Reinhard Keiser

Reinhard Keiser war eine schillernde Musikerpersönlichkeit. Zahlreiche Anekdoten wurden über sein ausschweifendes Liebesleben und seine finanziellen Experimente überliefert, wenngleich die meisten davon in das Reich der Legenden zu zählen sind. Heute steht sein umfangreiches Opernschaffen im Zentrum der wissenschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung, galt er doch als der herausragendste Vertreter der Barockoper in Deutschland. Opernhaft erklingt auch seine ausladende Markus-Passion mit hochdramatischer Textausdeutung, mannigfaltigen Arien in italienischer Manier und einem farbigen Orchesterapparat.

Keiser dominated the Hamburg opera scene between 1697, when Adonis was first performed, and 1717, resuming activities there some six years later. Christian Postel’s plot centres around Ovid’s celebrated account of the love affair between Adonis and Venus, who, in this version of the story is jealously watched over by Mars. Postel’s libretto is very long-winded and not well-sustained; but it offered Keiser the opportunity to provide over three-and-a-half hours of music, much of which, especially in Act III, is of enormous charm and variety.

Reinhard Keiser’s Der blutige und sterbende Jesus is not only the very first German Passion oratorio but also a highly suspenseful contribution to the Passion season. Lost for many years, it is now available for listening on CD in the revised version of 1729. The dramatic and musical design of Keiser’s work is astonishing. As in the Italian oratorio type that gained currency after 1700, there is no Evangelist or other narrator, which means that the work has a purely dramatic structure. Even though Keiser’s librettist Christian Friedrich Hunold, whose pseudonym was »Menantes,« did not cite any one of the four Evangelists word for word in his adaptation of the Passion narrative, it is quite evident that the poetic elaboration is (primarily) modelled on Luther’s translation of the Gospel of Matthew.

CPO’s rediscovery of Church Music from Hamburg (1600-1800) continues with a concert, broadcast live on Deutschlandradio Kultur, featuring rediscovered works by Reinhard Keiser. Only three oratorios by Reinhard Keiser exist in full. Many shorter pieces, fragments, and works of uncertain authorship still lie unpublished in archives and libraries.

Regarded in his day as equal to Handel and Telemann, Reinhard Keiser composed more than one hundred operas, of which Fredegund , set partly in German and partly in Italian, was one of the most popular. It explores the politically volatile relationships between the sixth century Frankish king, Chilperich, whose ambitious mistress Fredegunda is prepared to use magic to become his queen, although Chilperich is betrothed to Princess Galsuinde and Fredegunda also has a secret relationship with Langerich. This important and entertaining German Baroque opera abounds in melodious, often ravishingly orchestrated, music.

Is another baroque opera–in this case by composer Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739)–really worth hearing in its entirety? After a completely conventional overture, the opening scene pits the legendarily rich king of Lydia, the titular Croesus (who incidentally lived in the fifth century B.C.), against the Athenian philosopher and lawgiver Solon. On account of his immeasurable wealth, the complacent Croesus believes himself to be completely secure and unassailable; Solon mocks his riches and points out how ephemeral all earthly goods are. This exchange of words via recitative is perfectly built up–both as a composition and as performed here. From his very first notes, Roman Trekel's Croesus carries conviction, while Kwangchul Youn (a role originally intended for tenor but justifiably and effectively transcribed by conductor René Jacobs for bass) is no less impressive.

Reinhard Keiser - Der blutige und sterbende Jesus - Cantus Thuringia, Capella Thuringia, Bernhard Klapprott (2019) {CPO5552592}
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Classical / Baroque

Reinhard Keiser’s Der blutige und sterbende Jesus is not only the very first German Passion oratorio but also a highly suspenseful contribution to the Passion season. Lost for many years, it is now available for listening on CD in the revised version of 1729. The dramatic and musical design of Keiser’s work is astonishing. As in the Italian oratorio type that gained currency after 1700, there is no Evangelist or other narrator, which means that the work has a purely dramatic structure.

In the heyday of the Hamburg Baroque Opera (1697-1718) Keiser played with his own compositions approximately the entire game plan. Keiser is the composer to whom the opera at the Gänsemarkt has remained connected for the longest time; his name and more than 100 opera works are synonymous with the Hamburg baroque opera.

Recent musicological research tends to suggest that the 'Markuspassion' is not the work of Reinhard Keiser, essentially for stylistic reasons. However, it has not yet proved possible to attribute it positively to any other contemporary composer, such as Nicolaus Bruhns, or to Gottfried Keiser, Reinhard’s father, and so its paternity is currently uncertain.