Rediscovering Maria Herz's Piano Music

It wasn't that long ago that I reviewed a Capriccio release of Maria Herz's orchestral music. A recording of all world premiere recordings. And now here's an album of all her numbered piano works -- all world premiere recordings. 

Maria Herz was a virtuoso pianist and composer active in the between-war years. When the Nazis rose to power, her Jewish heritage put an end to her career in Germany. She left the country in 1935 with her children, never to return. 

Herz would eventually rebuild her career as a performer and teacher. But she stopped composing when she left Germany. Herz only wrote around 30 works. Who knows? In time they may all be recorded. 

Pianist Aude St-Pierre makes her recording debut, and it's a great one. Herz was a pianist. Her keyboard music is idiomatic and exploits the possibilities of the instrument. St-Pierre plays with confidence and empathy. These are performances I want to revisit again and again. 

All three works show Herz's creativity. Her Op. 1 is a set of variations on Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 20. This is a core repertoire work. So much so that it simply is. To recast and rework the motives takes real imagination. And Herz delivers. Each variation takes this prelude in a new direction. And there are eleven of them. 

Her second published work, 12 (Valses) Ländler for piano also delivers. These are twelve very short pieces, but each one has its own character. Both these works come from the 1910s when Herz was just starting her career. 

She hit her compositional stride in the early 1930s. Her Piano Sonata in F minor foreshadows her mature efforts. Written in 1922, this is a complex piece in structure and harmony. Herz flirts with the chromaticism of atonality without stepping over the edge. The sonata is a work that's both modern and accessible.

I applaud St. Pierre for her bold programming choices. Most artists stick to the basics for their debuts. This is well-crafted music that indeed deserves rediscovering

Rediscovering Maria Herz
Aude St-Pierre, piano
Genuin Classics GEN 24863

By Women: Piano Works by Armenian Women Composers

Some may think this album's program is way too niche. Not me. I think it's highly focused, and that focus is what makes it successful. Pianist Sahan Arzruni has recorded an album of classical music by Armenians. More specifically, Armenian women. Listening to the wide variety of styles made me want to hear more. 

This very narrow slice of Armenian classical music is incredibly diverse. It makes me wonder how many other gems await in the entire corpus of Armenian classical music. 

The album opens with a sonata and prelude by Geghuni Chitchyan. Chitchyan is something of an icon in Armenian classical music. These works date from the 1950s. They remind me a little of Bartok -- if Bartok had a mischievous attitude. 

At the other end of the spectrum is Mary Kouyoumdjian. She's an Armenian-American composer and teaches at Columbia University. "I Haven't the Words" is her reaction to the George Floyd shooting. Kouyoumdjian writes in a cosmopolitan style, with occasional traces of Armenian folk rhythms. 

Gayane Chebotaryan is represented with a set of six preludes. She's a major figure in her country and deserves an audience outside it. Her preludes were written in 1948. They're tonal and seem to drift from one idea to the next. The harmonies are subtly complex. 

There are other composers represented here, and every one worthy of further exploration. Sahan Arzruni is both the producer and performer for this recording. This is his project and his emotional investment shows. His goal is to give these works their best possible performances, and he succeeds. 

Only an Armenian could phrase the melodies just so to convey the composers' intentions. I knew virtually nothing about Armenian classical music before listening to this album. I now know a little -- and want to know more.

By Women: Piano Works by Armenian Women Composers
Sahan Arzruni, piano
AGBU

Album Shows Three Facets of Kaveli Aho

 

In some ways, this release is a study in contrasts. It shows three contrasting forms of Aho's creativity. There's a work for soloist and orchestra, and one for soloist and string quartet. Plus there's a collaboration with an earlier composer.

The Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra was completed in 2018. Aho wrote the work for Ismo Eskelinen, who performs it here. Aho had collaborated with Eskelinen before. 

Aho is best known as a symphonist, and this work is symphonic in scope. His demands on the guitarist push technique to -- and perhaps a little beyond -- its limits. 

No matter. Eskelinen knows Aho as well as the composer knows the performer. He easily navigates the music and renders an exciting performance in the process.

The Quintet for Horn and String Quartet was written a year later. And yet, to me, it seems an earlier work. Aho studied with Einojuhani Rautavaara. Several string passages reminded me of the older composer's style. 

Ilkka Puputti commissioned the concerto and performed it on this release. As with Eskelinen, the horn player had worked with Aho before. So there's a true collaboration between composer and performer. As with the guitar concerto, Aho demands a lot from the solo player. And Puputti delivers at every turn.  

Johann Sebastian Bach left the final fugue in "The Art of the Fugue" unfinished. Aho isn't the first composer to complete it. But he's one of the more skilled to do so. Aho manages to extend Bach's ideas without slavishly adhering to them. It might not be a historically accurate rendition. But it is distinctive and shows Aho's skill at counterpoint.

John Storgårds directs the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. This is their fifth recording of Aho's music, so they know what they're about. The orchestra has a nice, clean ensemble sound. It's not a big sound, but it's big enough for Aho's music.  

Aho's compositions don't sound quite like anybody else's. They're complex and multi-layered, yet direct and appealing. 

Kaveli Aho: Guitar Concerto
Quintet for Horn and String Quartet
Bach/Aho: Contapunctus XIV for String Orchestra
Ismo Eskelinen, guitar; Ilkka Puputti, horn
Lapland Chamber Orchestra; John Storgårds, conductor
BIS 2666 SACD