Rudolf Kempe - Strawinski & Britten

Rudolf Kempe - Staatskapelle Dresden 
Igor Strawinski - Der Feuervogel (Ballet Suite) 
Benjamin Britten - Sinfonia Da Requiem Op.20 

The secret commander of the Dresden Staatskapelle

Born in Niederpoyritz near Dresden in 1910, Rudolf Kempe was trained as a pianist and oboist at the orchestral school of the Sächsische Staatskapelle in Dresden between 1924 and 1928.

After posts as an orchestra musician in Dortmund and Leipzig he made his debut as a conductor in Leipzig in 1935. After further conducting posts in Chemnitz and Weimar he was brought to Dresden in 1949 by Joseph Keilberth and made General Music Director of the Dresden Opera and Staatskapelle the following year. Semper’s famous opera house lay in ruins, like the whole of the city centre, whereas the evacuated Staatskapelle had survived the war and the post-war years largely intact. With an ensemble that included Gottlob Frick, Kurt Böhme, Elfriede Trötschel, Christel Goltz and other great artists, the new GMD had a splendid vocal team at his disposal.

Kempe later recalled: “For my career, those were the happiest years of my life – the last glimpse of ‘Paradise’: with opera, concerts and chamber music all year round in the same place.”

Ringo Gruchenberg
Translation: Janet and Michael Berridge

In memory of Rudolf Kempe (1910–1976)

When this record was made in early 1976, there was nothing to suggest that it would be the last recording ever to be directed by Rudolf Kempe. By that time Kempe had already committed to directing a major recording project, featuring all the instrumental works of Richard Strauss. A further, no less significant project was to follow, covering all of Strauss’s operas. On May 12, 1976, Rudolf Kempe died unexpectedly in Zurich at 65 years of age, one of the most refined and versatile conductors of our time.

Benjamin Britten wrote the Sinfonia da Requiem op. 20 during the Second World War at 26 years of age. It is considered one of his few large-scale orchestral works and demonstrates his great compositional skill, his ability to incorporate a very wide range of old and new musical initiatives in his works without disowning his own original style; quite significantly, the work underscores his humanistic outlook, which he once summed up as follows: “I believe that an artist should be part of his community, should work for it, with it, and be used by it.” The titles of the three movements that follow one another without any breaks mirror the progression of a requiem, thus illustrating the British composer’s intention to express certain views of his in the music. Centred on the key of D major, the work is characterised by a serious intensity of expression and a remarkable thematic coherence. After some severe orchestral blows the first movement (Lacrymosa) sees the cellos take up the lugubrious main theme in persistent, heavy syncopation in 6/8 time; this theme is linked to all the other themes, including the saxophone motif with the tension-filled seventh interval; the second movement paints a picture of horror and dread (Dies irae), starting with a rhythmically accentuated flute motif in pianissimo before building up to create bizarre escalations. Accompanied by swaying harp sounds, the final movement (Requiem aeternam) starts with an expressively tranquil “song” in the flutes. The middle section of the three-part finale sees the strings play the funereal theme of the first movement in a modified, elucidated form. The continuous surge of feeling and the final passage, which ends quietly, eventually give rise to optimism.

The premiere of The Firebird in Paris in 1910 consolidated the international standing of the 28-year-old Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) as a ballet composer (followed by Petrushka in 1911 and The Rite of Spring in 1913). The Russian fairytale of the Firebird is based on the age-old humanistic idea of the triumph of good over evil: the beautiful Tsarevna has been taken prisoner by the evil sorcerer Kashchei. Prince Ivan Tsarevich sets out to rescue her. He captures the colourful Firebird and, upon releasing her, is given one of her magical feathers, which helps him to disempower and kill the evil sorcerer, thus saving all of those imprisoned under Kashchei’s spell. They celebrate the bravery of their liberator, who takes the beautiful Tsarevna as his bride. The suite evokes visions from the ballet in a display of symphonic intensity. Igor Stravinsky’s score is in some respects indebted to his mentor Rimsky-Korsakov, notably the practice of portraying people in diatonic themes reminiscent of folk songs while characterising the fairytale figures by means of chromatic themes with oriental colouring.

Eckart Schwinger (original LP sleeve notes, 1977)

Translation: J & M Berridge

Translator's note: original quote by Benjamin Britten from his speech on receiving the honorary freedom of the Borough of Aldeburgh on October 22, 1962.

Label: Eterna