As final highlight of the 2004 European Music Festival, Europamusicale, several world-class old music performers came to Munich at the end of May 2004, for the German premiere of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s (1679-1745) Baroque opera Sub Olea Pacis et Palma Virtutis. Canadian star soprano Nancy Argenta, award-winning Swedish-born recording artist Susanne Ryden, and the amazing male soprano Flavio Oliver all made their way to the Bavarian capital for this work, with the alternate title Melodrama de Sancto Wenceslao (ZWV 175), that was written for the 1723 coronation of Charles VI.
The May 28th performance marked a significant event for early music because the billed ensemble, Musica Florea, had made the world premiere recording of this same work, using other soloists, and their CD won the MIDEM Cannes Classical Award of 2002. The German premiere provided a new perspective, showing what difference, if any, the addition of world-class soloists makes to the enjoyment of Zelenka’s opera.
The Programme was as follows:
Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745)
Concert Performance of the Baroque Opera Sub Olea Pacis et Palma Virtutis (German Premiere)
Symphonia
Prolusio
Actus I
Actus II
Break
Actus II (continuation)
Actus III
Epilogus
Musica Florea
Musica Aeterna
Boni Pueri Boys Choir
Nancy Argenta - Soprano
Susanne Ryden - Soprano
Flavio Oliver - Countertenor
Francois Bazola - Bass
Jaroslav Brezina - Tenor
Marek Stryncl - Conductor
Czech conductor Marek Stryncl founded Musica Florea in order to provide authentic performances of early music. It was a courageous of the young man to bring the complex Zelenka opera to Munich because there are no role models on which he could have oriented himself. And yet, Stryncl decided to perform it on-stage, before the critical German audience, and then conducting some of the world’s best old music soloists. You gotta hand it to the young man: he has guts!
All of 30 years old, Stryncl, a former cellist, helped his ensemble to become one of the most talked about ensembles for early music in Europe. He leaves his orchestra every freedom imaginable and this places a high level of individual responsibility on each musician. Encouraged by their award for the CD, the Musica Florea and Musica Aeterna played with confidence and the sense of proprietary pride that happens when an orchestra takes part in music history unfolding, be it with newly discovered pieces, world premieres or the like. The high profile soloists worked with them for the first time but, if anything, they enriched the piece even further as they blended well with the orchestra and music.
Canadian-born Nancy Argenta is a renowned specialist in early music and performs with Hogwood’s Academy for Ancient Music, in London where she has been living for many years. A velvety timbre and immense stage authority are some of the trademarks of this exceptional Soprano. Her colleagues praise Argenta’s reliability and professionalism, which, in combination with her unique voice, is why she has sold countless solo CDs and won many awards all over the world.
Flavio Oliver, who is known as the modern day Farinelli, was awesome, as could be expected of one of the world’s foremost male sopranos. He has crystal clear voice and never sets a tone wrong, which points to an excellent technique. Oliver’s reputation precedes him, and many audience members bought their tickets especially to see him perform. He sang the part of Religio (Devotion). Since devotion is an abstract concept, the ambivalence expressed by the contrast between the male air of the performer and his female-type voice perfectly works into that abstract vision of religious myth.
Sub olea ... is an educational drama typical for the baroque era. These dramas were often used as an instructional aid for teaching at monastic schools. For us, they are not as moving as they might have been in their time, but Oliver is a warm and poetic interpretor who, singing the part of Religio, was able to keep the interest. The figure of Religio (Devotion) comes to life with the on-stage personality of the countertenor, who is also a trained actor and gives his character depth beyond the somewhat dry Latin text. Oliver has a wonderfully sweet voice that is full-bodied and rich in harmonics. Characteristic is his perfect intonation and breath management as well as excellent phrasing and imaginative use of ornaments when he confronts the difficult thrills head-on. Oliver’s Spanish-Italian linguistic background results in a clear Latin pronunciation and it gives him a distinct advantage in providing the authentic touch.
Swedish-born Susanne Ryden, while sitting to wait for her turn, looks almost bored. But the moment she gets up to sing, her entire demeanour changes: she turns into a beauty who dominates the stage with her command of voice and music. Ryden has recorded more than 40 CDs and one of them, featuring music by Barbara Strozzi, was BBC Music News’s CD of the month.
