Dario Salvi Brings Marschner Center Stage

Today, Heinrich August Marschner is a minor figure in the history of music. But that wasn't the case in the 19th Century. Dario Salvi's continued exploration of his music encourages a serious re-assessment of Marschner.

Marschner was a close friend of both Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Schumann had a high regard for his music as well. Marschner was also considered Schubert's heir in the field of lieder.

And he was one of the most popular non-Italian opera composers of the mid-1800s. The rise of Wagner made Marschner's music sound old-fashioned, and it soon disappeared from the stage. 

As Dario Salvi demonstrates, the assessments of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schumann weren't wrong. Marschner had a facility for creating lyrical melodies. And he had then talent to orchestrate them for maximum dramatic effect. 

Here Salvi focuses on three stage works: Prinz Friedrich von Homburg (1821), Kaiser Adolph von Nassau (1845), and Austin (1850). Also included is the 1842 concert overture "Sounds from the East."

By presenting multiple excerpts from these works, Salvi shows Marschner's range. There's a lot of great music tucked away in those scores.

Salvi conducts the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble has an attractive sound. Details are easy to hear, yet the sound has a smooth, homogenous texture.

Marschner wrote 18 operas and supplied music for four stage productions. So there's still a lot to explore. Here's hoping there's a volume three.  

Heinrich August Marschner: Overtures and Stage Music 2
Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra; Dario Salvi, conductor
Naxos 8.573382

#ClassicsaDay #Curseofthe9th Week 4

This month the Classics a Day team takes on the "Curse of the 9th." Beethoven wrote his ninth symphony and died. Since then, the Curse of the Ninth has circulated through the classical music world. Mahler sincerely believed in it. He wrote nine numbered symphonies and died. As did Bruckner, Schubert, Dvorak, and Vaughan Williams. 

But how real is the curse? The Classics a Day team challenges folks to post Symphony No. 10s by composers who followed Beethoven.

And it turns out there are quite a lot of them. 

Here are my posts for the fourth and final week of #Curseofthe9th.

10/23/23 Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000), Symphony No. 10 "Vahaken"

Hovhaness wrote his 9th symphony in 1949. But he was just getting warmed up. His 10th was composed in 1959. Hovhaness would write 67 before his death in 2000.

 

10/24/23 Andrzej Panufnik (1914–1991): Symphony No. 10

Panufnik composed his tenth symphony just two years after completing his 9th. He revised both works in 1990, just a year before his death. 

 

10/25/23 David Diamond (1915-2005): Symphony No. 10

American composer David Diamond wrote his 9th Symphony in 1985. He wrote his 10th two years later and completed one more before his death. Diamond discarded his first two symphonies from the 1930s. Technically, his 9th was actually the 11th he composed.

 

10/26/23 Havergal Brian (1876-1972) (Symphony No. 10 in C minor

Brian finished his 9th Symphony in 1951, and his 10th two years later. He would compose a total of 32. Brian's best known for his massive 1st symphony, 105 minutes of playing time (the others are considerably shorter).  

10/27/23 Julian Rontgen (1855-1932): Symphony No. 10 in D major "Waltz Symphony"

This Dutch composer wrote 25 symphonies in all. Many were quite short, and several were written over the course of just a few weeks.  

Next month:

Hans Gal Concertinos Seem Frozen in Time

Hans Gal was one of many promising young composers caught up in the turmoil of the Second World War. In the 1920s he was a rising star in German theater. And by 1930 Gal was on track to become one of Vienna's best-known artists. 

The Nazi takeover of Austria ended all that. Gal had a Jewish background, and he was soon erased from the music scene. Fortunately, Gal escaped to Britain before his life was erased. 

Gal spent the rest of his life teaching at the University of Edinburgh. He continued to compose, but not evolve. Gal's style was frozen in Viennese Post-Romanticism.

This release features three of his concertinos, plus his String Serenade. They show how powerfully expressive Gal's music can be. Especially so if you don't care whether it was au courant or not.

