Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Symphony No.2 in C minor Op.134 “Håkon Jarl” (1875)
Jubelfeier Overture Op.166 (1881)
Prologus Solemnis Op.223 (1893)
Tanz unter der Dorflinde Op.161 No.5 (1881)
Dame Kobold Overture Op.51 (1855)
Zenobia Overture Op.193 (1887)
Münchner Rundfunkorchester/Henry Raudales
rec. 2015/16 Bayerischer Rundfunk, Studio 1, München, Germany
cpo 555 115-2 [80]
Carl Reinecke was arguably one of the most influential multi-talented musicians in the Western world. Between 1860 and 1903, he was professor of composition and piano at the Leipzig Conservatoire, and from 1860 to 1895, he was also director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. As well as being a teacher – his pupils included figures as diverse as Grieg, Stanford, Janáček, Albéniz and Delius – and a conductor he was a concert-standard pianist and a prolific composer. Having retired from the conservatory, he devoted his last years to composition, resulting in a total of 288 works with an opus number. Fast forward just over a hundred years since his death in 1910 and his name is now little more than a historical footnote with his quite lovely Flute Sonata Op.167 “Undine” possibly the only work still in the active repertoire.
The sheer volume of music produced suggests that Reinecke was at best ‘fluent’ and at worst generic or formulaic. Having listened to this disc, I would say both descriptions are true. This very well played and well-engineered programme running to a generous 79:31 is wholly enjoyable. The curious thing is, having listened to the disc several times, although my sense of enjoyment has been reinforced, I cannot recall a single truly memorable or individual musical gesture – melodic, harmonic or in terms of instrumentation/orchestration. The liner describes Reinecke as a musical conservative and someone who valued the “masterworks of the great classics” insisting that his pupils had a deep and detailed appreciation of these. The enduring benefit of this was that he was a key contributor to the first complete editions of Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Chopin as well as editing the keyboard works of Bach and Handel. However, this impacted his own musical style so that the man who lived to the point The Firebird or Mahler’s Symphony No.10 were written, produced music clearly closer in spirit to Schumann or Mendelssohn than any 20thCentury composer.
This disc opens with the Symphony No.2 in C minor Op.134 “Håkon Jarl” which was premiered in 1875. Håkon Jarl was the same Norwegian/Viking ruler who featured in a Smetana tone poem more than a decade earlier. The liner quotes the contemporary critical response which reflects that the – fairly slight – programmatic elements were too progressive for the conservatives yet the symphony’s essentially four movement classical form was too conservative for the progressives. The choice of key suggests a stormy work and indeed that is how it opens. The writing is fluent with the upper strings in particular kept busy with many demanding passages. The brass writing is likewise notable for the extensive use of the instruments both heroically and texturally. Curiously, the woodwind in the outer movements are given few opportunities to shine seemingly being relied on to fill and double textures. It is no surprise that the work is formally well-balanced. In total, the symphony runs here to 34:40 with roughly 11:00 outer movements balanced by a 7:33 Andante and a 5:17 Intermezzo – allegretto moderato. Both these movements are attractive in a fairly unassuming way yet to my ear stubbornly unmemorable, well-played though they are. The finale represents “Oluf’s Victory” (over Håkon Jarl), so unsurprisingly is a kind of heroic/celebratory character which has swagger and some bombast but IS all done in a rather tasteful way. Indeed “unsurprising” seems to be the watchword for this work and those that follow – there are things to modestly enjoy, but nothing to excite or emotionally grip.
The remainder of the disc is given over to two overtures for stage works, a concert overture, a Prologus Solemnis and a brief orchestral excerpt from an unusual concert work where choral and orchestral movements alternate. Although I imagine Reinecke did not approve of Wagner music or aesthetics, in the overtures there is more than an occasional echo of the manner of the Mastersingers overture where noble brass writing is supported by busy string contrapuntal passage-work. Again worth mentioning is how well the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under Henry Raudales play this music – technically skilled but also musically convincing. It is surprising, then, to see that the symphony was recorded as long ago as 2015 with the bulk of the other works a year later. CPO recorded and released the companion disc with the same artists which included the Symphonies 1 & 3 back in 2016. Previously, both Chandos and Marco Polo/Naxos dipped their toes in the Reinecke Symphonic pond without completing cycles which perhaps underlines a sense of their not being completely compelling.
The afore-mentioned Prologus Solemnis Op.223 is a late work and one written to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Leipzig’s “Grand Concert” series. Reinecke weaves into his work quotations from Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and Haydn. The skill with which this is done is beyond question and for the listener it is quite fun to try and spot-the-motif, but by its very nature this is an occasional work. Perhaps most impressive is the earliest work here: Overture to Dame Kobold Op.51. Again, the liner is exactly right pointing to the clear spiritual connection to Mendelssohn and Gade – but this feels more of its age written in 1855 – and the combination of bustling good humour and gently lyrical second subjects is genuinely effective. Likewise, the Tanz unter der Dorflinde Op.161 No.5, excerpted from the Sommerstagsbilder, works well because the craft is allied to the lack of any pretension with the result being a good-natured little gem helped significantly by the stylish and affectionate playing by the Munich orchestra under Raudales.
I am sure there are Reinecke aficionados out there who will hear individuality and expressive range where I hear craft and predictability. With few other options available, this disc with its generous playing time and excellent production values makes as good a case for this essentially modest music as can be.
Nick Barnard
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