, Italy was
the place to be for many musicians from all over Europe. The
birth of the seconda prattica was a development which shook the
musical world. And Germany was one of the countries whose composers
crossed the Alpes to listen and learn. Once they returned their heads
were full of the new concepts they had got acquainted with in Italy.
One of the features of the ‘new style’ was the emergence of the
opera. As keen as many composers were to imitate the newest trends in
instrumental and vocal music in Italy, apparently the opera was a much
more difficult phenomenon to copy. One German composer who was strongly
influenced by Italian music was Heinrich Schütz. It is generally
thought that it was he who, with Dafne in 1627, wrote the first
German opera. But since the music is lost it is impossible to be sure
that his work can really be considered an opera.
Due to the loss of Dafne it is Seelewig by Sigmund
Theophil Staden which is now considered the first German opera. It was
first performed in Nuremberg in 1644. The composer didn't call it an
opera, though. Its title is, translated: 'The Sacred Wood Poem or
Comedy, called Seelewig, set in singing style in the Italian manner'. It
is a morality play in which it is shown "how the evil enemy seeks
to ruin pious souls in many various ways and how these, however, are
kept from eternal damnation by God's word, through conscience and reason."
The subject of this moral drama is not unlike that of Emilio de'
Cavalieri's Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo, which was first
performed in 1600. It is not known whether the librettist of Seelewig,
Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607 - 1658), was acquainted with De'
Cavalieri's work, but he travelled to Italy in 1627, so he must have
been aware of what was going on out there. On the other hand, this kind
of moral dramas were pretty common in those days, and also used by the
Jesuits to promote the ideals of the Counter-Reformation.
As usual in pieces like this the characters are symbolic: Seelewig (pronunciated
'seel-ewig') means 'eternal soul', symbolising any pious person. She is
threatened by Satan, here called Trügewalt (this name refers to the
German verb trügen, to deceive), who uses Seelewig's companion
Sinnigunda (Sensuality) to achieve his goal. He also convinces three
shepherds - Künsteling, Ehrelob and Reichimuth - to work for him. The
opposing forces are Herzigilt (Reason) and Gwissulda (Conscience).
Although the title refers to 'the Italian manner' one shouldn't expect
anything like the operas by Monteverdi (whose Il ritorno d'Ulisse in
patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea date from 1641 and 1642
respectively). The story develops through short dialogues of the
protagonists, but these can't be considered recitatives. The mostly
strophic songs are relatively simple and very close to the early 17th
century German secular song. At the end of the second act Eitelkeit
sings a song – ‘Lied über die Eitelkeit’-, which doesn't belong
to Seelewig, and which stylistically isn't any different from the
music in the ‘opera’.
This doesn’t mean there are no connections to the Italian opera at
all. These are in particular the use of instruments to support specific
characters, and also the practice of echo-effects. These are used to
strongly dramatic effect in the third act, in the exchange between
Seelewig, Sinnigunda and Trügewalt (who, otherwise singing in bass
range, uses the falsetto to deceive Seelewig).
Whereas I think Monteverdi's operas can be heard without any staging or
acting, I have the feeling this is more difficult with Seelewig.
While listening I often thought something was missing. That is partly
due to the performance, though. The music as such is good enough to
listen to, but there seems to be a lack of real interaction between the
singers. I also feels the tempi are a little slowish. A bit more
involvement and passion wouldn't harm.
In general the singing and playing is rather good. In particular Monika
Mauch, Hans Jörg Mammel and Ulrich Maier stand out in portraying their
characters. I wondered why Franziska Gottwald is listed as a
mezzosoprano, since she sounds more like a deep contralto. The part of
Gwissulda is quite low; in a live performance in the Holland Festival of
1975 this part was sung by a high tenor.
I was also puzzled by the parts of Ehrelob and Reichimuth in the third
scene of the first act. I am sure that the words of Reichimuth are sung
here by Hans Jörg Mammel and the words of Ehrelob by Armin Gottstein
(out of touch with the cast, because of his unstylish vibrato). The only
solution I can think of is that in this recording the words of
Reichimuth have been given to Ehrelob and vice versa, although the
libretto in the booklet gives the lines to the characters as indicated
in the original. As far as the content is concerned it doesn't make any
real difference, but I would have liked to read something about it in
the liner notes, which are otherwise very informative.
In regard to repertoire this is a very important recording, and one
wonders why it has taken so long before this work has been recorded. And
as far as I know it is hardly ever performed, although I am sure it
would make a very good piece of theatre. From that perspective it is
disappointing that the interpretation is good, but not entirely
satisfying. With a little more flair and imagination it could have been
much better. And it is also a shame that some cuts have been made.
Perhaps the attention Seelewig deserves will only come through a
staged performance on DVD."
Johan van Veen (© 2004)
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