Albert Dietrich: symphony, violin concerto and overture, forthcoming from Naxos

[Alan Howe]

Presto now has the timings for the Naxos release. Here's a comparison with the cpo recording of the Symphony:

  Naxos             cpo

I   13:16          13:07
II    9:10            9:11
III   9:45          10:21
IV 10:16          10:49
TT 42:27         43:32

Not a great deal of difference between the two...

[eschiss1]

Does anyone have timings for both of the older commercial recordings of the violin concerto, the better to compare both of them with the new one ? (Edit: According to Amazon, the Koch recording had total length 32:07, but the label didn't subdivide. Still, that information may be available elsewhere. Presto gives 34:02 for the cpo recording, divided as: Allegro 14:41, Adagio espressivo 10:33, Allegro molto vivace 8:48. And the new recording, indeed, is 31:48 divided as 14:08/8:45/8:55 - rather briefer in the Adagio. Will see if I can find out anything about the 1982 Koch recording.)

[eschiss1]

Ah. The Koch was, I'm reminded, reissued on CD. And also, a Discogs entry for the original LP, has 31:15 (not 32:07) divided into 13:25 / 10:04 / 7:40 for the three movements/sections of the concerto. cpo is longest in the first movement, followed by the new Naxos, followed by Maile/Lopez-Cobos speediest (if complete) on Koch; in the second movement cpo is again longest, followed by Maile on Koch, followed by the upcoming recording; in the finale, the new recording seems to be slowest at 8:55, followed by cpo at 8:48, followed by a speedy (assuming not cut?) Maile at 7:40.

[Alan Howe]

I'm less bothered about the VC provided that the soloist doesn't go full HIP and forego all use of vibrato. Maile, by the way, is the superior soloist - so far! However, I've always liked the extra time taken by Kufferath in the first two movements. To have a third recording will be luxury indeed, although given that this is, in my opinion, Dietrich's most fully realised large-scale orchestral work, the fact that it hasn't been more frequently recorded (or even performed) is a scandal. It would make a great coupling for any of the more famous VCs - or, perhaps, for the Goldmark or Raff's VC1.

[John Boyer]

The Kufferath/CPO has a more natural balance between soloist and orchestra, so it's the one I always return to. The engineers in the Koch placed Maile in an exaggerated perspective. 

I agree with Alan that this is one of the great Romantic concertos.  It needs no apologies, no special pleading.  That it has been ignored for so long is perplexing.  But then Bruch 3 is also ignored, so why am I surprised?   

[Alan Howe]

Excerpts are now available at Presto:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9631207--albert-dietrich-symphony-in-d-minor-violin-concerto-overture-in-c-major

...and I'm not sure I like everything I hear. The opening of the VC sounds rather sluggish to me and the strings don't come across very well (maybe because I've been used to the fuller sounds on Koch and cpo). However, as I suspected, the violinist sounds very fine indeed. The symphony has some excitingly recorded timpani, but again the strings don't really 'dig in' as a larger orchestra would - and they're not good in the scherzo either.

I'll be buying this for the VC, but I think it's a missed opportunity as the Symphony's just not as well done as on cpo. If you don't know the music, I'd stick with the excellent cpo recordings.

[Pyramus]

I have the Rumpf CPO recordings of the Dietrich symphony and violin concerto and have been listening to them again this week. I seem to be transported to the Viennese world of Johann Strauss on three occasions, something I've not experienced in a symphony or concerto before - in the symphony, the second trio of the scherzo and the theme beginning at around 35 minutes 20 in the finale; also the concerto finale at letter E. The symphony predates all of the Strauss operettas, while the concerto is contemporary with Die Fledermaus. Did Dietrich and Strauss meet or know each other's music? Unlikely perhaps. Any ideas welcome!

[Alan Howe]

I don't know - I'd never spotted these similarities. Has anyone else noticed them, I wonder? I'm reminded of possibly comparable similarities between elements in the scherzo of Rufinatscha's 5th (formerly 6th) Symphony and, say, Strauss (Johann II).

[Richard Moss]

Just a quick 'heads up' Folks (and apologies if this content is a 'duplicate' of any earlier post which I've I missed) but Presto are showing a NAXOS release of Dietrich's works due out Friday 26th July. Although the symphony and violin concerto are not new, it does contain an Overture in C major which I do not believe HAS been previously released.

Cheers

Richard

[Alan Howe]

Thanks, Richard. I've merged your post with the existing thread on this topic for your interest.

[FBerwald]

I have always thought Dietrich's Violin concerto was an unsung masterpiece. Pity he didn't write more orchestral pieces other than the scant few left to us. Are there any Dietrich manuscripts lost or missing as of now?

[eschiss1]

Does anyone remember what was what with the RISM listing of a C major symphony (maybe incomplete) in manuscript by Dietrich? Also, if you include works with orchestra, there's his concertpiece for chorus and orchestra "Rheinmorgen" Op.31 of which I don't know of any recordings. (And one for horn and orchestra which I -think- has been recorded but I have to double-check - RISM lists a manuscript copy of that work at Detmold.)

[Alan Howe]

Didn't we decide that the C major work was probably a misattribution?

[Simon]

Didn't we decide that the C major work was probably a misattribution?

We did, in an other post, last January. Well, it was my opinion, and Double-A's as well...

[eschiss1]

Well, he may not have written very many purely orchestral works (there aren't that few, actually), but point remains, he wrote several unrecorded works with chorus and orchestra all the same...