Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum from the 2023 Festival
rec. live, 19-26 August 2023, Schloss vor Husum, Germany
Danacord DACOCD979 [80]
The programme gets off to an interesting start with William Sterndale Bennett’s Three Pieces played by Daniel Grimwood. The first piece begins with a quiet, hymn-like Introduction followed by a Pastorale dance. The second piece features a frolicsome Rondino. The Capriccio third piece is a lively galop through the countryside. It is conventional to say that Bennett was an English Mendelssohn. Although this is superficially correct, he looked for inspiration to Mozart and the London Piano School, with such composers as Cramer and Clementi, often overlooked by British music enthusiasts.
The longest work in this selection from the Husum Festival is Franz Liszt’s Grosses Konzertsolo, better known in its revision as Concerto pathètique for two pianos. The liner notes say that the lyrical episodes “plunge us into a turbulent realm shared by Wagner’s early operas”. The work also contains much virtuosic pianism and involved chromatic harmonies. Formally, it is neither a Sonata nor a character study, although Stephen Hough has suggested that it may be good preparation for the soloist who wishes to tackle Liszt’s B minor sonata!
I had not heard of Sophie Menter. Primarily a pianist, she played duos with Liszt throughout Germany and Russia. Sadly, there are only a few surviving compositions. The Romance op.5, outmoded by the time it was published, remains a good example of a well-wrought and attractive lullaby or nocturne. The liner notes correctly say that it deserves a place in the “encore repertoire of many pianists”. Daniel Grimwood plays this final offering with true affection.
There is little information about Juliette Dillon. A prodigy, she acceded to the post of organist at Meaux Cathedral whilst still a teenager. Sadly, she died from cholera at only 31. Jean-Frédéric Neuburger gave the “belated German premiere” of her 10 Contes fantastiques de Hoffmann. We get here Le violon de Crémone, the first number of the set.The piece does not try to reproduce the sound of the violin or singing, but gives an impression of the mood of Hoffmann’s strange tale. Stylistically, Dillon nods toward Chopin and Liszt. It is to be hoped that Mr Neuberger will release an album of the full set.
Alfonso Soldano made for his recital a remarkable transcription of Sergei Rachmaninov’s song, Night is Sorrowful. In the song, the traveller is walking a lonely path across the vast steppe, seeing a distant light, but the singer’s dream, like the night, is sad.
Composer and pianist Sergei Bortkiewicz was very much not a child of his time. He left a legacy of richly Romantic music, often reminiscent of Chopin and Liszt, with influences from Rachmaninov, Scriabin, and Tchaikovsky. His oeuvre included symphonic works, three wonderfully extravagant piano concertos and many solo pieces. Soldano plays here the Nocturne from Trois morceaux op.24, subtitled Diana. This is an evocation of the hunter-goddess in her incarnation as the divinity of the moon. The harmonies are luxurious, and shimmering. (The other two numbers are Satyre and Eros.)
Alexander von Zemlinsky is perhaps best known for the Lyric Symphony and the orchestral symphonic poem Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid) Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. His Fantasien über Gedichte von Richard Dehmel [fantasies on poems by Richard Dehmel], inspired by that fin-de-siècle poet, are a little bit of a stylistic pot-pourri. Evening Voice has echoes of Brahms. Woodland Rapture was inspired by a Richard Strauss’s song. Equally romantic is Liebe, naturally dedicated to love. The Song of the May Beetle looks back to Felix Mendelssohn. Andrey Gugnin gives an imaginative and absorbing account.
Edvard Grieg’s Bächlein [streamlet] from Lyric Pieces Book 7 is always a delight to hear. As the title suggests, this is a charming evocation of a little brook on a hillside in Norway.
Leopold Godowsky, born to Polish-Jewish parents in what is now Lithuania, became a celebrated American virtuoso pianist and composer. His “fantastical keyboard imagination” seems to have been forgotten now, but his exceptional piano technique once dazzled audiences. His legacy resonates through his transcriptions, and through major influence on pianistic technique. Vadym Kholodenko played four of Godowsky’s “outrageous elaborations” of Chopin’s Études; two of them appear here in stunning performances.
No.4, Ignis fatuus [will-o’-the-wisp], was for a long time regarded as unplayable. The left-hand plays Chopin’s original, whilst the right hand indulges in a sequence of “light, staccato, double note triplets”. No.13 is for the left hand only: Chopin’s original for two hands looks difficult enough!
Tanya Gabrielian begins her contribution another work by Godowsky, Meditation. It lacks the overblown virtuosity of Chopin’s Études. Rather, it is a quietly reflective bittersweet piece which lives up to its title.
Gabrielian’s second offering is Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Melody from Orfeo and Euridice arranged by Alexander Siloti. This is one of my desert island discs. Not only does the opera set one of my treasured Greek myths, but this tune is a timeless reminder of the human condition of love, loss and lack of faith. It brings this remarkable programme to a poignant close.
Danacord have issued yet another superb selection of rarities from the Husum Festival. The performances are excellent, and the liner notes are helpful without being prolix. The recording compliments the playing. One is left wishing for more. Further exploration of these composers is called for. And there is next year’s disc to look forward to…
John France
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Contents
William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875)
Three Pieces, op.28 (1846-1849)
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Grosses Konzertsolo (1849-1850)
Sophie Menter (1846-1918)
Romance, op.5 (1907)
Daniel Grimwood (piano)
Juliette Dillon (1823-1854)
Le violon de Crémone, No.1 of 10 Contes fantastiques de Hoffmann (1847)
Jean-Frédéric Neuburger (piano)
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943) / Alfonso Soldano (b. 1986)
Night is sorrowful, op.26, no.12 (1906?)
Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952)
Trois morceaux, op.24, no.1 Nocturne “Diana” (1922)
Alfonso Soldano (piano)
Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942)
Fantasien über Gedichte von Richard Dehmel, op.9 (1898-1900)
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Lyric Pieces Book 7, Bächlein, op.62, no.4 (1895)
Andrey Gugnin (piano)
Frederic Chopin (1810-49) / Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938)
Studies on Chopin’s Etudes: No.4 “Ignis fatuus” (on op.10 No.2); No.13 (on op.10 No.6) for the left hand (1903-1914)
Vadym Kholodenko (piano)
Leopold Godowsky
Meditation (publ. 1930)
Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1887), arr. Alexander Siloti (1863-1945)
Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice (1926)
Tanya Gabrielian (piano)