With such a high calibre of soloists, the occasional drawbacks could be overlooked: a sometimes struggling tenor, for instance, and a very young conductor who enthusiastically leads the ensemble he founded with a prominently raised, schoolmasterly, index finger.
The opera itself is not exactly Zelenka’s most endearing as far as libretto is concerned. The music is brilliant, as can be expected from this composer who studied for some time in Vienna with Johann Josef Fux. But opera consists of the combination of text and music and so Zelenka’s work is hard to get used to for non-royalists. Bringing such a piece to life in our modern time obviously points to someone having fallen in love with the music and being willing to put up with the danger that the libretto, with its Latin text and references to the Habsburg dynasty, might estrange some audience members. The teaching effect goes completely amiss in our time, since the opera was meant to educate the future subjects of Karl VI about the virtues of the Habsburg dynasty. All one is left to hope for with such a production is that the music will touch on a deep enough level, something that is greatly up to the soloists. It is a daring experiment but in this case, it paid off, although only few audience members got something out of the libretto. Try this for text, when Wisdom sings:
Arise, Providence, see to it that our will is done, preserve the royal sceptre to bond the inheritors of the blood of the Wenceslas, for the house of the Habsburgs.
Zelenka’s opera is of music-historical interest in that it is one of the few education dramas to have survived in their entirety, with text and music intact. Somewhat disjointed in plot, it is dominated by allegorical figures like Godliness, Devotion, Fortitude, Faith, Eucharistic Zeal, Dignity, which all stand for the virtues that were, allegedly, dominant in the Habsburg dynasty.
The good thing is that nobody understands the text because it is in Latin. If they did, in today’s time people might well question why a Habsburg ruler is being set equal to God, even above the angels, why the chorus of angels instructs good Christians to support a certain ruler or why, for a Christian, the glory of war needs to be praised. In other words, here we have an opera where, exceptionally, only the music counts, and one that can only be fully enjoyed if one does not understand the text.
Musically, it is full of interesting highlights: the ceremonial character is underlined by the generous use of trumpets and timpani. The single-reed clarinet (chalumeau) leads through Aria 22. Aria 24 combines two concertino recorders with flutes. Very modern for its time was the use of solo cello in Aria 28, since the cello was just beginning to establish itself as a solo instrument in those days.
The arias contained in the work are dominantly of two types, the aria di bravura, with rich coloratura elements, and the aria parlante, in declamatory vocal style.
Highlights are the two D minor arias, both for soprano, in sarabande rhythm. There are also the rustic and pastoral arias, No 10 and No 24 respectively. That Zelenka was sent to study in Italy is reflected in the Italian elements of the introduction, an orchestral sinfonia, which leads into the adiago for solo oboe. The two duets, 15 and 18, for soprano and countertenor, were both impeccably performed by Nancy Argenta and Flavio Oliver. Oliver’s voice in the high notes is strikingly clear, and the two performers were perfectly in tune with each other.
Once Sub Olea ... had been performed in the presence of the Imperial couple on 12th September 1723, Zelenka, not surprisingly, got no further opportunities to stage the work publicly, but he adapted the text and re-used some of it in his Te Deum of 1724 (ZWV 145). Among the parts he re-used was the above-mentioned aria 15, Jam Calle Secundo, which is a moving segment, made even more brilliant by the performance of two world-class soloists.
There was a fine performance by the boy choir, Boni Pueri, whose five part final chorus is characterised by richly scored orchestral music combined with traditional fugue writing. As for the text of this final chorus, reference to our time, once more, is somewhat missing: May the East adore you and the West revere you. Live and rule, your Highness. Reign and triumph in Happiness, lend your support to the muses of the Clementum of Prague, show imperial mercy in your majesty.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening where old music came to life in this little-known piece, by one of Baroque’s most prominent composers of sacred works who had also won the admiration of his contemporary Johan Sebastian Bach.
The German premiere of Zelenka’s Sub Olea Pacis ..., with Nancy Argenta and Flavio Oliver, was recorded by German radio. It will be broadcast world-wide on July 11th, 2004 at 8.05 pm, German time, via Bayern 4’s new Internet Radio Broadcast Service on www.br-klassik.de
. If you like old music, or just plain good singing, then this is a broadcast not to be missed.
