German composer
Carl Loewe
(1796-1869) is known for his songs, especially ballads, that have been performed by the likes of
Thomas Quasthoff
and
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
. However, he also wrote various larger works that have rarely been performed since his lifetime. These include 17 (or 18) oratorios, some of which were written because his position in Stettin (now Szeczin, Poland) did not call for opera. The result was music like
Hiob
(in English:
Job
), an oratorio with many operatic qualities.
Wagner
, who didn't admire that many people, admired
Loewe
, and while there is no way to contend that he was another
, or even another
Mendelssohn
, the work is highly listenable because it is dramatically sharp. The four soloist parts move easily between narration and involvement in the tale of Job (many listeners will know it well enough, but not to provide a translation of the libretto of an unknown work with original text is ungenerous on the
Oehms
label's part). They are set against the
Arcis Vocalisten
chorus, which brings the right warmth to the hymn-like numbers and big fugues. There are nice touches such as the vocal quartet "Gib ihm dein Herz" in the second part; that would have been eaten up by the various German singing societies that flourished as far afield as the U.S. in the 19th century.
L'Arpa Festante
is a historical-instrument group; there is no word on whether instruments from
's time are used here, but the fairly small size of the group (35 players) probably comes close to what
had at his disposal. Conductor
Thomas Gropper
keeps the work moving through its less exciting passages, and the four soloists are all very strong.
' engineering from the Himmelfahrtskirche in Munich is exemplary. ~ James Manheim