If you go with "Schubert is living" there is no problems, you are a true schubertian and please welcome in the house! :)

However,

if you go with "Schubert is dead" (as at least the official history says too)

please answer this guestion;



How come a new Schubert work was premiered in the world on October 4th 2006? 











Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
 
Sakontala - opera in two acts (ca. 1820) D701, (unfinished);

reconstructed by Karl Aage RASMUSSEN (b. 1947)
 
Simone Nold (soprano) - Sakontala;
Donát Havár (tenor) – Duschmanta;
Martin Snell (bass) – Kanna;
Konrad Jarnot (bass) – Madhawia;
Stephan Loges (bass) – Durwasas
Kammerchor Stuttgart, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Frieder Bernius

rec. live, Herbstliche Musiktage in Bad Urach,
 
Stadthalle Metzingen, Germany, 4 October 2006. DDD
 
Booklet notes in German, English and French;

Libretto in German only
 
world premiere recording

CARUS 83218 [55:52 + 30:27]





2 completely different reviews of Schubert's work and the world premiere



While Schubert is a much admired composer and a large number of his compositions are acknowledged as works of genius, there is still a considerable number of his works that have been neglected. To this class, belong Schubert’s operas, which are almost entirely unknown. This is largely due, on the one hand, to generally poor libretti, often written by Schubert’s well intentioned friends who unfortunately lacked the necessary writing talent and on the other hand to the general belief that Schubert’s operas are dramatically ineffective. Therefore a reconstruction of an opera such as Sakontala is to be applauded and having this historic performance recorded live for posterity is a most welcome endeavour.

In the autumn of 1820, Schubert began working on a large-scale romantic opera in three acts, with partly spoken dialog, for soloists, choir and orchestra. This was Sakontala. The libretto, based on a drama by classical Indian poet Kalidasa (ca. 500 AD), was written by Schubert’s friend, physics professor Johann Philipp Neumann (1774-1849). The fact that it is based on a literary masterpiece, sets the work apart from all other libretti that Schubert set to music and which were definitely second rate.

Rescuing one of Schubert’s numerous unfinished works for the stage from obscure anonymity was an idea from Finnish cultural “entrepeneur” Antti Sairanen. Sakontala was chosen because of the quality of the original text.
 

To undertake the reconstruction, Sairanen contacted distinguished Danish author, conductor and composer Karl Aage Rasmussen, an award-winning musician and scholar, and an established lecturer in many European countries and in the USA. The initial idea was to combine Schubert’s unfinished score with new music composed by Rasmussen but, as Sairanen managed to obtain a copy of the original manuscript from the Schubert Society, in Tübingen, it became clear that the composition was not a real fragment in the true sense of the word, as initially expected. There were more than 400 pages of unknown music written in Schubert’s own hand. The pages, with 16 staves, were organised as an orchestral score and Schubert had fully composed the vocal parts with text. However, there were hardly any notes about orchestration or harmonisation and only rarely did he write accompaniment. Midway through the work, Schubert abruptly stopped composing. The reasons are not clear but, according to Rasmussen, this could have been because he was having doubts about the last part of the libretto, the third act, which added new developments and events to Kalidasa’s play. Rasmussen was able to get the full Naumann libretto and could establish that the part of it that Schubert finished setting to music formed a meaningful complete work, dramaturgically speaking. As he explains in his own words, Rasmussen was able to complete the score, fill in the blanks and, by moving some scenes from the complete first act to the unfinished second, obtain dramatic unity and create an opera that lasts approximately two hours in performance.
 

The story revolves around king Duschmanta who falls in love with Sakontala and gives her a ring as proof that he wishes to marry her. Durwasas, a hermit and holy man, offended that Sakontala does not pay him enough respect because of being in love, calls down a curse on her, which will make the king unable to recognise her. Durwasas mitigates the curse by enabling the king to recognise Sakontala if she shows him the ring. But there are demons that ensure she loses the ring. And so, when she presents herself with her foster-father at court, she is cast off by the king who cannot remember her. In act two, a fisherman finds the ring, which has the king’s name engraved on it. Taken to Duschmanta for trying to sell the king’s ring, the fisherman confesses he found it in the belly of a fish. When the king sees the ring, his memory returns and eventually the two lovers reunite in a final choral scene, with High Priest Kanna advising to always trust the wisdom of the Gods. As a dramatic plot, this is complete and makes full sense.
 

A third act seems unnecessary and this might be what was in Schubert’s mind and the reason why he abruptly stopped composing. Therefore, to have the opera in two acts appears a logical idea and a good decision by Rasmussen. His was obviously a labour of love and, intelligently, Rasmussen does not try to update Schubert’s style of composing or to re-write his sketches in a contemporary way. The only “modernisation” is that modern instruments, like valve horns and pedal timpani were preferred to historical ones. Rasmussen uses the fragmented manuscript as the sole background for all technical and artistic decisions, and here lies the beauty and accomplishment of the work. The reconstruction has resulted in a delightful opera by Schubert, dramatically powerful, with both tragic and comic elements, and including very beautiful music.

