Composed expressly for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Aribert Reimann’s Lear offers a considered if ultimately problematic response to Shakespeare’s tragedy. In a booklet note Fischer-Dieskau recounts the difficulty in learning to sing against Reimann’s dense, microtonal accompaniments, even as he praises the composer’s tremendous care and skill in text setting, his command of German declamation, and his minute response to the evolving character of the drama. The problem, of course, is that while the music does indeed react to the needs of the moment, it does so in ways that simply vary in density and inscrutability, leaving the listener at sea as to why the composer makes the sounds that he does. Like so much contemporary German music, Reimann’s score reveals a composer who seems more obsessed with his position in musical history and in the contemporary avant-garde than with making music for the public. And while it may be politically incorrect to say so, had the great German baritone not been involved with this project it certainly wouldn’t have been revived by Deutsche Grammophon for CD release (or recorded in the first place), even as the work itself has vanished from the world’s operatic stages (actually, it never even got that far). Lear, then, is a period piece, a memento for fans of Fischer-Dieskau, an agglomeration of interesting sounds, but not an especially rewarding musical experience. At least the libretto now includes an English translation (the original LP set included the German-only program booklet stemming from the work’s premiere), which permits the non-native listener to enjoy Reimann’s acute if puzzling response to his text. [10/4/2000]
