Orchestral Music by August de Boeck

[Mark Thomas]

jpc are advertising a new (to me at least) Phaedra CD of premieres of orchestral music by August de Boeck (1865-9137):

Piano Concerto
Prelude to the opera Theroigne de Mericourt
Suite from the opera Francesca

The performers are the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ivo Venkov and with Jozef de Beenhouwer as the soloist.

Full details (but no audio excerpts yet) at jpc here.

[Alan Howe]

I spotted this earlier on today too and wondered what the music is like - the PC dates from the thirties, though...

[eschiss1]

hrm. his Nocturne for orchestra (not strings- edit- my mistake) which has been recorded (Etcetera CD, 2007) is from 1931, only a year before the concerto- still, not a great standard of comparison... (from what I read about his style I would expect the general influences to be more impressionistic than anything else. Hrm. Allmusic.com has sound samples from the CD with the Nocturne, and while piano concertos and nocturnes are often worlds away (Bartók tends to come to mind here), may as well give a listen...)

[Mark Thomas]

I have two recordings of his Symphony (Marco Polo and Cypress) but I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember anything about it.

[Alan Howe]

...probably sums him up fairly well 

[Mykulh]

I totally disagree. True, his idiom is very derivative. However, anyone who enjoys the Symphonies of Borodin and/or  those of Jef van Hoof, will also enjoy De Boeck's Symphony and his very exciting Dahomeyan Rhapsody. The Concertos are somewhat lower-keyed but still attractively late romantic.

Michael

[Alan Howe]

I find him totally unmemorable, sad to say. An enjoyable enough listen, but nothing sticks in the memory afterwards. Borodin, on the other hand, has a knack of writing the most memorable music, doesn't he?

[Alan Howe]

...actually, listening to the symphony again - as your post has prompted me to do, Michael - I find it rather more impressive than I remembered. After a rather Franckian start, I can certainly hear a lot of Russian-sounding music - certainly some very attractive Borodin-like material once or twice and the whole thing with distinct echoes (pre- or post-!) of his contemporary, Glazunov.

Thanks for making me listen again!

[Mykulh]

I've done my good deed for the day, Alan, and I hope August de Boeck gets a few more listens as a result! The entire Flemish late-romantic output has been somewhat undervalued.

[Alan Howe]

Your listings on MusicWeb have been a mine of information for me and for many others, Michael, and I value your musical judgment very highly. I'm now having another listen to the Symphony and, while it is derivative, it is much more colourful and fun than I had remembered. Note to self: must re-visit things that evidently didn't make much impression on me the first time round. Thanks again. 

[alberto]

In my limited knowledge I agree with Michael.
I have not often returned to the Symphony (I have the Discover and Marco Polo recordings) just for lack of time.
Exciting are for me the short Dahomeyan Rhapsody (Discover) and the Fantasy on two Flemish Folksongs (Naxos).
Recently even Nina Stemme has recorded seven de Boeck songs (Phaedra).

[Alan Howe]

This is a rather lovely CD. Particularly attractive is the Orchestral Suite from the opera Francesca. It is all very Wagnerian, but quite irresistible: the tide of sound just sweeps you away. Wonderful.

[sdtom]

I have found that multiple listens translate into a different opinion. I have the Marco Polo which I'll give another listen to/

[Gareth Vaughan]

Gorgeous music altogether. From the wonderfully opulent and Wagnerian "Francesca" to the delightfully insouciant piano concerto.