The first act is undoubtedly the most accomplished of the two. It has moments that reminded me of Mozart; the ensemble music is appealing, containing some lovely, cheerful melodies that warm the heart. The second act is shorter and was the one that made me think of some of Schubert’s best songs, like the powerful Erlkönig. The first act also includes a wonderfully expressive, romantic aria sung by Sakontala, where she declares her love for the king. Soprano Simone Nold, who sings the title role, performs the aria with delicate sensitivity and her crystalline clear voice puts it across very effectively. Her depiction of Sakontala is fresh and moving, particularly in the scenes where the king does not recognise her and towards the end, during the touching final duet with Duschmanta. Tenor Donát Havár makes a convincing Duschmanta. His performance is accomplished and attractive, and his voice sounds suitably young and sparkling throughout. But to my mind, the best singing comes without doubt from basses Martin Snell as the high priest Kanna and Konrad Jarnot as Madhavia, the court jester. Snell is majestic and powerful; his voice carries the music easily without any apparent strain or effort. Jarnot manages a wonderfully ironical, funny rendition of Madhavia’s aria where the jester mocks hunting, making me wish each time that I could see him on stage. The other soloists are all excellent and the Kammerchor Stuttgart as well as of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen give a truly great performance, delivering the music with style and living up to their high artistic standards. Frieder Bernius conducts with real insight into Schubert’s musicianship and sensitivity, achieving a delicate balance between the music and the singing. He confidently leads the soloists, choir and orchestra in a remarkable, fabulous and very enjoyable performance of this nearly “lost” work by one of the greatest composers of the romantic era. Together, they fully achieve Rasmussen’s objective with his reconstruction of the opera, which was, in his own words, ‘to give the general public access to almost two hours of unknown music by Schubert’.
 

I simply adored this CD. I loved the music, the singing and the performance in general, regretting only the fact that I was not present at the Stadthalle Metzingen to have witnessed live this historic and wonderful world premiere of what I personally would name Schubert’s best work for the stage.

written by Margarida Mota-Bull

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/June08/Schubert_Sakontala_83218.htm






Franz Schubert completed about 16 works roughly described as belonging to the category of opera; only three were produced in his lifetime, enjoying no more than moderate success. When Schubert's operas are recorded, though infrequently, one often encounters some statement to the effect of "this overlooked opera is Schubert's one masterpiece in the genre," and indeed, both Alfonso und Estrella (1820) and Fierabras (1823) have gained a tenuous toehold in the revival repertory. No one has ever tried to make such a claim about Sakuntala (1820), which is an unfinished, but substantial, sketch for an opera based on a German version of Kalidasa's fourth century Sanskrit play The Recognition of Shakuntala -- a favorite of Goethe -- fashioned by Schubert's friend Johann Philipp Neumann. As late as 2000, one writer quipped "[Sakuntala] remains to this day the one and only Schubert stage work of which not one note has been performed for the public, anywhere, ever." Nevertheless, even by that time, it had already been heard twice; in 1971 in Vienna and realized as a ballet in Munich in 1979. Director Jorn Thiel filmed this production for German television, which featured the Mallika Sarabhi Dance Company of India.

Karl Aage Rasmussen's 2002 realization -- not "reconstruction" as dubbed by Carus-Verlag in its recording of the finished result, as Schubert did not himself create a practical score -- of Sakuntala approached the work as though these earlier attempts did not exist, and indeed, Rasmussen may not have known about them. Rasmussen's examination of Schubert's hefty, 400-page manuscript made some determinations not noticed before; although often described as "opera in three acts, with sketches of acts one and two only," Rasmussen determined that Schubert only intended two acts, and that in a purely vocal sense his score was complete. The accompaniment, however, was only roughly sketched in, and bare for long stretches of the music, and Schubert's text underlay was compromised by the difficulty in reading his "Gothic" script. This was soon fixed by the discovery by librarian Thomas Aigner of Neumann's long-lost original play. In the end, Rasmussen claims he only had to fill in the blanks in relatively short stretches, and what we hear in Sakontala -- Carus-Verlag's spelling of the title -- is essentially Schubert's.

The recording, which is live from the Stadthalle Metzingen and from 2006, is disappointingly canny sounding and constricted, but one gets used to the sound as the show progresses. The singing is OK but not particularly distinguished; the chorus is good, though the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Frieder Bernius seems a little underpowered and is definitely under-recorded. Rasmussen notes a similarity between Sakuntala and Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, premiered not long after Schubert abandoned Sakuntala for good. One could go further and state that it also bears some commonality of approach with Weber's Abu Hassan (1810) given its Viennese take on orientalism, an idiom no doubt familiar to Schubert, if somewhat outside his comfort zone. Parts of it also vaguely resemble Mozart, but this appears to be in sections where there isn't much accompaniment to work with. Rasmussen states that he deliberately avoided attempting to "compose like Schubert," and one wishes he had tried; in such passages, it is obvious that Schubert's harmony would be a little richer and more eccentric, and his preference for certain rhythmic patterns almost suggest themselves, though Rasmussen would have none of it. The best parts of the reconstruction are the Finale of the first act and the first numbers of the second; the first act Finale runs nearly 30 minutes and seems mostly filled in by the composer. It is a strange, disorienting experience to hear pseudo-oriental modes and rhythms winding their way through Schubert's usual idiom. Like his other operas, Sakuntala is not free of its share of gaffes; the second-act aria "Noch schläft die golden Sonne" with its refrain of "Ach! Ach! Ach! Ach! Ach!" is not one of Schubert's most inspired creations. Nevertheless, Rasmussen's realization of the overture alone is a considerable contribution to Schubert's body of work, sketchy and tentative as it is from an orchestral standpoint; to have done the whole opera is something extraordinary and special.

One would think that Schubert -- given his way with melody, mastery of choral writing, and innovative, if largely unchecked, ability as an orchestrator -- could write one decent opera out of so many tries. Bad libretti, usually written by friends of the composer, is one especially significant culprit, but Schubert's own antisocial nature prevented him from being able to function in the very social world of opera, much as he aspired to make a mark there. At least with Sakuntala, as this Carus-Verlag recording makes clear, Schubert got a good start; however, the project fell prey to another typical Schubertian shortcoming: his inability in some cases to finish what he had started. 



written by Dave Lewis, All Music Guide
 
http://www.answers.com/topic/franz-schubert-sakontala














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