Albert Dietrich (1829-1908)
Overture in C major, Op 35 (publ. 1882)
Violin concerto in D minor, Op 30 (publ. 1874)
Symphony in D minor, Op 20 (1869)
Klaidi Sahatçi (violin)
Solistes Européens, Luxembourg/Christoph König
rec. 2019/21, Grand Auditorium, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Naxos 8.574507 [83]
When I recently entered Albert Dietrich’s name into the MusicWeb search engine, no less than 157 links popped up. Nevertheless, many of those contained only tangential references to the composer and I suspect that I won’t be alone when I admit that Dietrich has hitherto been a figure unknown to me. Indeed, examination of a couple of standard reference works confirms the relative obscurity in which his reputation – and, indeed, his very name – languished for many years. Percy Scholes’s The Oxford companion to music (eighth edition, London, 1950) made no mention of him at all. Meanwhile, the distinctly perfunctory entry that he was accorded in The Grove concise dictionary of music (ed. Stanley Sadie, London, 1988) would surely have been unlikely to spark much further interest in its readers: “German conductor and composer. A member of Schumann’s circle at Düsseldorf, he worked in Bonn and in Oldenburg, championing the works of Bach, Schumann and Brahms. As a composer he had greatest success with his songs, also writing two operas and incidental music” (op. cit., p. 209).
Ariel Wagner’s booklet notes for this new CD suggest, however, that in recent years there’s been something of a reappraisal of Dietrich’s oeuvre. Because those notes are frustratingly – and, for a Naxos release, atypically – brief, that intriguing point is not explored in any great depth. Mr Wagner does, though, indicate that a turning point occurred in the year 2007 when, to mark the upcoming centenary of the composer’s death, the Oldenburg State Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Rumpf recorded several works spread over a pair of trailblazing discs (cpo 777314-2). Indeed, he explicitly pinpoints that Oldenburg performance of the D minor symphony as precipitating a revival of interest in that particular piece. And while, in the case of Dietrich’s violin concerto, he is more inclined to credit what he sees as its own “originality and orchestral colour” for any increase in the musical world’s attention, it’s surely a reasonable assumption that soloist Elisabeth Kufferath’s performance on those very same cpo discs may also have helped precipitate any similar uptick in interest. Incidentally, it seems that we’re not just talking about a mere uptick here, for Mr Wagner makes the somewhat startling claim that Dietrich’s violin concerto has now come to occupy “a place in the concert repertory” – though I suspect that I may not be entirely alone in having so far failed to notice that particular change in musical fashion.
Before we get the opportunity to hear either the symphony or the concerto, however, the new release opens with an overture in C major. Composed later than either of the more substantial pieces already mentioned, it is a standalone piece that was presumably designed to open a concert in the days when the overture-concerto-symphony format (neatly replicated, as you’ve no doubt already noticed, on this very disc) was pretty well de rigueur. Whereas operatic overtures are often quite ephemeral creations, intended simply to settle the audience down, introduce a few of the musical themes and then get us relatively quickly to the staged action, concert overtures tend to be more musically ambitious. However, by the 1880s, when Dietrich’s was composed, the form had been superseded by the even more substantial and complex symphonic poem and may have seemed somewhat passé. Perhaps that’s the reason that this overture is kept relatively brief – it’s hardly more than eight minutes in length – and structurally quite straightforward. That said, from the very opening bars, its overall tone is, nevertheless, rather grand – and even when a more reflective theme is introduced it is led, initially, by horns rather than the strings that one might have anticipated. Declamatory and more relaxed presentations of the main theme then alternate with each other before the work reaches its suitably grand climax.
