Hyperion RPC series: Bronsart & Urspruch

[Alan Howe]

Urspruch/I needs to be kept moving, of that there's no doubt. Despax/Tzigane don't do that.

[Ilja]

I hope everyone will forgive me a return to this discussion, and particularly the Bronsart concerto. I will readily admit that the Despax/Tzigane (DT) Hyperion recording is superior to the old Ponti/Kapp (PK) in just about every way: recording, playing and interpretation. However, listening to them next to one another I am struck by how much more energetic and in a way I can't really explain, "natural", the PK sounds.

I think I have a theory for this, which is that Bronsart's concerto, despite its melodic attractiveness, is not all that great. It has great energy and vigor, but sometimes the writing is a bit trite,  the left and right hand don't work together that well (e.g., the DT, 3rd mvt, 5:43 vs. PK 5:21) and the orchestral writing is solid but not overly colorful. In the PK, the soloists's and orchestra's sloppiness mask a lot of that, but I think this is a case where a superior recording actually creates its own problem by exposing the composition's shortcomings. I may be alone in this, but I still find the PK a much more rewarding listen.

[Ilja]

I can partly chime in with this, because Ponti got me listening to many works that would otherwise never have been heard. So in that sense, I think he (and other people featured on those Vox LPs) were pioneers. My reservation about Ponti concerns his idiosyncracies; for a first and often only recording, I'd have preferred something a tad more "safe". In the case of Bronsart's concerto, though, I think he was arguably the best candidate.