Philosophy and Theology

Paul Hindemith's 'Mathis der Maler'
at the Ensecu Festival in Bucharest
impresses GIUSEPPE PENNISI

As discussed here in the past, the George Enescu Festival is one of the most important musical events. It is held every other year in Bucharestand seven other Romanian cities. Nowadays the Enescu Festival is considered on a par with the Salzburg Summer Festival, the LondonPromenade Concerts and the Lucerne Festival. In Bucharest there are four concerts a day starting from 11am and ending around midnight. Every other year, I fly to Bucharest to sample some of the 'goodies'.

This year I listened to a rarely performed opera, Mathis der Maler by Paul Hindemith and to two important concerts by the London Philharmonia Orchestra and La Filarmonica della Scala. In this report I review the opera; in another I will deal with the two concerts.

Mathis der Maler is one of the nineteenth century's most important operas, yet it is rarely performed. One reason is the demands made on theatre management: a gargantuan orchestra, a double chorus, eleven soloists (of whom eight are principals), seven scenes with various changes of sets, and a performance length of nearly four hours. Another reason is the demands on the audience; under a comparatively simple main plot, there are several minor sub-plots and a libretto dense with philosophical and theological considerations. It is performed in the German world but seldom elsewhere. I recall a mediocre production at the British Royal Opera House some twenty years ago. I have no memory of any productions in Italy. The production I saw and heard on 13 September 2017 was the first in Romania.

The key theme is the role of the artist and intellectual in a period of political strife. The action takes place in the sixteenth century during the war of religions and the peasants' revolt against their landlords. Almost all the characters are personalities who lived through that period. To summarize the plot would take several pages. Thus, this review focuses on the musical part and on the performance.

Hindemith spent two years composing the work which had its debut in 1938 in Zurich (since it was forbidden in Germany). It was the result of his desire to write in a more popular way and also to transmit political, philosophical and social messages. Thus, the music is organized in numbers and based, to a certain extent on folksongs and church choralworks, though these are only occasionally quoted directly. Another important element lies in the tonal relationship, based on ideas that Hindemith developed while teaching in Berlin and writing his treatise on composition. However, there is nothing academic about the opera, which is a powerful expression, clearly autobiographical, of the artist in time of strife. Words and music are skillfully used to present the main characters — Mathis, Albrecht, Schwalb, Riedinger, Ursula and Regina — as human beings with strong personalities. The lyrical scenes are touching. The dramatic scenes — the burning of the Luther books, the battle fight, the St Anthony temptations — are spectacular.

Although performed in a concert version, videos were cast on a screen. They were designed by the multimedia director, Carmen Lidia Vidu and her team, on the basis of animated paintings of the period and adding a touch of pop art. They required meticulous work and were quite effective.

The orchestra and the chorus of Romanian National Radio were superb. The conductor was a twentieth century music specialist, and a student of Hindemith at the University of California in Los Angeles — Lawrence Foster. Nobody could have delivered this difficult score better.

Hindemith's 'Mathis der Maler' at the George Enescu Festival. The concert was streamed live to Bucharest's Festival Square, where there was free admission. Photo © 2017 Andrei Gîndac. Click on the image for higher resolution

The international cast was of a high level. To begin with the protagonist, Lester Lynch (as Mathis) is a high quality baritone, excellent also as an actor (even in this concert performance) with a perfect touch for the Verdiroles he sings at La Scala. His counterpart was the Wagnerian tenor Torsten Kerl (as Albrecht von Brandenburg) with a clear timbre and the ability to slide into pianissino. It was good to see Falk Struckmann (as Riedinger) again; he was one of the protagonists of the Mehta, Ronconi and Pizzi Ring in 1978-82. In the men's group, the Austrian Norbert Ernst (as Hans Schwalb), often heard in Strauss and Wagner roles, was quite remarkable. In the women's group Brigitte Pinter excels as Ursula. She is a Wagnerian soprano able to descend to very low notes. Katerina Tretyakova (as Regina) is a coloratura lyric soprano and Stella Grigorian (as Countess Helfenstein) is a skilled alto.

A disappointing note: the concert hall has four thousand seats but some in the audience left after the first part. Those remaining reacted with ovations at the end of the opera.