Here’s an invaluable set, documenting a great performance from the golden age of Scottish Opera. The lack of any commercial recordings of complete operas conducted by Sir Alexander Gibson was always a grievous omission; like Karl Böhm or Rudolf Kempe, Gibson really came alive in the theatre, and his art deserves to be preserved on record.
This Rosenkavalier is notable for Janet Baker’s Octavian. The run of performances from which this recording derives was the only time that Baker ever sang the part. She says that “it’s a lovely role, but tremendously hard work. And the Trio and the Rose Scene are not enough to interest me, though they might be to other singers.” It’s a shame, for Baker was a wonderful comic actress, as she proves here. She’s greatly assisted by Gibson, who’s one of the few conductors to really make something of Octavian/Mariandel’s scene with Baron Ochs in Act III, in most performances you get the impression that the conductor can’t wait to get to the entrance of the Marschallin.
Although Ponto is marketing the set firmly at Baker fans (Gibson doesn’t get a mention on the front cover!), this performance is far from being the Janet Baker Show. Her Marschallin was the German soprano Helga Dernesch, who was a Scottish Opera regular around this time, her Leonora and Isolde are likely to remain in the memories of all who heard them. Her strong-but-creamy voice is ideal for the Marschallin. This production was sung in English, but it doesn’t seem to discomfort Dernesch at all. The Sophie was the late-lamented Elizabeth Harwood, whose Fiordiligi (playing opposite Baker’s Dorabella) in Così fan Tutte was one of Scottish Opera’s greatest achievements. Her Sophie is sweet without being overly winsome, a perfect foil for Baker’s passionate Octavian.
As a coupling, we have the Prologue to Ariadne auf Naxos, again featuring Baker and Dernesch, this time conducted by Norman del Mar with an early incarnation of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in the pit. This is also valuable; del Mar was a Strauss specialist (his three-volume critical biography is pretty much the last word on the subject) and his vital account of this scene is well worth hearing, I’m only sorry that we don’t have Act II as well.
You might well ask what Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben has got to do with the price of tea in China in this context. At any rate, it’s a very fine account from 1979 (we’re not told where it was recorded), accompanied by Graham Johnson. The Baker-orientated notes are by Andrew Palmer; they’re useful for the potted biographies of the principals. Ponto doesn’t enlighten us on the provenance of the recording. It’s far better than one might expect, with good stage-pit balance.
A note on this page
Originally published in mmmusic's own archive and reproduced here as it was written.
Questions about this recording
Why is this recording significant?
It documents the only run of performances in which Dame Janet Baker ever sang the role of Octavian, with Scottish Opera under Sir Alexander Gibson, a conductor whose complete-opera recordings were otherwise scarce despite a strong reputation in the theatre.
What language is it sung in?
English, this Scottish Opera production, like the coupled Ariadne auf Naxos Prologue, was sung in English translation.
What else is included in the set?
The Prologue to Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos (also with Baker and Dernesch, conducted by Norman del Mar) and a 1979 recording of Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben with pianist Graham Johnson.
Is this recording still available to buy?
It was released on the archival label Ponto; availability varies by retailer and it may be easier to find secondhand than through mainstream classical retailers. We don't run an in-house shop, so we link out to Amazon and Discogs below.
