Elgars Oratorium "The Kingdom"
Lutherkirche, Weisbaden - 24. November 2007
Bach-Chor und Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society
"Klingende Bausteine eines himmlischen Königreichs unter Leitung von Klaus Uwe Ludwig"
Wiesbaden Orchesterklänge ziehen die Zuhörer in der Lutherkirche vom ersten Ton an in ihren Bann, brausend entfaltet sich ein ganze Klanglandschaft - vor den Ohren des Publikums entsteht das himmlische Jerusalem.
Edward Elgar: Wer denkt beim Namen dieses wohl bekanntesten britischen Komponisten nicht an "Pomp and Circumstances", an gewichtige Bläsersätze und Klangwogen? Bestimmt auch viele Musikfreunde, die nun Gelegenheit hatten, ein Oratorium Elgars mit dem Bach-Chor und dem Bach-Orchester Wiesbaden zu erleben. Nach "The Dream of Gerontius" im Jahre 1994 nahm sich Klaus Uwe Ludwig zum 150. Geburtstag des Komponisten nun "The Kingdom" vor. Das Königreich Jesu Christi wird errichtet, und Elgar führt uns subtil durch die Szenen, die weitgehend der Apostelgeschichte entnommen sind. Verheißungen Jesu "In the upper room", die Einsetzung des Matthias als Apostel, aber auch die Pfingstgeschichte sind "Bausteine" dieses Königreichs. Dabei ist vor allem der dramatische Spannungsbogen wichtig - mit meist verhaltenen Tönen erzählen Soli und Chor das Geschehen in verteilten Rollen.
Dies erzählerische Feingefühl in klingende Realität zu verwandeln ist an diesem Abend das Verdienst von Klaus Uwe Ludwig, der hier auch einmal mehr Städtepartnerschaft in ihrer wohl schönsten Form betreibt: mit Bach-Chor und Bach-Orchester zusammen war es die "Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society", die gemeinsam mit den Wiesbadenern nun schon im 27. Jahr konzertiert.
Von Beginn an faszinierte die Transparenz im Klang der über 100 Frauen- und Männerstimmen - es scheint immer wieder, als ob der Chorklang von innen leuchte, was jedoch nie auf Kosten einer ganz greifbaren Präsenz geht. In konzentrierter Spannung hält Ludwig dabei seinen "Riesen-Klangapparat" zusammen, in den hier sogar die mächtige Walcker-Orgel einbezogen ist.
Das Ausschöpfen gewaltiger Möglichkeiten spart sich Elgar für einen dramatischen Höhepunkt wie die Pfingsterzählung auf, wo "ein Brausen vom Himmel" die Lutherkirche erfüllt. Ebenso stark aber bleiben die leisen Momente im Gedächtnis, wenn etwa vom Abendmahl die Rede ist und Werner Maxin (Bass) in verhaltenem Ton Heiligkeit zum Ausdruck bringt, die kein bisschen Pathos in sich trägt. Überhaupt überzeugte die ausgewogene Solisten-Besetzung: Neben der Sopranistin Katrin Wagner nämlich Annerose Hummel (mit natürlich-warmem Mezzo-Sopran), Henner Leye (Tenor) und Werner Maxin. Ins Geschehen mit eingewoben, setzten die Solisten immer wieder Akzente in der zweistündigen Erzählung, die doch von Längen nichts spüren ließ.
©Astrid Scheldt - Wiesbadener Kurier
English Translation of Preview (Pre-concert)
Big Line-up for Oratorio with Rich Orchestration
The Wiesbaden Bach Choir, the Bach Orchestra and the Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society present Elgar's The Kingdom under the direction of Klaus Uwe Ludwig.
The date of the first joint performance of the Wiesbaden Bach Choir and the Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society is something Klaus Uwe Ludwig remembers precisely: it was in May 1985. Since then they have worked together many times, and some fifty singers from England will also be taking part when Edward Elgar's oratorio The Kingdom, composed in the first years of the 20th century, is performed under Ludwig's baton in the Lutherkirche this coming Saturday. At Whitsun members of the Bach Choir took part in a performance of the oratorio in England.