The second half of the 19th century was a period in musical history notable for the rise of superstar virtuoso performers, most notably pianists and violinists, who toured Europe to play before large, admiring and well-paying audiences. A symbiotic relationship quickly developed between them and composers and their publishers. On the one hand, violinists such as Henri Vieuxtemps, Pablo de Sarasate, Eugène Ysaÿe and Joseph Joachim (who Dietrich vainly hoped would premiere his concerto) were all eager to add new material to their repertoire. On the other, composers were just as keen to promote their own reputations by having their music performed by such high-profile soloists. Thus, at much the same time as Dietrich’s own violin concerto appeared in 1874, others were being produced by Lalo (both a concerto and the Symphonie espagnole in 1874), Bruch (three concertos composed between 1874 and 1891 as well as the Scottish fantasy in 1880), Goldmark (1877), Brahms (1878), Tchaikovsky (1878), Dvořák (1879-1880), Saint-Saëns (concerto no. 3, 1880) and a promising teenager named Richard Strauss (1881-1882).
Just like most of those others, Dietrich’s concerto is a work in three movements. At more than 14 minutes in length, the first, marked allegro, is substantially longer than either the subsequent adagio ma non troppo or the allegro molto vivace finale, each of which comes in a less than nine minutes. Even though it was written some years before the Brahms concerto, it shares – especially in its vigorous first movement – many of that more familiar work’s characteristics, though that’s hardly a surprise given that the two composers were close friends who moved in much the same musical circles. Dietrich comes up with a memorable, lyrical main theme for the slow movement and develops it effectively, with the solo violin well supported by a beautifully balanced accompaniment from the orchestra. A skittish finale subsequently offers plenty of opportunities for the soloist to demonstrate technical skill as the piece moves inexorably to its satisfying conclusion. Full of memorable melody, this concerto is well worth a hearing if you haven’t previously encountered it and would surely be ripe for inclusion in Hyperion’s Romantic violin concerto series. In spite of my earlier scepticism of that aforementioned claim that it already occupies “a place in the concert repertory”, I can easily see how, with more – and more high profile – exposure, such a thing might easily have come about or may, indeed, still do so.
Someone has been busily examining the statistics to come up with the fact that Dietrich’s was one of the late 19th century’s most frequently performed new symphonies. It was completed in 1869, seven years before the premiere of Brahms’s first. We know, however, that when Brahms had been working on the latter as far back as the early 1860s he had invited his friend Dietrich’s comments, so the plush-yet-dramatic Brahmsian feel of Dietrich’s own subsequently-written symphony – as well as its personal dedication to Brahms himself – ought not, perhaps, to come as too much of a surprise. A propulsive allegro opening movement is followed by an especially winning and lyrical andante con molto di moto, quasi allegretto. Both demonstrate the composer’s flair for coming up with attractive melodic material and then developing it to great effect. A bustling, energetic scherzo third movement delivers an unexpected hint or two of bucolic Dvorak in its writing for woodwinds (0:34 – 1:59), after which a few opening bars of solemnity introduce a finale that quickly begins to make its purposeful way towards a well-constructed and cathartic climax of genuine dramatic power.
In my own experience, it’s rare to find music that you haven’t heard before making such a strong first impression. In this particular case, that process is helped immeasurably by the artistry of the particular musicians involved. Albanian-born violinist Klaidi Sahatçi, who regularly takes the role of concertmaster with the Solistes Européens, Luxembourg, is a first-class soloist in the violin concerto. Expertly balanced against the orchestra in the finely engineered sound that’s a feature of this CD, he uncovers the work’s many felicities to apparently effortlessly achieved yet quite wonderful effect.
While I hadn’t encountered the Solistes Européens, Luxembourg, and their principal conductor and musical director Christoph König before listening to this new disc, I note that my MusicWeb colleagues have been generally very impressed with their work. Paul Corfield Godfrey considered that “[t]he playing of the Solistes Européens [in the music of Louise Farrenc] is excellent throughout, well recorded, and Christoph König is an engaging and committed conductor”, while, reviewing a performance of Schubert’s ninth symphony, Leslie Wright wrote that “the orchestra plays splendidly, with special praise due for the woodwinds and horns… I found the whole performance quite infectious… I hope to hear more from them soon”.
Having so much enjoyed listening their performances of Albert Dietrich’s attractive scores, I can only echo both gentlemen’s enthusiasm and thus recommend this very welcome new release both to their own attention and to that of all MusicWeb readers.
Rob Maynard
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free
