Unser neuer Gesamtkatalog

Xavier Montsalvatge: Cinco canciones negras (1945)
C. Villiers Stanford: Eight Songs from Spanish Gipsy
Spanish Songs by Gustavino, Nin, Obradors, Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Shostakovich, Minkov, Dargomischsky, Bizet, Delibes, Ravel, Massenet, Rossini, Donizetti, di Chiara & Bernstein
Helmut Deutsch, piano
Stella Grigorian, mezzosoprano

Stella Grigorian’s Lied recital unites reminiscences of Spain originating from many different countries tella Grigorian has been an ensemble member of the Frankfurt Opera since the 2006/2007 season. She began her career as a member of the Vienna State Opera ensemble; she has been in Frankfurt since 2006. Stella Grigorian has also appeared at the Hamburg State Opera, at the Zurich Opera House, at the Aalto-Theater in Essen and at the Salzburg Festival. The steep career of the Georgian-born singer at major opera theaters should not deceive listeners about her affinity for Lied. By all necessary exaggeration in operatic singing, a certain naturalness is one of the mezzo- soprano’s trademarks. Lied thus plays an important role in her work: „When I sing Lieder, I must be capable of bringing across nuances in the smallest possible space – nuances that go directly to the listener‘s heart. This has a great effect on operatic singing, which lives from phrases with a long buildup of musical tension.“

I am so easily assimilated – Stela Grigorian and her “Suddenly Spanish”

I am so easily assimilated”, sings the “Old Lady” in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. This motto could just as easily apply to a certain “Young Lady”, considering the path she has taken until now.

Born as an Armenian in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, which was then part of the Soviet Union, Stella Grigorian grew up speaking three languages: Armenian, Georgian and Russian. That is not unusual for someone born in Georgia. But it does seem amazing outside of Georgia, however, because the three languages have nothing in common with each other. It is no wonder, then, that Stella Grigorian decided to study languages in Tbilisi after graduating from high school. Her musical training had also begun very early – at five years of age. It cannot have been easy for a single mother of three children to send her youngest daughter to piano lessons and to keep after her to practice seriously and complete her studies. No one can really say when Stella Grigorian really began to sing. Singing simply belongs to the natural course of Georgian everyday life. But the young lady’s voice attracted attention on a number of occasions. Only after she had completed school did she really begin with more-or-less professional voice lessons. Parallel to her language classes, her vocal training became more and more intensive, and she slowly began playing with the idea of succeeding as an opera singer. After the political changes brought about in the Gorbatchev era, Stella Grigorian came by chance to Vienna with the “Communauté de Taizé” of Frère Roger due to the fact that she had sung in the churches of Tbilisi to earn money. This trip turned out to be decisive for the fledgling artist. In Vienna, she decided, her career would begin. With a good mixture of naiveté, a portion of her typical unwillingness to compromise and a great deal of luck in the form of people she met in Vienna who wanted to help her accomplish her dream, she in fact achieved her goal. An audition in the Vienna “Herbert von Karajan Center” at that time not only got her a scholarship, but her first professional role. On October 16, 1996, she debuted at the Vienna State Opera as “Hirt” at the beginning of the third act of Puccini’s Tosca. She would make this theater the focus of her artistic life for the next ten years. First as a “Karajan scholarship-holder” and later as an ensemble member, she began singing minor roles, slowly developing her repertoire as well as her vocal abilities. Beginning in a repertory theater like the Vienna State Opera means diving into many roles of the house’s immense repertory with few rehearsals and proving oneself on stage daily next to some of the world’s most famous singers. This requires strong nerves and flexibility. At the same time, such a “jump into cold water” is an inestimable foundation for one’s later career. Stella Grigorian knew how to profit from being on stage with famous colleagues. She rapidly became popular among other singers and was never shy about asking for tips, addresses of teachers or even for vocal lessons. This way, she developed her technical abilities parallel to her tasks at the opera. She was soon singing larger roles such as Stephano in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette or Marzelline in a series of performances of Mozart’s Figaro conducted by Riccardo Muti, in which she brilliantly accomplished the feared – and often cut – aria in the fourth act. Finally, she often ended up singing Rosina in Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Her artistic temperament and élan resulted in great success with audiences and press alike. On the few days the young ensemble member had vacation (the Vienna State Opera performs over 50 different operas on 300 evenings each year), Stella Grigorian, who had meanwhile acquired Austrian citizenship, was able to expand her repertoire by singing major roles on smaller stages far away from Vienna. To mention only a few of these, she sang Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, Rossini’s Italiana and last but not least, Bizet’s Carmen, a role that soon became almost a trademark for her.