The Kingdom is an oratorio largely unknown in Germany. 'In Elgar's home country the situation is very different.,' says Ludwig. 'Having already presented numerous rarely performed works in the Lutherkirche,' says the church's musical director with some pride, 'we hit on the idea of performing this work. The oratorio,' he explains, 'has nothing to do with the British royal family, and the title refers to Christ's kingdom on earth. The text, written by Elgar himself and drawn from the Old and New Testaments, with the main emphasis on sections from the Acts of the Apostles, will be sung by the choir and four soloists. Hence the oratorio is exceptionally dramatic. It has the internal dynamic of a fully fledged opera,' adds Ludwig. The four soloists Katrin Wagner (soprano), Annerose Hummel (contralto), Henner Leye (tenor) and Werner Maxim (bass) will take the parts of Mary, Mary Magdalen, Peter and John.
The Bach Orchestra will be at full strength, as Elgar's orchestration is both rich and, according to Ludwig, extremely refined. There will also be 'scenes of great intensity'. The conductor finds the end of the oratorio, which gently fades away after just under two hours, 'unbelievably beautiful. The Kingdom places great demands both on the English and the German participants,'says Ludwig, drawing attention to the numerous changes of tempo, which often follow on in rapid succession, adding life and vigour to the whole production.
Axel Zibulski writing in the Wiesbaden Kurier 23rd November 2007. Translation provided by Tunbridge Wells Twinning Association
English Translation of Post-Concert Review
Musical Building Blocks for a Heavenly Kingdom
Elgar's oratorio The Kingdom in the Lutherkirche with the Bach Choir and Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society directed by Klaus Uwe Ludwig
From the opening notes in the Lutherkirche, orchestral sounds entrance the audience. A whole tonal landscape thunderously unfolds and the heavenly Jerusalem arises in front of the listening audience.
At the name of Edward Elgar, this best known of British composers, who does not think of the Pomp and Circumstance march, of powerful brass and waves of sound? Certainly this will be so for the many music lovers who have now had the opportunity of experiencing with the Wiesbaden Bach Choir and Bach Orchestra an Elgar oratorio. Following on from The Dream of Gerontius in 1994, Klaus Uwe Ludwig took on The Kingdom for the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is created, and Elgar leads us subtly through the scenes which are largely taken from the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus' promise "in the upper room", the installation of Matthew as an apostle, but also the story of Whitsun are the "building blocks" of this kingdom. The dramatic tension is particularly powerful here - in mainly hushed tones the soloists and choir play their several parts in telling the story.
The transformation of this narrative finesse into musical reality in this concert was beautifully achieved by Klaus Uwe Ludwig, who once again gave expression to town twinning in its finest form: in the 27th year of their co-operation,the Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society appearing together with the Bach Choir and the Bach Orchestra
From the start, the tonal clarity of over one hundred male and female singers captured the audience's imagination, the choral sound seeming to come from within, but never at the expense of a quite tangible presence. And all the while Ludwig held his "giant sound machine" together in a concentrated tension, a tension in which the mighty Walcker organ also played its part.
Elgar saves the exploitation of powerful resources for a dramatic climax in the Whitsun story where a "thundering from the sky" fills the Lutherkirche. The softer passages remain just as strongly in the memory, however, as in the scene of the Last Supper where Werner Maxim (bass) in piano singing gives an expression of holiness with not a trace of pathos. The balanced line-up of soloists was particularly convincing: alongside the soprano Katrin Wagner were Annerose Hummel (with a naturally warm mezzo-soprano voice), Henner Leye (tenor) and Werner Maxim. Woven into the fabric of the performance the soloists gave a well modulated interpretation which was never lacking in interest.
Astrid Scheldt in the Wiesbaden Kurier, 26th November 2007. Translation provided by Tunbridge Wells Twinning Association
A photograph of the choirs taking a bow after the Concert can be viewed on the Photo Gallery