Dohnanyi Gulbamova

The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by their regular director music, Christoph Von Dohnanyi, have made a wonderful studio recording of Brahms first two symphonies and the two overtures which brings off these lyrical and exciting works of the Romantic period to perfection.

In terms of a First symphony being the establishment of a recognizable voice of a respective country, Ernst Von Dohnanyi (1877-1960) was an Hungarian equivalent to England's Sir Edward Elgar. Dohnanyi, however, was a little-known, overshadowed force of 20th Century Hungarian music, largely due to the popularities of both Bela Bartok & Zoltan Kodaly. His works, especially his two symphonies, therefore continue to suffer from obscurity. But, here comes the rescue, at least in part. Leon Botstein & the London Philharmonic brings the First symphony from the coldness of obscurity with this excellent, probing Telarc recording. It's rival Chandos recording, released in March of 1999, features Mathias Bamert & the BBC Philharmonic.

In this series featuring ‘The Romantic Piano Concerto’, Dohnányi’s two works in this form are fitting examples of the genre because he was throughout his life a romantic both at heart and in his musical language. Although he died as late as 1960 he had little to do with the musical developments of the twentieth century. The two Concertos on this recording evoke a world which belongs to the nineteenth century. Dohnányi continued to compose in a style deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition exemplified by Brahms. His merit as a composer is that he was able to prolong meaningfully the classico/romantic past, of which he was one of the last practitioners, well into this century, both in his chamber and orchestral music. This he did with elegance, wit, and stylish virtuosity. The two Piano Concertos are fine examples of his fluent mastery of form and instrumentation.

Dohnányi's penchant for quality musical entertainment bore popular fruit with his perennially fresh Variations on a Nursery Theme. Howard Shelley's performance is a model of wit and style, blending in with the orchestra whenever the moment seems right and employing an ideal brand of rubato. Bamert's conducting is properly portentous in the Introduction and charming elsewhere, whether in the musicbox delights of the fifth variation, the animated bustle of the sixth or the seventh's novel scoring (plenty for the bassoons and bass drum).

Dohnanyi always gives good Mendelssohn, a composer whose music responds well to his neat, precise, tasteful, understated style of conducting. The Scottish Symphony captured here displays all of these virtues in lively tempos, typically superb playing by the Clevelanders, and a finale in which the add-on coda emerges with impressive naturalness from what has come before. But the real treat is the coupling: Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Witches’ Sabbath), a marvelous and (for Mendelssohn) quite ferocious cantata lasting a bit more than half an hour in which a pack of bloodthirsty druids intimidate a bunch of squeamish Christians.

Of all the works Ernst von Dohnányi wrote for the stage, only his ballet pantomime The Veil of Pierrette (Capriccio C5388) received any particular acclaim. His concert music, however, was received much more warmly. This sixth Capriccio volume of Dohnányi's late romantic, sensual music that is deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition features three of his concertos. Apart from two piano concertos and two violin concertos, Dohnányi wrote three more, which are concertos in all but name: Variations on a Nursey Song (for piano and orchestra), Concertino (for harp and chamber orchestra), and Konzertstück (for cello and orchestra), the titles subtly hinting at their specific character.

This programme is something of a memorial to Daniel Majeske who died from cancer in November 1993 after being Concert Master of the Cleveland Orchestra for 25 years. Christoph von Dohnanyi honours his memory in a written note, and Majeske's performance of Mozart's Sinfonia concertante, K364, recorded two years before his death, celebrates his searching, highly cultivated solo playing.

This review is actually to mention and comment briefly on competing recordings of Dohnanyi chamber works, primarily the First Piano Quintet, an amazing, melodic, well-crafted work from Dohnányi's student years and his Opus 1. Every movement has its felicities, including the catchy final movement with its 5/4 meter and obligatory fugal ending. There are competing versions of that work recorded by the Gabrieli Quartet with Wolfgang Manz, piano; the Vanbrugh Quartet, with Martin Roscoe, piano; and the Takacs Quartet with András Schiff.

It took Brahms many years to compose his First Symphony; he shared much of his compositional journey with Clara Schumann, sending her a birthday card in 1868 with the notation of an Alpine horn tune that became the famous theme of the symphony's finale. The whole work is underpinned by a version of Robert Schumann's own 'Clara' motif.

Hyperion is delighted to introduce the highly sought-after German cellist Alban Gerhardt to the label with these dazzling performances of three cello concertos written within the span of five years either side of the close of the nineteenth century. This disc is a fitting start to Hyperion’s new series of Romantic Cello Concertos; a follow-up to the highly successful Romantic Piano Concerto series and Romantic Violin Concerto series.