Herold Disilusioned

Louis Joseph Ferdinand Hérold (1791–1833) has maintained a tenuous hold in the repertoire thanks mainly to the overture to his opera Zampa , and to his ballet La Fille mal gardée . Of many composers largely forgotten today we can at least say that they were renowned and celebrated in their own time, but Hérold, despite having shown early promise, never really achieved widespread recognition outside of the early 19th-century French opera and ballet circle of composers - namely, François Adrien Boieldieu and Daniel Auber—with whom he sometimes collaborated.

In March of 1908, 27-year-old Johanna Senfter went “on a pilgrimage” to visit Max Reger in Leipzig. Having studied piano and violin at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main, she now wanted to learn composition. Reger, only six years her elder, had been in charge of a masterclass for musical composition at Leipzig Royal Conservatory for only a year.

The name of Louis-Ferdinand Hérold will always be associated with one work, in England at least, and that is his ballet La Fille Mal Gardée. Who can forget the famous Clog Dance in Frederick Ashton’s production, although having watched a German production on VHS some years ago I remember being shocked by its omission. Even allowing for the popularity of this ballet, Le Pré Aux Clercs, commissioned and premiered by the Opéra-Comique in Paris, is regarded as his greatest success; this despite the lead soprano walking out after its premier production.

I had never heard of Hérold before I came across this disc, but I'm sure glad I found him. I won't pretend these works are just as worthy as Beethoven or Mozart (I'm definitely not qualified to make such an assessment), but they are extremely enjoyable and deserve to be heard. The style is, as described on the back cover, somewhere between Mozart and the young Chopin (like Hummel maybe?). The works included are Piano Concertos Nos. 2-4; No. 1, according to the notes, is both a bit amateurish and almost impossible to read/reconstruct…….

Cory Nowosiadly @ Amazon.com

Louis Ferdinand Herold was born to write for the theatre. This much is obvious from these present recordings. Herold's many theatrical works these days are rarely performed, but the brilliant orchestration, easy-to-remember motives, and a touch of amiable exoticism are the main ingredients that make these performances a "classic" of early 19th-century French instrumental music.