II Serpente di Bronzo.

Jan Dismas Zelenka 

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

II Serpente di Bronzo

Alex Potter, Petra Noskaiova, Hana Blazikova, Peter Kooij, Jaroslav Brezina, Ensemble Inegal, Adam Viktora. Production: not stated. Text: Cz., Eng., Ger., Fr. Recorded: 8/2005 Rothmayer Hall of Prague Castle. Released: 2005. TT: 67:20. DDD. 1 CD Nibiru 0146-2211.

Adam Viktora has created a delicious and refined feast for every listener with his recording of The Bronze Serpent, one of Jan Dismas Zelenka's three great passion works. The composer himself called it a spiritual cantata, but it is actually an oratorio based on one episode from the 4th Book of Moses (Numbers) and "sinning" against the genre probably only in the sense that it has only one movement. Today the work itself is not particularly well-known; it was presented in modern concert performance not so long ago thanks to Robert Hugo, but no printed edition has yet appeared and like all Zelenka's major works it makes considerable demands on singers and musicians. Zelenka's composition, dated 1730, does not require excessive comment or analysis to be appreciated--the composer takes the theme of contemplation of the crucified Redeemer and imbues it, in intimate drama, with all the tones of his rich, distinctive imagination to create one of his best works. Adam Viktora has treated it with the respect and attention it deserves, both in his choice of singers and his careful treatment of every detail of Zelenka's rich score. The introductory choral immediately ravishes the listener with its typical Zelenka drive and the corresponding commitment of the whole ensemble. The orchestra gives virtuoso performances and it is hard to know which to praise first, the strings (relatively strongly represented) or the woodwind, the dramatic accompagnato Mose contro di me or the charming trialogue of oboes, bassoon and alto (Alex Kohler) in the aria Vicina morte, or again the dynamic but sensitive, pliable continuo. The soloists are international and very balanced in quality. Any listener with even a little knowledge of the field will certainly be interested in the presence of the brilliant Bach interpreter Peter Kooij. To be absolutely honest, the "di sdegno" genre of the aria Potrei sovra degli empi is not entirely congenial to the this singer's natural temperament, and so the raging Old Testament Jahve inevitably has less of a choleric presence than the composer probably intended. Nonetheless one can only take off one's hat to the singer's achievement (the accompagnato Ah, Mose is exquisite), since Zelenka's bass arias are among the most difficult that he ever wrote for voice. Listening to Petra Noskaiova, you can do nothing but savour her velvet mezzo-soprano and overall soulful, intelligent performance, and you will certainly be unable to resist the metallically sweet soprano of Hana Blazikova, whose brilliant performance is doubly praiseworthy when you remember that she joined the recording at the last moment as a replacement for the sick Gabriela Eibenova. Jaroslav Brezina is perhaps almost above praise, but what can one do face to face with the recitative Autor della natura, the most beautiful of the whole recording? I believe, by the way, that it could have been particularly this degree of expression that, had it been "omnipresent", would have shifted this recording from the merely brilliant to the staggering category. To live up to my reputation as a critic, let me tell all patient readers that in the booklet they will find a fascinating commentary and translations of the text, but that if we overlook the arrangement (translations following each other and not in parallel with the original) and a few minor typos, only one thing is really puzzling: Why has such an excellent recording and such enthralling music been clothed in grey? The title and indeed the beautiful engraving used on the cover surely cries out for fiery, truly bronze colour, that would allow the recording to flame and shine out on the record shop racks!