The Sinfonietta Riga has a rich, warm ensemble sound that seems well-suited to Gal's style. And the soloists deliver time and again.

The album opens with Gal's Concertino for Cello and String Orchestra, Op. 87 from 1965. Justus Grimm makes the work sound like an extended aria. His playing amplifies the lyricism inherent in the music. 

Oliver Trindl is no stranger to Gal's music. His playing in the 1934 Piano Concerto is mordent and precise. And it can exude warmth when it needs to. 

Gal completed his Violin Concerto, Op. 53 shortly after arriving in the UK. Nina Karmon plays with a charming simplicity that draws the listener in.

Recommended.

Hans Gal: Concertinos for Violin, Cello, and Piano
Nina Karmon, violin; Justus Grimm, cello; Oliver Trindl, piano
Sinfoniette Riga; Normunds Šnē, conductor
Hanssler Classics HC23049

The Extraordinary Concertos of Eduardo Grau

Two things I can count on from the Naxos label. A release of world recording premiers by a composer I've never heard of. And it's an album of music worth exploring. 

In this case, the composer is Eduardo Grau. He moved from Spain to Argentina at a young age and soon showed real musical talent. He sent his first compositions to Manuel de Falla. He encouraged Grau to pursue composition.

Which he did. Grau wrote over 200 works. He was also a musicologist, and his study of Argentinian music influenced his own work. 

I love this collection of music. Grau's compositional style was highly individualistic. It was tonal but didn't rely on harmonic relationships to provide motion. It used folk rhythms and motifs, but always as building blocks to music that went beyond folk. 

I would say Grau reminds me of Bohuslav Martinu. His music is straightforward and direct. Martinu used the rhythms of his native Czech language to propel his music. Grau does the same with his use of Argentinian folk music. 

The four works on this album are very different in character. And yet there's a common thread. The soloists aren't there to impress us with their incredible technique. Rather, Grau's music demands they connect with the audience emotionally. And in that, they all succeed. 

Are there other releases of Grau's music available? I haven't found any, but then I just started looking. 

Eduardo Grau: Concertos for Soloists and String Orchestra
Jana Jarkovská, flute; Simon Reitmaier, Clarinet; Ana María
Valderrama, violin; David Fons, Viola; Miklós Szitha, timpani; Fabio Banegas, piano
Anima Musicæ Chamber Orchestra; Francisco Varela conductor
Naxos 8l579107

The Women's Philharmonic Re-issue Well Timed

ALTO Distribution continues to do the Lord's work (in my opinion). They are cannily re-releasing titles from the defunct Koch International and MusicMasters labels. 

I say cannily because some of these releases seemed timed to perfection. Take this  Women's Philharmonic recording for example.  Koch released it back in 1992. 

At the time, it was something of a curiosity. An all-female orchestra, led by a female conductor was performing music by women. 

Today, it's an album riding the crest of a wave. There's a new-found interest in addressing the genre's gender imbalance.  

In 1992, Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor was a musical history footnote. Today it's becoming a part of the standard repertoire.

Clara Schumann was an exceptional pianist, and a skilled composer -- as many are now finding out. JoAnne Fallette leads the Philharmonic in a fiery performance. And pianist Angela Cheng delivers some dazzling solo work.

Germaine Tailleferre's Concertino for Harp and Orchestra (1927) is another delight. She shows great imagination in her use of the harp. Forget billowy arpeggios. Tailleferre has the instrument playing precise and intricately-constructed melodies (and harmonies). 

Harpist Gillian Benet has the agility to carry it off. And her playing betrays a little bit of swagger, which adds to the fun. 

JoAnne Falletta prepared three works for this album. Fanny Mendelssohn's Ouverture from 1830, and two works by Lili Boulanger.

Save for the piano concerto, these works are still seriously under-represented in recordings. So it's good to have this one back in print. And despite its age, the album's sound -- and performances -- hold up just fine.

The Women's Philharmonic
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Fanny Mendelssohn; Clara Schumann; Germaine Tailleferre; Lili Boulanger
Musical Concepts MC3111