Lortzing: Der Wildschütz

Album review

« Harmoniemusik » refers to wind transcriptions of operas, oratorios and symphonies, primarily from the time of the First Viennese School, i.e. from the 1770s to the 1830s. They were a welcome substitute for larger works when a “real” performance was not possible due to organisational or financial reasons, or lack of space. Wind instruments were especially suited due to their tonal characteristics to present these works to audiences under difficult and potentially disruptive acoustic conditions (Tafelmusik, large spaces, outdoor serenades). By presenting more or less successful wind arrangements, new operas could be made known to a wider public and served as a kind of advertising for the composer. The wind octet established itself as the standard instrumentation with pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons. Sometimes a double bass would be added on an ad hoc basis to strengthen the bass line, and some arrangers were fond of expanding the treble range with a flute in their rewritingss of early Romantic works. In the past few years, Harmoniemusik has been rediscovered by wind ensembles as a welcome expansion to the repertoire and are receiving more attention in today’s concert programmes. In Lortzing’s time, Harmoniemusik was already a disappearing fad, so there appears to be no contemporary wind arrangements of his operas. In contrast to that era, where the genre had to be fully contemporary and thus had to be completed hastily – which accounts for numerous careless and coarse arrangements of that time – this “Lortzing project” was worked out leisurly.The Wind Ensemble of the SWR Symphony Orchestra has chosen from the pool of Lortzing’s operas and entrusted the arrangements to Andreas Tarkmann. These include the overtures to Regina and Zar und Zimmermann as well as a selection of ten pieces from Der Wildschütz whose highlights are presented in a suite-like sequence. © SM/Qobuz