All singers who begin at such major houses like the Vienna State Opera find at some point that there are few avenues left if they wish to develop. It was thus a sheer stroke of luck that after hearing Stella Grigorian in Barber of Seville in February 2006, Frankfurt Opera manager and talent scout Bernd Löbe offered her a position in the Frankfurt Opera ensemble as a soloist beginning with the 2006/07 season. Stella Grigorian agreed immediately. The experience she gained in her years at the Vienna State Opera would serve her well. Instead of debuting as Sextus in the planned and rehearsed performance of Mozart’s Titus in late fall 2006, she ended up replacing the mezzo-soprano scheduled to sing Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina, who had cancelled at the last minute. Without hesitation, Grigorian learned this unbelievably demanding and long role in only five short days – without the help of other singers or the orchestra, and only accompanied by the theater’s vocal coach. She also learned the exceptionally complex staging on a rehearsal stage, helped by the assistant director. But this let her experience a triumphant debut in her new theater. In Frankfurt, she sang three further role-debuts that year. In addition to Sextus, she sang in a Rossini’s Cenerentola as well as Medea in a new production of Cavalli’s seldom-performed opera Jasone.

Today, Stella Grigorian’s broad repertoire includes early baroque operas to Handel, all of Mozart’s mezzo-soprano roles as well as Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Gounod and Bizet. She also sings Tchaikovsky and various 20th-century roles in operas by Janacek, Enesco or Schoenberg. Her voice, whose range is normally classified as typical mezzosoprano, which is characterised both by its virtuoso coloraturas and its dramatic vigour, easily conquers high registers normally restricted to sopranos as well as roles like the Neris in Cherubini’s Medee that are typically sung by altos.

The artist had been familiar with Lied since her youth in Georgia. But it wasn’t until she met pianist Helmut Deutsch in Frankfurt that her interest started becoming more concrete. In addition to his concert series presenting the world’s best singers in recital, Bernd Löbe also had the wonderful idea of promoting the most talented members of his ensemble in Lied. Together with renowned Lied accompanist Helmut Deutsch, he thus initiated a project called “Deutschstunde”, in which the pianist worked several days long with four members of the Frankfurt Opera ensemble on Lieder. The result was presented in a concert on the large stage of the Frankfurt Opera. This was when Stella Grigorian first met Helmut Deutsch. Immediately afterwards, they planned this CD, which was recorded in the Franz-Liszt Center in Raiding, Austria after a lengthy period of rehearsals during the first half of 2008.

This selection of European songs revolves around Spain, the Spanish language, culture, atmosphere – and sometimes even Spanish clichés in music. This makes it perfectly suited to both the artist’s temperament as well as her linguistic versatility. After much consideration, it was decided to exclude Lieder from the German repertoire, even though it contains many works in this category. Many of these have been recorded often. One only has to think about Hugo Wolf ’s Spanish Songbook or Schumann’s Spanish Liederspiel. But there are also pertinent works by Brahms, Mahler or Kurt Weill.

On this recording, Stella Grigorian and Helmut Deutsch wish to present well known songs as well as songs that have not often been recorded, or very seldomly. The first group of songs dedicated to Spain is the Cinco Canciones Negras by the exceptionally versatile Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge, one of the more renowned 20th century composers, not only in Spain. Montsalvatge was not only interested in the idioms and characteristics of his Spanish (or more strictly speaking, Catalan) home, but also in the folk music of the Caribbean. The song cycle presented here was written in 1945. Both versions – for piano and for orchestra – quickly entered the vocal repertoire, especially of Spanish singers. Although highly popular in concert halls, it has not frequently been recorded.

