Hindemith: Die Harmonie der Welt. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)

[] Larson, Korovina, Breedt; Elsner, Worle, Le Roux, Burt, Kotchinian, Hagen; Berlin Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Janowski. Text and translations. Wergo WER 6652 2

A summation of the rich life and vast philosophies of astronomer-mathematician Johannes Kepler, Die Harmonie der Welt also offers an overview of the concerns and achievements of Paul Hindemith. The composer wrote his own libretto, reveling in the sweep of twenty-two years of action spread across Prague, Linz, Wurttenberg and Silesia. As librettist, Hindemith so overflowed with ideas that many of the scenes require a split stage to present the material as economically as possible. There is plenty of the expected scientific and political discussion, but Hindemith in other places has a surprisingly light touch. He has written a very sweet scene showing Kepler's courtship of his second wife, Susanna, who loves his research as well as him. She is enraptured with the man and drunk with ideas: "Thus did I become a bride with a crown of planets," she remembers. Later, Kepler's mother, wife and daughter are seen on different parts of the stage. The two older women are intent on their Bible readings, each finding something to support her behavior toward the other, while the daughter is gently bitten by the science bug. Kepler must in the course of the opera come to terms with two characters who wish to co-opt his ideas for their own motives. He ends up renouncing his mother, but--because life is messy--he ultimately capitulates to the commander of the armed forces in a manner most unlike a standard opera hero. And there is humor as well. During one deep theological discussion about the sacraments, the bemused chorus comments, "We don't even know what they're arguing about."

Hindemith as composer was too reticent. Perhaps because he was trying to keep the length of the opera ...