Bortkiewicz - Various pieces

[imirizaldu]

Thanks so much for this!

I haven't posted in ages, but  always keep an eye on this forum.

I have only downloaded the recording of the second piano sonata, which i have been listening to recently. It's a fantastic piece, i am sure many consider it somewhat anachronic, but i love it.

Anyway i have struggled to find the score for this, can anyone help, please? Thanmks very much

[Gareth Vaughan]

One used to be able to obtain a copy of the score from Bhagwan Thadani: http://www.oocities.org/vienna/strasse/7136/

Cantext Publications 19 Laval Drive, Winnipeg, Canada R3T 2X8 Ph. (204)-275-1598 E-mail: bthad@hotmail.com

But this page may be out of date now, and I do not even know if Mr Thadani is still alive.

Just noticed that Mr Thadani's edition of the 2nd piano sonata, Op. 60 can be downloaded for free here: http://en.scorser.com/I/Sheet+music/182119.html

[imirizaldu]

Thank you so much! I had checked for the Cantext but couldn't find it. I am reading through the notes and ithe score and it looks great. THis is great music and i'd love it to be more frequently performed. Again, thank you very much.

[Gareth Vaughan]

You are very welcome. We try to be as helpful as we can on this forum.

[semloh]

Thanks for these pieces, Christopher. I especially like the Lyric Intermezzo, a work I have not heard before. I wonder with whom one would associate it stylistically? It seems to move almost seamlessly between late 19thC romanticism and Hollywood film music!

I am a bit puzzled, because the list of Bortkiewicz' works at:
http://gulabin.com/composers/pdf/SERGEI%20BORTKIEWICZ.pdf
and the aforementioned Mr. Thadani's listing at
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/mar00/bortworks.htm
...both describe the Intermezzo, Op.44 as lost.

Did I miss something?

[Cheah SC]

Too many people give praise and good compliment on Bortkiewicz Pf Son No.2.   I feel that too many musical idea or motive for Bortkiewicz Son No.2, able to found on other pieces, it's feel like lack of  musical idea.  For example, 1st mov bar 6-8, melody derive from Violin con; Bar 29-32, from Elegy, Op 46 (or Rachmaninoff PC no2).   2nd Mov beginning derive from Brahms Rhapsody Op.79, No2 (d minor section), bar 80, came from Bortkiewicz PC no 1, 3rd mov.; 4th mov, almost whole piece derive from own PC No 1, near ending (bar 114-118) same with Elegy Op46  but more complicated in term of texture.

Both Bortkiewicz sonatas i played before, for me i prefer Pf Son No1, Op.9 in B major.  1st mov. Symphonic in character and 3 main subject (also same with 2nd Son), development more elaborate and aggressive if compared with 2nd son.  Recap difference arrangement on subject.  Slow 2nd mov 100 times better than 2nd sonata, mesmerized.  3rd mov lively character in Russian flavor, busy fingering passages.  Very "Borkiewicz" Sound and Character. 

Regarding recording, Bortkiewicz piano music (Hyperion) by Stephen Coombs performance feel like too casual.  Youtube - Ernest So, playing crystal clear sound, but slightly lack of "Romantic" sound.  No comment on Jouni Somero, because i do not have this recording. 

[semloh]

Nobody able to clarify the status of the Op.44 Intermezzo then? (see my previous post)

[Christopher]

Only that the DAT cassette, as handed to me, was understood to be from the archives of Radio Austria, with material never previously released. So in that sense the Intermezzo may have been considered "lost" - in the same way that Bortkiewicz's opera is "lost" though it seems likely that a recording is hiding in some archives somewhere. I can't add more than that I'm afraid.

[semloh]

Thanks, Christopher. It remains a mystery then. 

[MHBallan]

Semloh.......the Bortkiewicz Lyrical Intermezzo score/manuscript is currently missing, hence why it has been deemed lost, but as I have found numerous scores by the composer that were also classified as 'lost', like the two symphonies or the recent piano pieces recorded by Nadejda Vlaeva, it will be only a matter of time before either myself or someone finds it (I hope).  Out of interest those late piano pieces by the composer on the Vlaeva recording are to be published by Boosey & Hawkes very shortly.
 
The recording I obtained many years ago, via Austrian radio, on a DAT tape but did not have the equipment to transfer or listen to that music - and Christopher kindly got that copied into a format we could all enjoy (my grateful thanks to him for undertaking this for me).  Of course it may be possible to notate the score from the recording.

I hope that helps to clarify the matter ?

Malcolm



 

[semloh]

Ah, thanks for that. So the performance exists, but the score has - in Australian parlance - gone walkabout?