Carlos Gustavino’s works are also considered part of the Spanish song literature due to their musical idiom and language, although the composer was Argentinean. He wrote almost exclusively for voice and piano. Among his circa 200 songs, La Rosa y el sauce is certainly one of his most popular.

Joaquín Nin was born in Cuba but spent his entire life in Spain. He was an outstanding pianist and a dedicated collector of Spanish folk music. Granadina comes from his collection 20 Cantos populares espagñoles. Nin provided the folksongs in this set with brilliant piano accompaniments – and extensive performance instructions.

Although the song El Vito was also arranged by Nin, the version found on this recording comes from the pen of his Catalan countryman Fernando J. Obrador. In the book The Spanish Song Companion (Gollanz, 1992), “El Vito” is described as “a dance full of fire”, “performed in a tavern by a woman dancing on a table in front of an audience of bull fighters”. Whatever one may imagine when listening to this song, the inspirational flamenco- accompaniment never fails to make an impact.

The next group of songs takes us to the singer’s home in the wider sense. Even if Armenian and Georgian can be counted as her mother tongues, as mentioned in the introduction, Russian was actually the lingua franca in all areas of the former Soviet Union. This is why the rich Russian musical tradition as well as the valuable literary material it is based on, which frequently includes texts from Pushkin or other major poets, naturally belong to Stella Grigorian’s Lied recitals. The Spanish atmosphere has fascinated Russian poets and composers in all eras alike. We find this ambiance in the works of the so-called “father of Russian music”, Michail Glinka, for example, three of whose works are presented here. The composer set his Bolero to the text of his friend, writer Nestor Kukolnik. The piece contrasts a rhythmically marked piano accompaniment with pungent syncopation in the vocal line. Glinka also set two songs to texts of Alexander Pushkin. The Night Zephyr is a mood piece that was also arranged by Glinka’s contemporary Alexander Dargomishky. Like the first Pushkin song, I am here, Iñesilla describes a nighttime serenade in front of the balcony of a beautiful Spanish woman. In contrast to the widely travelled Glinka, who had actually spent time in Spain, Pushkin’s verses express the longing for an imaginary southern country that the poet would never see in natura.

Peter I. Tchaikovsky chose the text for his Don Juan’s Serenade from the stage work Don Juan by Alexei K. Tolstoy (1817–1875). Both songs by Dmitri Shostakovich come from his song cycle Spanish Songs op. 100. He was not able to soak up the Spanish atmosphere on location like Glinka, but received musical material from an acquaintance. Thus, these attractive Spanish songs came into being as Spanish music with a Russian background.

The youngest and last composer in this group of songs is Mark Minkov, famed above all for his work as a film composer. His song Landscape is based on a text by Federico García Lorca. Its appeal has a great deal to do with the fact that the vocal line soars in broad lyric arcs over the calm, harmonically developed piano fundament.

With the next group of songs, we visit a country where there was comparatively little Spanish influence on art and hear from a composer who has remained almost completely unknown in Central Europe. Charles Villiers Stanford wrote his Eight Songs from “The Spanish Gipsy” based on a dramatic prose poem by English poet George Eliot. This work, written in 1868, contains a total of 14 songs. Stanford finally used eight of these for the cycle he compiled between 1872 and 1875, which tells the story of the gypsy girl Fedalma, who grew up in a noble Spanish family with no knowledge of her origins. On the eve of her wedding to Don Silva, her real father lays claim to her. Fedalma discovers her true provenance, becomes deeply conflicted and finally decides in favor of her heritage. With this, she becomes the queen of her people. Stanford’s compositional roots in the German Lied tradition are just as unmistakable as his use of a tonal language situated between Schumann and Liszt. Despite this, the composer’s “Opus 1” is a song cycle with a great portion of individual appeal and inventiveness. In addition to many other works by Stanford, this cycle deserves to be better known. As far as we know, there is only one previous recording of this song cycle. In any case, this is the first recording by a woman.

The next group is dedicated to French music. The sustained influence of Spanish flair on French composers, including their works in the Lied genre, is sufficiently known. This CD presents examples by four of the most popular French composers. Léo Delibes used a poem by Alfred de Mussets. Le Filles de Cadix stimulated both poet and composer to use delicate irony, tastefully and carefully veiled with local color.

