Rued Langgaard: 'Antikrist' from the Royal Danish Theatre conducted by Thomas Dausgaard

Sten Byriel, bass
Anne Margrethe Dahl, soprano
Poul Elming, tenor
Helene Gjerris, soprano
Johnny van Hal, tenor
Jon Ketilsson, tenor
John Lundgren, barytone
Camilla Nylund, soprano
Susanne Resmark, mezzo soprano
Morten Suurballe

Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Danish National Choir
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor

Sung in Danish - Sunget på dansk

Co-production by The Royal Danish Theatre and The Danish Broadcasting Corporation

Track listing
Disc 1

1. Prelude [00:06:45]
2. Prologue: Morkets Kristus: Antikrist! Stig op! (Lucifer, Voice of God) [00:05:13]
3. Act I: Prelude to Scene 1 [00:01:31]
4. Act I Scene 1, "The Light of the Wilderness": Blide sommer fester (Spirit of Mystery, Echo of the Spirit of Mystery) [00:14:41]
5. Act I: Prelude to Scene 2 [00:06:41]
6. Act I Scene 2, "Vainglory": "Fremskridt" er losen, "Vaekst" betinger livet (The Mouth Speaking Great Things) [00:05:36
7. Act I: Prelude to Scene 3 [00:01:25]
8. Act I Scene 3, "Despair": Liv er sorg, smerte og pine i "larmens kirke - ode" (Disponency) [00:04:44]

Disc 2

1. Act II: Prelude to Scene 4 [00:02:43]
2. Act II Scene 4, "Lust": Dronning er jeg, enke ej. Sorg skal jeg ej se (The Great Whore, The Scarlet Beast, Mankind) [00:02:43]
3. Act II: Prelude to Scene 5 [00:02:18]
4. Act II Scene 5, "Every Man's Strife with Every Man": En er blaendvaerks Gud (The Great Whore, The Lie, Hatred, Choir, Demons) [00:20:19]
5. Act II: Prelude to Scene 6 [00:01:28]
6. Act II Scene 6, "Perdition": Dod er Gud. Alles sind i mig slog ojet op (Mystical Voice, The Voice of God) [00:05:18]
7. Act II: Finale: Kun nar Guds Effata i sind slar ned som lyn (Choir) [00:03:43]

Total Playing Time: 01:25:08





Fabulous, eccentric, outrageous Langgaard's mystery play appeared in late 1920-ies as the composer's reaction on the evident signs of cultural, moral and social decay in both Denmark and Europe. The most attractive part of this mystery drama (or 'church opera' according to composer's designation) is its score.
Unfortunately, Langgaard was completely neglected outsider in Danish music during his lifetime. All attempts to move his masterpiece forward to staging have consequently failed.
This recording being the third by order brings far more emotional and mental tension than the previous two.
Copies of the first studio recording conducted by Otto Schmidt & released by EMI are rare and hard to find. The second recording of the stage production in Tiroler Landestheater under the baton of Niels Muus is the fruit of love, admiration and craftmanship, than that of mastership shown by Thomas Dausgaard in current release.

Dacapo label has released both video version on DVD and audio on SACD. DVD version has harvested a lot of awards, so it is possible that this audio release would be dubbed by the audiovisual one soon.

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The Gramophone: Langgaard's Antikrist A vindication of a composer's vision once lambasted as incomprehensible Antikrist <...> in a production by the Royal Danish Theatre? What Langgaard would have made of that is anyone's guess, especially given the history of rejection his allegorical opera suffered at the hands of that institution's directors. But, as their production (eventually) triumphantly shows, the work as a whole is far from 'obscure' or 'highly inaccessible', and it is those earlier judgements that now seem 'completely foolish'. Yet the opera is not without its problems. The title-character never appears; only two roles appear in more than one of the six scenes plus prologue (and then in just two); and there is no clear narrative progression. Staffan Holm's solution is simple but effective, with a staging, set in the beautiful Ridehuset in Copenhagen, treating the opera as a modern mystery play where church members (who have a 19th-century feel) come together to act out this moralistic fable, the sect leader - who takes the role of Lucifer - assigning the roles. Lucifer only sings in the prologue but is choreographed throughout, watching and pulling strings. The production takes a while to settle down, with some rather aimless scurrying about and gesticulation in the long early interludes, but once Susanne Resmark takes centre stage as Despondency in Scene 3, the whole concept comes together. The cast is very strong, particularly among the female singers, with Helene Gjerris and Camilla Nylund - who clearly relishes her role as the Great Whore - outstanding. So, too, are Jon Ketilsson and Johnny van Hal but greatest plaudits go to Thomas Dausgaard for moulding the superb accompaniment, so much stronger than the Tirol Landestheater on Danacord's audio recording. Dacapo's sound is superior, too, and there are two fine documentaries to complement a splendid issue. - Guy Rickards, The Gramophone, UK

