Antonin Dvorak - Saint Ludmila (Oratorio) Op.71

Antonín DVORAK (1841–1904)

Svatá Ludmila (Saint Ludmila), Op. 71, B. 144 (1885–86)

Ondrej Šaling (tenor)

Adriana Kohutkova (soprano)

Peter Mikulas (bass)

Karla Bytnarová (alto)

Tomáš Černý (tenor)

Slovak Philharmonic Chorus

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra

Leos Svárovský

Antonín Dvořák was born in 1841, the son of a butcher and innkeeper in the village of Nelahozeves, near Kralupy, in Bohemia, and some 40 miles north of Prague. It was natural that he should at first have been expected to follow the family trade, as the eldest son. His musical abilities, however, soon became apparent and were encouraged by his father, who in later years abandoned his original trade, to earn something of a living as a zither player. After primary schooling he was sent to lodge with an uncle in Zlonice and was there able to acquire the necessary knowledge of German and improve his abilities as a musician, hitherto acquired at home in the village band and in church. Further study of German and of music at Kamenice, a town in northern Bohemia, led to his admission in 1857 to the Prague Organ School, where he studied for the following two years.

On leaving the Organ School, Dvořák earned his living as a viola player in a band under the direction of Karel Komzák, an ensemble that was to form the nucleus of the Czech Provisional Theatre Orchestra, established in 1862. Four years later Smetana was appointed conductor at the theatre, where his operas The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and The Bartered Bride had already been performed. It was not until 1871 that Dvořák resigned from the orchestra, devoting himself more fully to composition, as his music began to attract favourable local attention. In 1873 he married a singer from the chorus of the theatre and in 1874 became organist of the church of St Adalbert. During this period he continued to support himself by private teaching, while busy on a series of compositions that gradually became known to a wider circle, particularly with the success of his Hymnus: Dědicové Bílé hory (‘The Heirs of the White Mountain’) for the Prague Hlahol Vocal Society.

Further recognition came to Dvořák in 1874, when his application for an Austrian government award brought his music to the attention of Brahms and the critic Eduard Hanslick in Vienna. The granting of this award for five consecutive years was of material assistance. It was through this contact that, impressed by Dvořák’s Moravian Duets entered for the award of 1877, Brahms was able to arrange for their publication by Simrock, who commissioned the Slavonic Dances, for piano duet. The success of these publications introduced Dvořák’s music to a much wider public, for which it held some exotic appeal. As his reputation grew, there were visits to Germany and to England, where he was always received with greater enthusiasm than might initially have been accorded a Czech composer in Vienna.

In 1883 Dvořák had rejected a tempting proposal that he should write a German opera for Vienna. At home he continued to contribute to Czech operatic repertoire, an important element in re-establishing national musical identity. The invitation to take up a position in New York was another matter. In 1891 he had become professor of composition at Prague Conservatory and in the summer of the same year he was invited to become director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, an institution that was intended to foster American music, hitherto dominated by musicians from Europe or largely trained there. Whatever the ultimate success or failure of the venture, Dvořák’s contribution was seen as that of providing a blueprint for American national music, following the example of Czech national music, which owed so much to him. There were musical results in his own work, notably in his Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’, and chamber music of the period, works that rely strongly on the European tradition that he had inherited, while making use of melodies and rhythms that might be associated in one way or another with America. By 1895 Dvořák was home for good, resuming work at the Prague Conservatory, of which he became director in 1901. His final works included a series of symphonic poems and two more operas, to add to the nine he had already composed. He died in Prague in 1904.

In 1884 Dvořák visited England for the first time, conducting there his Stabat Mater. A second invitation took him back to England, to Worcester, in the autumn, when the Stabat Mater was heard again. 1885 brought a third visit to London and his connection with England continued, particularly in choral works that were well suited to the flourishing traditions of choral music there.

By 1886 Dvořák was in England again, for the fifth time. His oratorio Saint Ludmila, with a text by the poet Jaroslav Vrchlický, was commissioned for the Leeds Festival and was performed there in October 1886 with an orchestra of 120 players, a chorus of 250, and four distinguished soloists. The work was performed in London and the score was dedicated to the Zerotin Choral and Music Society at Olomouc. The subject of the work reflected an important event in Bohemian history. Ludmila was the wife of Bořivoj, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty, following whose example, in the usual version of these events, she became a Christian, later to exert influence over her grandson, Wenceslas. She was eventually martyred. Canonised, she is the patron saint of Bohemia.

