"lorraine" - a recording for the ages

By Douglas Neslund

This one is personal for the writer. Losing a mother and sister to breast cancer leaves holes in the family fabric, empty chairs at family holiday gatherings, and a sadness that never quite goes away. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the mezzo-soprano featured in this album of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, died in 2006 at the age of 52 from the disease.

In a live 2003 performance, Ms. Lieberson paired with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Bach’s solo cantata, “Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut”, BWV 199, conducted by LACO Music Director Jeffrey Kahane.  

The pietistic text seems to indulge in over-the-top sentimentality to the ears of today, but in the times and places where it was sung, delivered a jarring message of self-awareness and associated suffering, relieved only by confession and spiritual renewal:

1.         Recitative Violino I/II, Viola, Fagotto, Continuo

Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, weil mich der Sünden Brut in Gottes heil’gen Augen zum Ungeheuer macht. Und mein Gewissen fühlet Pein, weil mir die Sünden nichts als Höllenhenker sein. Verhaßte Lasternacht! Du, du allein hast mich in solche Not gebracht; und du, du böser Adamssamen, raubst meiner Seele alle Ruh und schließest ihr den Himmel zu! Ach! unerhörter Schmerz! Mein ausgedorrtes Herz will ferner mehr kein Trost befeuchten, und ich muß mich vor dem verstecken, vor dem die Engel selbst ihr Angesicht verdecken.

My heart swims in blood because reflecting on my sins in God's holy eyes makes me into a monster. And my conscience feels pain because my sins are nothing but Hell's hangmen. Detested night of vice! You, you alone have brought me into such distress; and you, you evil seed of Adam, rob my soul of all inner peace and shut me off from heaven! Ah! unbelievable pain! My withered heart will in future be moistened by no comfort and I must conceal myself from him before whom the angels conceal their faces.

2.        Aria and Recitative     Oboe solo, Continuo (con Violone)

Stumme Seufzer, stille Klagen, ihr mögt meine Schmerzen sagen, weil der Mund geschlossen ist.  Und ihr nassen Tränenquellen könnt ein sich’res Zeugnis stellen, könnt ein sich’res Zeugnis stellen, wie mein sündlich Herz gebüßt. Mein Herz ist itzt ein Tränenbrunn, die Augen heiße Quellen. Ach Gott! wer wird dich doch zufriedenstellen?

Silent sighs, quiet moans, you may tell of my pains, since my mouth is closed. And your wet springs of tears can offer certain witness of how my sinful heart has repented. My heart is now a well of tears, my eyes, hot springs. Ah God! Who then will give you satisfaction!

3.        Recitative Violino I/II, Viola, Fagotto, Continuo (con Violone)

Doch Gott muß mir gnädig sein, weil ich das Haupt mit Asche, das Angesicht mit Tränen wasche. Mein Herz in Reu und Leid zerschlage und voller Wehmut sage: Gott sei mir Sünder gnädig! Ach ja! sein Herze bricht, und meine Seele spricht:

But God must be gracious to me because I wash my head with ashes and my face with tears, I beat my heart in remorse and sorrow and full of grief say: God, be gracious to me, a sinner! Ah yes! his heart breaks and my soul says:

4.        Aria  Violino I/II, Viola, Fagotto, Continuo (con Violone)

Tief gebückt und voller Reue lieg ich, liebster Gott, vor dir.  Ich bekenne meine Schuld, aber habe doch Geduld, habe doch Geduld mit mir!

Deeply bowed and full of remorse I lie, dearest God, before you. I acknowledge my guilt, but still have patience, still have patience with me!

5.        Recitative Continuo (con Violone)

Auf diese Schmerzensreu fällt mir alsdenn dies Trostwort bei:

Amidst the pain of remorse this word of comfort comes to me.

6.        Chorale       Viola solo, Continuo (con Violone)

Ich, dein betrübtes Kind, werf’ alle meine Sünd’ so viel ihr in mir stecken und mich so heftig schrecken, in deine tiefen Wunden, da ich stets Heil gefunden.

I, your troubled child, cast all my sins that are fixed so many within me and frighten me so fiercely, into your deep wounds, where I have always found salvation.

7.        Recitative Violino I/II, Viola, Fagotto, Continuo (con Violone)

Ich lege mich in diese Wunden als in den rechten Felsenstein; die sollen meine Ruhstatt sein. In diese will ich mich im Glauben schwingen und d’rauf vergnügt und fröhlich singen:

I lay myself in these wounds as upon the true solid rock: they should be my place of rest. In these I want to soar in faith and content and happy to sing:

8.        Aria Oboe, Violino I/II, Viola, Fagotto, Continuo (con Violone)

Wie freudig ist mein Herz, da Gott versöhnet ist und mir auf Reu und Leid nicht mehr die Seligkeit noch auch sein Herz verschließt.

How joyful is my heart since God is reconciled and through my remorse and sorrow no longer shuts me away from salvation or from his heart.

Ms. Lieberson’s artistry, though forever lost to live performance, sings to us through this recording with the intensity of the eternal, all the while anchored in the earthly. Her voice is richly colored by the mortal vibrato of a woman facing death, although we hear her while in a period of remission, and in the strength of voice that forestalls, however briefly, the victory of cancer. Her voice is free, allowing the widest possible range of expression. Her gorgeous tone reminds one of a Bavarian Rococo church, with exquisite detail in every phrase. It is altogether appropriate that this precious recording should be made available to music lovers everywhere.

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Jeffrey Kahane, matches her intensity and color in perfect partnership.

Bach often paired solo treble arias with Baroque oboes, and no oboist anywhere exceeds the virtuosic musicality of Allan Vogel’s oboe d’amore in the second movement (“Stumme Seufzer”). Principal Violist Roland Kato shines in the sixth movement Chorale (“Ich, dein betrübtes Kind”). An added virtue is Ms. Lieberson’s exemplary coloratura in Recitative No. 7 over the words “und fröhlich singen.” Indeed, with a final declarative Aria No. 8: “Wie freudig ist mein Herz!”

Bach’s oft-heard Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, BWV 1049 completes this Yarlung Records CD, and features the leadership of LACO’s concertmaster Margaret Batjer and flutists David Shostac and Brook Ellen Schoenwald, in a one-on-a-part performance that imparts clarity and lucid texture.

The album, simply titled Lorraine, is scheduled to be released for public sale on March 26 at www.yarlungrecords.com with distribution by Naxos of America www.naxosusa.com bearing the catalogue number YAR96298, UPC 700261962985. Bob Attiyeh was the producer.