”

“

Rued Langgaard's Antikrist is fabulous--a genuine, undiscovered, eccentric masterpiece. Of course, it helps that the composer was basically out of his mind, poor guy, and in order to understand why the opera is so much fun you need to know a little background. Langgaard's parents were deeply religious, and both were musicians and (it would seem) aesthetic snobs. They basically hated all modern music on both artistic and moral grounds, a juicy combination for a budding musician. This meant that Strauss, Puccini, and even Carl Nielsen were all dubbed evil, materialistic sensualists. Naturally, from a purely technical point of view, Langgaard was hugely attracted to this new music, just as he was morally repelled by it. He found a way to incorporate its style into his own, but only to the extent that he could make a point of its decadence--though he has such a good time luxuriating in its theoretical naughtiness (like a kid browsing through his first porn magazine) that it's a bit hard to take the moral angle all that seriously. All of this comes to a head in Antikrist, composed during the lengthy period 1921-30, when the composer was only in his late 20s. The essence of the story is simple: Lucifer summons the Antichrist, with God's permission, to visit earth for a few days. His attributes manifest themselves in a series of scenes, each of which is dominated by a personification of the quality in question: there's The Mouth Speaking Great Things (sounding like a personal empowerment seminar), Despondency, The Lie, Hatred, The Great Whore, and The Scarlet Beast. They strut their stuff for a few minutes, cause total chaos on earth, and then God sends them all back into the pit and an angelic choir describes the need for spiritual transformation. End of story. The libretto, by the composer himself (naturally), is highly symbolic, meaning that it's full of incomprehensible gibberish that, like one of Gertrude Stein's texts, makes just enough sense that you know who the various characters are and also that something important is happening. The music, though, is stunning. Composed in a magnificently sustained outpouring of glittering orchestration about an hour and a half in length, Langgaard has a field-day running the gamut from Wagner and Strauss to the more modern styles of the 1920s (such as Hindemith, whose music he did not know), to liturgical music (complete with organ). It's all seamlessly bound together by a few recurring motives, and the vocal lines surprisingly sound extremely beautiful and not at all ungraceful to sing. Although he wanted the work staged (it never was during his lifetime), it would make a stunning concert piece as well, something akin to Franz Schmidt's The Book of the Seven Seals, which it resembles in some respects--though it's a lot more fun to listen to. There really isn't a dull moment. Happily, this performance is as spectacular as the work itself. The women are all magnificent, particularly the two sopranos, Anne Margrethe Dahl (Spirit of Mystery) and Camilla Nylund (The Great Whore). Among the men, Poul Elming's dashing top-hat-and-caned Mouth Speaking Great Things presents a characterful portrait of egotistical materialism, and Jon Ketilsson's heroic tenor ideally suits The Scarlet Beast. But then, there isn't a weak link anywhere. The production, beautifully lit and costumed, presents the work as a sort of morality play taking place within the plain interior of a Protestant/Quaker meeting-house, with the various worshipers taking the main roles through colorful changes of costume. Some of the on-stage camera work is a bit disorienting, but otherwise the production vividly brings to life a work that otherwise runs the risk of appearing static in terms of dramatic movement. As you might have guessed, most of the action takes place in the orchestra. There are long interludes between scenes, huge climaxes, and an especially gorgeous final chorus, and Thomas Dausgaard leads an absolutely magnificent performance in all respects. It's also beautifully recorded in unobtrusively natural surround-sound (or stereo), with subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Danish--and Dacapo's booklet notes are outstandingly informative. If you keep an open mind and just wallow in the glorious music, you're going to love this piece, and I can't imagine a better case being made for it than what you see and hear on this excellent DVD. It's a knockout! [9/26/2005] David Hurwitz Classics Today

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Audio version of Rued Langgaard's 'Antikrist' is uploaded to:

http://rapidshare.com/files/239549835/LangAntiDaus.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/239664741/LangAntiDaus.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/239738905/LangAntiDaus.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/239766931/LangAntiDaus.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/239808401/LangAntiDaus.part5.rar

further mirroring expected