Herzogenberg at last from cpo!

[JimL]

Well, I took the plunge too.  I just saw that this became available from CD Universe for $12.60, so I snapped it up.  And the Devreese Piano Concertos are on their way from Canada as well.  Think I'll lay off ordering stuff for a while.

[Ethan]

For everyone's information:

The "other" recording of the Herzogenberg Violin Concerto is a live recording of the first public performance of the concerto ever, which was given at the International Lake of Constance Festival (Switzerland) in May 2008.  The soloist was the Russian violinist Elizaveta (Lisa) Shnayder, playing with the Collegium Musicum St. Gallen under the direction of Mario Schwarz.  The slow movement from the recording has been played a few times on the radio, in Switzerland and (apparently) elsewhere.

I have not heard Ulf Wallin's Herzogenberg VC recording and cannot compare the two, but I was present at the 2008 performance and was hugely impressed by Ms. Shnayder's thoughtful, expressive and technically sparkling rendition,* and the audience at this world premiere event was most appreciative as well.  The cadenza, a soaring high-Romantic riff on the concerto's principal motifs, was composed by none other than the soloist's father, Marc Shnayder, and will not be heard on the other recording.  (*As a member of the family, I freely confess my personal bias in favor of these artists!)

A CD of the 2008 performance does, indeed, exist, though it is apparently not being advertised for sale over the Net.  I saw it being offered for sale by the Herzogenberg Gesellschaft (www.herzobenberg.ch) a week or so ago, during a concert intermission here in Switzerland. 

Indeed, the concert last week was yet another excellent performance of Herzogenberg by Ms. Shnayder, this time the Violin Sonata no. 3 in d, Op. 78, with Andrea Wiesli on the piano.  It was recorded by German radio (SWR 2), one would hope for a later broadcast (when? I don't know).  I am not aware of any publicly issued recordings of this fine piece.

Best regards to all Herzogenberg fans!

[Alan Howe]

Good to welcome you, Ethan!

It's interesting to hear of the emergence of Herzogenberg's VC. It is a very fine work and one hopes that it might find its way into the repertoire - although there is always the problem of persuading concert promoters to programme it in the first place. But Wallin's recording is a good start - I wonder whether he will be playing it in public at all?

[ahinton]

www.herzobenberg.ch

should read www.herzogenberg.ch, methinks...

And, by the way, anyone interested in Ulf Wallin's work as a violinist might like to check his recording of the Swedish composer Allgén's monumental sonata for solo violin (almost his last work), which is only about ten minutes shorter than a certain string quintet by another composer that's been mentioned on these boards; see details at http://www.loddingkonsert.se/artists.asp?id=131...

[JimL]

Well, I got the CD yesterday and started familiarizing myself with the music therein almost immediately.  What strikes me most is how much promise he would have had if he had chosen to pursue Raff's lonely path of trying to bridge the gap between the two opposing camps in German music of the period.  He could have numbered Odysseus his first symphony and still been able to compose in a more abstract style later on without sacrificing the orchestral color and harmonic ingenuity.  Instead he disowned his earlier works, jumped ship and "tamed down" his style.  Although I like the VC well enough, after hearing the symphony it seems to me to be slightly disappointing by comparison.   

[Alan Howe]

The VC is a slow burner, Jim. Give it a few more listens...

[JimL]

I've continued to listen to this CD, and while I am somewhat warming to the VC I keep on being strangely drawn to the Odysseus Symphony.  I find myself wishing that he had composed the concerto in that same vein (for Wilhelmj instead of Joachim, who would never have accepted it under those circumstances.)  You know what the symphony reminds me of, in spots?  Believe it or not - Tchaikovsky.  Not the Tchaikovsky of the symphonies, but of the tone poems, e.g. Francesca da Rimini, The Tempest, etc.  The same orchestral palette, similar turns of phrase, etc.  It seems weird to hear a Liszt/Wagner-influenced German sounding like a Westernized Russian, but there you have it.  Anybody agree?  Or disagree?

[Alan Howe]

I originally bought the CD mainly for the VC, with the Odysseus Symphony as a welcome but not essential coupling. However, the more I listen to the latter, the more I admire it. And, while appreciating the similarities to Tchaikovsky, what it really reminds me of is Liszt (e.g. the Faust Symphony) whose music, of course, might be seen as having influenced both composers. A marvellous work, anyway, and absolutely typical of the New German-style romanticism which the composer was to turn away from soon afterwards.