The oratorio, which has also been given in staged or semi-staged versions, follows the pattern to which English choirs were accustomed in ever larger bodies of singers as in the Handel festivals, with a suitably predominant part for the chorus. The first part of the oratorio is set in the courtyard of the castle of Mělnik. In the middle of the courtyard is a golden statue of the goddess Bába. The orchestral introduction leads to a chorus of heathen priests. A peasant praises the coming spring, followed by the people, in further praise of the goddess Bába, continuing with worship of other pagan gods. Ludmila joins the worshippers in recitative and aria and the people resume their praise. Ludmila recalls the importance of the gods in her life, echoed by the people. A peasant sings in honour of Spring. The people sense some growing disturbance. Ivan, entering, proclaims one God, one Truth, condemning the people’s idolatry, to their perturbation. In a moving aria Ludmila seeks to know the identity of the man and Ivan tells her of the true God. The people express their doubts, exacerbated in a Handelian fugue, followed by a fervent prayer to their gods.

The second part is set in the woods near Beroun. In the background there is a hollow rock, with Ivan’s hermitage. The scene is depicted in the orchestral introduction. Ludmila’s companion Svatava is afraid to go further in the forest and recalls the anxieties and doubts that Ludmila has suffered. In the following duet she asks Ludmila for her reason for their journey and is told that Ludmila is in search of the true God, revealed to her by the hermit. They see the hermitage and the Cross. Ivan comes out and welcomes them, promising to reveal to them the truth. Bořivoj is making his way through the woods and sees a hind restored to life by Ivan’s touch, to the consternation of Bořivoj’s men. He sees a girl, apparently hiding among the rocks and questions Ivan, seeking to know where his journey leads. Ivan tells him to bow down, abandon heresy and worship Christ. Bořivoj obeys. Ludmila honours the prince and is urged by Ivan to understand that Bořivoj seeks Christ, as a new dawn opens before them, with even Svatava finally convinced. The scene closes with a choir of angels.

The third part is set in Velehrad Cathedral, where Bořivoj and Ludmila are to be baptised. The orchestral introduction is a jubilant march. The people plead for mercy, singing a Kyrie eleison, and Bořivoj and Ludmila welcome their baptism. Ivan bids the Holy Spirit descend upon the couple and Svatava adds her prayers to those of the assembled people, the whole work ending in a jubilant chorus, interrupted by hushed devotions, before the final Kyrie eleison.

Keith Anderson

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Although I’m a “choral person”, I’m not a big fan of late 19th-century oratorios: too big, too serious, too drenched in grand and glorious effects (those drippy, dense, overwrought, ear-clogging harmonies!), not to mention that these things were often performed with choruses of hundreds and orchestras to match. You might as well just launch a raft of fireworks and let the good times roll. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much, but not far off. But as soon as you would like to just conveniently dismiss such works all in a flip of the hand, you hear something like Dvorák’s Svatá Ludmila (Saint Ludmila) and, darn it, you have to revise everything you thought you believed.

This oratorio, from 1886, written for the Leeds Festival in England, is a work that will just consume the unsuspecting listener in its sheer loveliness, especially in the multitude of gorgeous choral movements, but also in the numerous arias, all of which are beautifully written and expertly realized in this first-rate recording. As you listen you can’t help at times thinking “Brahms”, mostly in the orchestration, but occasionally in the biggest, most dramatic choral sections. You may not think about it, but there’s a genius composer at work here, one who knows how to organize and develop a dramatic idea and set it loose to unfold seamlessly, telling its story without catch or awkward pause or musical inconsistency.

The story of course is of Ludmila, the patron saint of Bohemia, and in Dvorák’s setting focuses on her momentous conversion to Christianity. There are three scenes: in the courtyard of Mělník Castle; in the Beroun forests; and in Velehrad Cathedral. It impresses as operatic in design (indeed attempts have been made to stage the work), but it ultimately does best in concert form, shorn, as it is here, of some of its two-hour-plus original length (Naxos gives us a well-selected, satisfying hour and 41 minutes). If you’re a “choral person” but like me are a bit shy of big, unfamiliar “romantic” works, be not afraid. This piece, truly one of Dvorák’s finest large-scale works (and only oratorio), will please you, especially this performance, with its excellent chorus and uniformly superb vocal soloists (particular kudos to soprano Adriana Kohútková and bass Peter Mikuláš). An easy and enthusiastic recommendation.

David Vernier (Classics Today)

Artistic Quality:10

Sound Quality:10