Sometimes it’s difficult to take Zelenka as seriously as he intends simply because his music is so quirky, characterful, and just plain entertaining. Hard as it may be to believe, this 67-minute-long oratorio with the unpromising title of The Penitents at the Tomb of the Redeemer is a hoot. And believe it or not, this recording claims to be its first-ever performance (it was composed in 1736)! The story is rather simple: King David, Mary Magdalene, and St. Peter get together to have a chat about Christ. That’s it. The work consists of an introductory sinfonia, a closing chorus, a brief but fiery aria for St. Peter (Lingua perfida–it means what you think it does), a few recitatives, and four monstrous da capo arias, two each for David and Mary Magdalene (they average about 10 minutes apiece). The most remarkable of them is David’s accompanied recitative and aria Questa che fu possente–A tanto lutto in facia, the essence of which (Mel Gibson please take note) is: “If only I’d been hanging around on the Via Dolorosa as Jesus was being tortured and taunted by the jeering crowd I’d have whipped out my harp and charmed everyone with music and things would have turned out quite differently.”
In setting this somewhat startling assertion (theologically speaking) to music, Zelenka indulges himself in an orgy of pizzicato and strumming effects, turning the piece into a sort of Baroque vocal version of the scherzo of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. But then, the entire work is full of those instantly identifiable fingerprints that make this composer one of the few of his era with a true personal style: constant syncopation, the polyrhythmic opposition of duple and triple meters, the wacky fugue subjects, spicy harmonies, asymmetrical phrases, and ritornellos that seem to go on forever and then stop before you think they should. It’s all very well performed by a committed Czech period-instrument band under Robert Hugo, with Magdalena Kozená excellent in her two big numbers and tenor Martin Prokes a touch small-voiced but intrepidly negotiating whatever the composer throws at him. Originally released on Panton several years ago, if you missed this work then, by all means grab it now. The single disc comes with an attractive booklet containing complete texts and translations, and the sonics are very good. This is a real discovery.
