Hidden treasures - Felix Mendelssohn - Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde (1829) - Selected highlights

Background Painting: "A Normandy Landscape" by Camille Flers.

History: In 1829, during their first visit to England, the composer Felix Mendelssohn together with Fanny, his sister, began making elaborate plans to celebrate their parents' silver wedding anniversary with a full musical soirée. The heart of the whole performance was a Liederspeil in one act, "Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde" ("The Homecoming from Abroad") which Mendelssohn brought back home with him, completed, in one of his suitcases. It was performed privately in the Mendelssohn home on the 26th of December, 1829, to an audience of more than a hundred guests. The premiere was warmly applauded, and Mendelssohns mother suggested that he publish the work, but he refused to do so because he felt the piece had too much of a private character, reserved exclusively for private occasions. Only after Mendelssohns death, his widow, his brother, and one of his friends, Julius Rietz, had the score published. The public premiere of the score was given on the 10th of April, 1851.

Narrative: The story is very charming, if utterly unrealistic, providing Mendelssohn with numerous opportunities to paint the simple life of the village folk: Schultz (bass), a major of a village, is preparing to celebrate his 50th year in office, but is sad because his son-turned-soldier, Hermann (tenor), is not there. His ward, Lisbeth (soprano), is engaged to Hermann but she has not seen him since she was a child. Kauz (baritone), an unscrupulous traveller, disguised as a watchman, tries to impersonate Hermann, though the real Hermann is quick to dissipate the lie, and all is resolved happily.

Music: While it would be difficult to name the present opera a masterpiece, its continuous charm is undoubtedly a work of a young maestro. The work, just as the slightly more ambitious "Die Hochzeit des Camacho", is unpretentious in both form and melody: the ensembles are unadventurous in structure, though their vivacity is never in question (this is especially true in the case of the topsy-turvy duettino for Hermann and Kauz, trying desperately to stop the former from sounding an alarm); the seven solo numbers are all designated as songs in couplet form, however, each one of them is subtly varied, gently orchestrated and genuinely appealing; the two orchestral movements - a sublime notturno signaling the coming of the sun (baring a slight resemblance to a similar piece from the composer's own "A Midsummer Night's Dream") and a particularly rich sinfonia - are easily the highlights of the whole work and worthy to stand proudly among Mendelssohn's best pieces. Most importantly, each page of the score breathes of the composer's love for his family: one has too only quote the opening andante of the overture to understand how warm was the family's relationship. All in all, an opera of the utmost lightness and gentility, though, perhaps, just a hint too light to be labeled a "masterwork" (however, those who wish to reject the work on these grounds are denying themselves much pleasure).

Recording: The live 2003 recording from "Hanssler Classic" under the lively direction of Helmunt Rilling, leading the Radio-Sinfonieorchester and the Stuttgart des Swr, that I am using in this instance is a winning representation of the work. The clear orchestral playing notwithstanding, all five singers are extremely likable in their respective roles, lending credibility to the otherwise hard to believe story.

Juliane Banse - Lisbeth,
Iris Vermillion - Hermann's Mother,
Carsten Suss - Hermann,
Christian Gerhaher - Kauz,
Stefan Muller-Ruppert - Schulz.

Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• belcanto
• classical
• romantic
• coloratura

[RemovdSande11]

I so want the sheet music for this

[Baiges93]

excellent song

[alexanfaria]

very good! I've never heard this Liederspeil. Excellent!

thanks for posting!