Harnoncourt: Album Review Mendelssohn, Wagner, Schumann – Revealing Readings from the Late Revolutionary | classical music

TYears after his death, this newly released live recording from the 1999 Styriarte Festival in Graz is a welcome reminder of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s revolutionary approach to music. At its core, there is a rare – for him – foray into the world of Richard Wagner, provocatively paired with Mendelssohn and Schumann, two composers whose attitudes to The Wizard of Bayreuth were ambiguous, to say the least.

It begins with Mendelssohn’s fanciful Overture, Die Schöne Melusine, a powerful journey driven by assertive strings and dramatic woodwind interventions. The Tannhäuser introduction is a different matter entirely. To some extent, Harnoncourt takes a watered-down Wagnerian approach, with the delicate textures rooted in the Overture to Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comparison that the anti-Semitic Wagner would certainly have abhorred. Purists may balk, but it is one of the most silky and detailed reads and, for those curious about the actual notes on the page, enlightening.

The Tristan Overture follows suit, especially its weightless opening, but while Harnoncourt does away with Wagner’s radical harmonies, he never skimps on the music’s emotional thrust. Violeta Ormana – yes, the mezzo-soprano – caps it off with a stunning description of the libido. Not only is her accent posh, but every word is crystal clear.

Rarely performed by Schumann, the Requiem for Mignon, an 11-minute secular work for soloists, choir and orchestra on the themes of grief and consolation, concludes the concert in style. The music is interspersed with Harnoncourt’s erudite commentaries, including a section-by-section of Mendelssohn’s Overture. Quite enlightening, assuming you speak German.

Stream it on Apple Music (above) or on Spotify