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Christus

Christus

  • Number of Discs: 3
  • Total time: 2:41:51
  • Label: Hanssler Classic
  • SPAR: DDD
  • Availability: In stock
  • Item #: 5359848
  • List Price: $35.97
  • Member Price: $35.94
You Save: 3c

Review

Read About This Recording

From the simple, almost ingenuous, opening one asks “Can this be Liszt? — the Liszt of the meltingly passionate Liebesträume and Petrarch Sonnets, the freewheeling Byronic philosopher of Les Preludes and the "Faust Symphony," the familiar "Mephistopheles in a cassock" of the "Mephisto" Waltzes and such late, psychic inscapes as "Unstern" and "Nuages gris?" But there's still magic in the air. As noted by Liszt’s biographer, Alan Walker, a plainchant theme is worked into “a hushed, contrapuntal tapestry on muted strings.... an unmistakable depiction of the ethereal glow of the heavens on the night of Christ's birth in Bethlehem....” introducing this most ambitious of all his works.

The layout is a curious mixture of vivid scenes interspersed with ancient prayers, that is, of separate works which stand well alone but build to a tremendous cumulative effect. At the most basic, Christus is divided into three parts — a Christmas oratorio, "After Epiphany" (The Beatitudes, The Lord's Prayer, The Foundation of the Church, etc.) and the "Passion and Resurrection." The Foundation of the Church, for instance, is a choral setting of “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church....” which will be familiar to many listeners from its organ transcription, "Tu es Petrus." A muted, anguishing depiction of the agony in Gethsemane — “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death....” for baritone and orchestra — is followed by an elaborate, ever varied setting of the "Stabat mater" for vocal quartet, chorus and orchestra. Of the latter, Walker justly notes that “Liszt was truly inspired when he penned this movement, which offers some of the best choral writing to come out of the 19th century.... The powerful climaxes are redolent of Verdi and Elgar, neither of whose choral masterpieces had yet been penned at the time of the first performance of Christus.”

Composed between 1855 and 1867, Christus came at a time when the familiar mercurial fireworks and effusive lyricism, set off in flights of grandeur, began to be reined in and distilled to a substantial, concentrated utterance on the way to the aphoristic, enigmatic manner of Liszt’s last years. The upshot is concise, powerful, and unexpected as grandly telling moments give way to profound meditation and monumentality to the most disarming simplicity — as when the overwhelming "Stabat mater" for the entire performing forces is followed by a chorus of women’s voices, chastely accompanied by harmonium and winds, excitedly discovering the empty tomb, the resurrection. Throughout, one feels the force of Liszt’s testimony that “The composition of Christus was an artistic necessity for me. Now that it is done, I am content.”

—Adrian Corleonis

Contents

Oratorio in 3 Parts

Christmas Oratorio; Introduction; Pastorale and Herald Angel's Song; Stabat Mater speciosa; Pastoral Music at the Manger; March of the Three Magi; After Epiphany; The Beatitudes; Pater Noster/The Lord's Prayer; The Founding of the Church; The Miracle; Ride into Jerusalem; Passion and Resurrection; Tristis est anima mea; Stabat Mater dolorosa; O fillii et filiae; Resurrexit.

Henriette Bonde-Hansen, Soprano; Iris Vermillion, Mezzo-soprano; Michael Schade, Tenor; Andreas Schmidt, Bass; Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Krakauer Kammerchor;

Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart; Helmuth Rilling, Conductor.