Paradise Found

During the anniversary celebrations last year, I became aware of one piece by Schumann that I did not previously know; his oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri. The peri is a mythical fairy like figure, the supposed offspring of a human and a fallen angel and as such denied access to heaven. The conceit of this tale ( based on four lengthy peoms by Thomas Moore ) is the quest by this particular peri to gain admission after being given the task of finding the thing that is of most value to the heavenly hosts. After two failed attempts bringing the blood of a fallen hero and the dying sighs of the grieving lover of a plague victim, the peri ultimately succeeds with the tears of a penitant sinner. It is not clear if the heaven represented is a Christian or an Islamic one, perhaps generic would be a better term. Schumann was in two minds whether to make this an opera or an oratorio and there are certainly operatic sections, in particular the vocal quartets. It is a tuneful and substantial work and the orchestration makes ridiculous ( as do so many other works ) the contention that Schumann could not orchestrate. The performers here are the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantiques and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. The fine cast of soloists is led by Barbara Bonney as the peri and also includes Alexandra Coku, Bernarda Fink, Neill Archer, Gerald Finley, Cornelius Hauptmann and Christoph Pregardien. The oratorio does not quite fit onto one disc and so there are two other short works filling out the second disc, Requiem fur Mignon and Nachtlied. These are also well worth hearing and the Requiem benefits from the work of solo baritone William Dazeley as well as the talents of the Members of the Hanover Boys Choir. The Mignon being remembered here is not a real person but a child character from a Goethe novel but that does not make the poignancy any less deeply felt.