On the opera stage as well as in music as a whole, George Bizet’s Carmen is considered the embodiment of all that is Spanish. Although Bizet wrote over 40 songs, his most important musical expressions are found in his operas. Anyone who knows these works will easily recognize the born opera composer’s musical handwriting in the exceptionally beautiful Ouvre ton coeur, based on a text by Louis Delâtre.

Massenet’s Nuit d´éspagne (Spanish Night) is an arrangement of a text by Louis Gallet, the librettist of his opera Thais. It is basically a classical love song with a Spanish mood that is decently suggested by the piano. T he last song in this group comes from the pen of Maurice Ravel, whose enthusiasm for Spanish music is just as legendary as Bizet’s Carmen – one only has to think of his Rapsodie éspagnole, Alborada de Gracioso and above all, of course, his Boléro, one of the most popular musical works of all times. The first of Ravel’s Seven Folk Songs is entitled Spanish Folk Song, and is performed by some singers in Spanish. Here, Stella Grigorian interprets the French version of it.

The last group of songs takes us to Italy. Even in this “mother country of music”, such famous composers as Rossini or Donizetti could not entirely ignore the attraction of Spanish rhythms and temperament. Strictly speaking, we have now arrived at the encores. Rossini’s Canzonetta spagnuola is highly popular as an encore after Lied recitals and concerts. The melody of its three verses is full of Spanish rhythms; with each repetition the piece accelerates and the ornamentation becomes increasingly brilliant. Rossini’s musical joke is just as fun for performers as it is for audiences. Donizetti’s L’amante spagnuolo likewise blends Italian virtuosity with Spanish temperament.

Vincenzo di Chiara’s popular melodies are often found on the recordings of famous singers of the past like Rosa Ponselle, Beniamino Gigli or Mario Lanza. La Spagnola is clearly an autobiographical joke of the interpreter after one realizes that the first verse is being used as a play on words: “Di Spagna sono la bella – regina son dell’amor. Tutti mi dicono stella…”

The actual encore of our recording, I am easily assimilated comes from Leonard Bernstein’s magnificent musical Candide. Not only did this song lend its name to the entire CD, but the artist has placed it at the end of this collection for personal reasons. It also demonstrates the great range of Stella Grigorian’s artistry, which is equally apparent in musical, chanson, opera, concert or the classical song. Wherever she has been in the world, Stella Grigorian has always been “easily assimilated”, personally and musically. And in this recording, she is “Suddenly Spanish”.



HELMUT DEUTSCH

Helmut Deutsch was born in Vienna and studied piano and composition at the Vienna Academy of Music as well as musicology at the University of Vienna. In 1967, he was awarded the Vienna Composition Prize.

He began specializing in chamber music and Lied accompaniment during his years as a student. Helmut Deutsch has worked with many renowned instrumentalists and in nearly all forms of chamber music. His career as a Lied accompanist began when he worked with soprano Irmgard Seefried. Since then, he has performed with many of the major singers of our times: Juliane Banse, Barbara Bonney, Grace Bumbry, Ileana Cotrubas, Diana Damrau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Angelika Kirchschlager, Genia Kühmeier, Christiane Oelze, Anne Sophie von Otter, Dawn Upshaw, Ruth Ziesak, Olaf Bär, Matthias Goerne, Dietrich Henschel, Wolfgang Holzmayr, Jonas Kaufmann, Thomas Moser, Christoph Pregardien, Josef Protschka, Thomas Quasthoff, Andreas Schmidt, Peter Schreier, Bo Skovhus, Christoph Strehl, Michael Volle, Bernd Weikl and many others.

He worked intensively with Hermann Prey for twelve years.

Helmut Deutsch’s concert activities have taken him to all parts of the world, and he is a frequent guest at the world’s most important music centers and festivals.

He taught from 1967 to 1979 at the Music Academy in Vienna and is now professor for Lied at the Academy of Theater and Music in Munich. He gives courses in interpretation throughout Europe and Japan. Many of his numerous recordings have been accorded prizes.