Mendelssohn and Chopin from Dutton

[musiclover]

Has anybody else noticed this new release from Dutton? A completion of the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in E......and Balakirev orchestration of Chopin E minor.....sounds interesting. Does anyone have a brief history of either? I don't know the overture they have included either, but the whole disc looks like a well thought out package to me.

[Alan Howe]

I'll wait for a review, I think. I already have two completions of the Mendelssohn and I'm not sure whether I want to hear Chopin orchestrated by Balakirev (bearing in mind the mess Wilhelmj made of Raff's VC1). However, as ever, I could be persuaded...

[eschiss1]

orchestration or transcription? i think what's on offer on the Dutton CD is Balakirev's -transcription- for solo piano of the Romance of the first piano concerto, not a reorchestration (much as I think the concertos could use a bit of same -and yes, I very much like/even love Chopin, on the whole, just not his ability to orchestrate). (You can see the score of that transcription on the workpage for Chopin's first piano concerto @ IMSLP, under Arrangements and Transcriptions.)

[musiclover]

No, I have spoken with someone at Dutton and the Chopin is the complete concerto with the solo part exactly as originally written but with the original accompaniment re worked and re orchestrated by Balakirev. Apparently it was done for Hoffman for his visit to Russia circa 1910, so I was told. Sounds interesting. The Mendelssohn has a existed in a couple if versions before as completed by other people. This version is different because Martin Yates found the theme and coda intended for the last movement in the Bodlien Library and worked this into a Finale for the concerto. In the two previous completions the last movement was made up with material by Mendelssohn taken from other works, namely in one case the finale of the Violin Concerto. This sounds more interesting I think. I've ordered it and will report as soon as I have listened to it.

[eschiss1]

Interesting. Thanks!

[marktod]

According to Dutton's blurb, it is Balakirev's orchestration that is used in this performance.  This is familiar from the old 1954 Decca recording with Friedrich Gulda and Adrian Boult conducting, now available on a DG Gulda collection.    According to Dutton's blurb Balakirev adds 'modern brass and cor anglais' but the wikipedia article on Balakirev's orchestration suggests only the instruments in Chopin's original are employed - could there be two different Balakirev versions?   An obvious difference from Chopin's original in the Gulda / Boult performance is the clarinet playing the second theme in the introduction.

[mbhaub]

As a passionate devotee of Balakirev's work, I am quite thrilled that finally a modern version of the Balakirev is available. I've played the concerto a number of times with different orchestras and more than once I've mentioned to conductors the Balakirev orchestration - but no one ever took it up. I don't think most pianists would want it, either. Chopin was no better at orchestration than Schumann. I seems hypocritical - in general I don't like conductors tampering with scores (cuts, instrumentation alterations, etc) but in the case of the Chopin, why not? Balakirev was no fool and did a great job of sprucing up the orchestration. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

When they say modern brass, what is meant is that rather than horns in E & C, Balakirev modernized to by then standard Horn in F. Same with clarinets, changing from Clarinet in C to Clarinet in A. Although using trumpet in A rather than the original C seems like an unnecessary complication. He thinned out the timpani part a lot - reducing the need for 3 tubs to only 2.

[Alan Howe]

Chopin was no better at orchestration than Schumann

Hmm. Chopin might not have been much cop, but Schumann was perfectly proficient, as many modern recordings have shown.

I'm now more interested in the Dutton release, though. It'll be good to read an assessment of it on this forum as soon as someone has heard it...

[musiclover]

So, I've now had the chance to listen to this recording several times. The completion of the Mendelssohn is masterful. The last movement seems to have existed only as two themes. Martin Yates has decided, correctly in my opinion that one (let's call it the Polonaise) is the first subject of the movement and the theme in 6/8 time is the coda. Yates works this material well and develops a second subject in an entirely convincingly Mendelssohn way and the resulting finale is rather joyous and glorious and certainly a more fitting last movement than either the Buffini or the Todd versions. It just sounds, well, like Mendelssohn. The orchestration of the entire concerto, also undertaken by Yates is equally convincing and wonderfully well played by the Royal Northern Sinfonia. The Mendelssohn Concerto in E is a substantial 30+ minute work and is remarkable because it is only separated by a couple of years from the Chopin E minor concerto, the other Piano Concerto on this disc. At first I thought Mendelssohn and Chopin....hmm...but actually they are an intelligent choice of disc mates. The orchestration of the Chopin by Balakirev is substantially different from the Chopin original, not least of all because it just sounds more convincing than the Chopin orchestration. I was unable to tell too much about the detail on my old LP of Gulda playing the same orchestration because the recording quality of that recording was frankly not good. This new recording, I'm SACD shows the glorious detail of the orchestration and to be fair Balakirev has done a first rate job in not only giving the orchestra something worthwhile to do, but also to make the solo part work so much more naturally with the orchestra. His voicing of the brass is majorly better than Chopin and also his use if the timpani is much more idiomatic and just sounds better than he original. There are several places where Balakirev leaves out the accompaniment altogether and to be honest you do not miss it, because it all sounds so natural. The Australian pianist Victor Sangiorgio, a favourite of both Dutton and Yates it would seem, plays both works with such conviction. He is totally at ease with the considerable demands of the Mendelssohn but also plays the Chopin in a fresh way to totally compliment the different Balakirev orchestration. He doesn't push and pull the tempos to distortion like so many other pianists and he kept my interest and attention throughout the recording. Very naturally musical from soloist and conductor alike. The overture, Son and Stranger is a little masterpiece from a very young Mendelssohn. How this has escaped my notice I just do not know. It is given a fresh amd lively performance by Yates and he seems as totally at ease with this music as anyone could possible be. I was a little sceptical about this recording but now that I have heard it I can say that for me it is a recording to treasure. Bravo to Dutton for supporting this recording and bravo to Sangiorgio and the ever enterprising and increasingly wonderful Martin Yates for all his work both has completer, orchestrator and conductor.

[Mark Thomas]

That's a very persuasive review. Thanks. Looks like I'd better add it to my list.

[chill319]

I appreciate you keen insights, musiclover. I'm more than willing to be persuaded, especially where Balakiryev is involved. Yet in the end doesn't Chopin's concerto structure essentially eliminate the usual cadenza precisely because the piano is constantly playing. Didn't Chopin show that he wanted the orchestral texture to be more of a handsome curtain behind the soloist than a co-conspirator?

[Mark Thomas]

I think, in fairness to Balakirev, it's worth pointing out that his re-orchestration doesn't alter the balance between soloist and orchestra. What it does is subtly beef-up the instrumentation so that the orchestra's contribution is at least interesting, whilst still being essentially subservient to the piano. Also, anyone anticipating swathes of Rimskian colour is going to be disappointed. This is Balakirev at his most sober, respecting Chopin's original conception and strengthening it. I was impressed.

[musiclover]

Yes, Mark, you've hit the nail right on the head. Balakirev was incredibly sensitive to Chopin's original plan whilst making a much better job of handling the orchestra. I really like hearing it in this version and it does make a change from just another release of the same piece. Dutton is to be congratulated.

[Alan Howe]

Mark is 100% right. The Balakirev orchestration isn't what I (in my ignorance) had been expecting at all. It's a very sensitive and subtle updating of Chopin's orchestral palette and well worth hearing. I'm extremely glad to have been proven wrong: how grateful one is for the sane and expert voices on this forum...