Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Variations and Fugue for Piano in E♭ major, Op. 35, “Eroica”
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Sonata no. 1 in C Major, op. 24
Helmut Roloff (piano)
rec. 1950, Hamburg, Germany (Beethoven), 1952, Hannover, Germany (Weber)
Reviewed from download
Forgotten Records FR1847 [49]

I recently reviewed a Mendelssohn disc that included a stellar performance of the first concerto by Helmut Roloff (1912-2001). To give a quick recap of his career from that review: “The pianist originally planned to pursue a career in law but turned to music when the Nazi racial laws took effect; although not himself Jewish, Roloff was raised in a family of freethinkers that despised racism. After completing his studies at the Berlin Hochschule, Roloff taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory. During the war, he participated in the German resistance movement and was arrested by the Gestapo and questioned. A fellow resistance member convinced the interrogators that Roloff was not involved with the group, and he was released. After the war, he taught at the Berlin Hochschule and became known as a proponent of new music, occasionally giving seminars at the Darmstadt International Institute for Music.” After hearing the Mendelssohn, I asked to review another Roloff disc in the Forgotten Records catalog, this Beethoven/Weber compilation. 

Both the Weber and Beethoven seem to have been originally released as 10” LPs in 1952, and they were combined ca. five years later for release on a single 12” LP. The Weber was marketed initially by Decca (this was presumably during Decca’s brief post-war deal with DG that resulted in a number of Decca recordings by Wilhelm Kempff), but the combo release with the Beethoven was for DG. 

The Beethoven variations are given a crisp, businesslike performance, which suits the music well. Roloff takes all repeats and doesn’t vary them much, but his swift tempi and generally lighter approach to the music’s timbre make this less of a problem. I have heard pianists mercilessly pound their way through this set, so it is a pleasure to hear someone who focuses on playing with a clear, “pinging” tone and a reasonable frame of dynamics. The heroic variations (for example, Var. III) thus keep their barrel-chested bravura intact while avoiding heavy-handedness, and lighter variations like the Mendelssohnian Var. VIII is a particular delight in Roloff’s rippling hands. The bell-like nature of Roloff’s touch is emphasized in Var. X (the cross hand one), and his sense of humor comes to the fore in the following two slapstick variations. The ultimate variation is beautifully played (one hears the echoes of late Beethoven in this variation), and the fugue is laid out with Roloff’s trademark clarity. Roloff’s elegant approach to Beethoven seems to be more and more a lost art, so I am glad to have found this recording.

Weber’s once-popular piano sonatas seem to be an acquired taste in the 21^st century. I adore them for their moments of old-fashioned melodrama and rhetorical lyricism. Imagine that Schubert and Beethoven were combined in a laboratory experiment gone horribly wrong; Weber possesses the former’s songful sense of melody, and the latter’s brute strength. There is perhaps a bit of Mendelssohnian fairy music thrown in for good measure. 

Roloff turns in a soft-grained, agile performance that finds just the right blend of humor and depth. There are those who would argue that Weber has no depth, but the second movement of this sonata has surprising pathos in some of its more theatrical passages. Roloff chooses not to milk these bits, keeping the music in motion. The third movement is perhaps played too primly to be effective; the great Austrian American pianist Robert Goldsand managed to make this scherzo either fly or menace in its gluey chromaticism. The final movement, the famous Perpetuum mobile, is well-played, again in Roloff’s easy-going style, but it doesn’t quite have the zip or virtuoso pizzazz of pianists like Josef Hofmann or Benno Moiseiwitsch. The performance of the sonata is ultimately not at the level of complete sonata recordings such as Beveridge Webster or Marie-Catherine Girod, both of whom approach the score with more muscle and drama. If you are looking for a Beethovenian account that maximizes heft and strength, go with Webster. For an account that goes like the wind, Girod is your woman. 

While these versions of the Beethoven and Weber may not supplant listeners’ reference recordings, they offer a brief snapshot of a talented pianist whose work deserves to be better remembered.

Richard Masters