Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952), a revival

[DennisS]

Hello Peter, Jim and everyone who has spoken so highly of Bortkiewicz, I have since played PC 2 + 3 several times. Surprise, surprise, I have since changed my mind and think that PC 2 is now clearly my favourite; from its anguished beginning to its joyous triumph of the close. As other members have remarqued, it's  Bortkiewicz's gift of melody which does it for me. He is certainly a composer I will listen to often!

[Peter1953]

Good to read your enthusiastic words on Bortkiewicz, Dennis! If you like to explore his music further, I can also recommend his piano music. For me a true find is his 1st piano sonata in B Major, op. 9. A thrilling, very well-crafted piece of music. His 2nd in C Minor is hardly less stunning. I have both played by Klaas Trapman. The 1st is also available on Hyperion, performed by Stephen Coombs. Extracts can be heard at http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/al.asp?al=CDD22054&f=bortkiewicz

[DennisS]

thanks Peter for the Hyperion link. Am going to listen to all the audio samples. I like all of his music and I must confess, I like both his symphonies almost as much as the PCs!

[Peter1953]

Jim wrote in the thread "Research on conflict-induced migration of composers" (Reply #10): How about Sergei Bortkiewicz? Didn't he have to leave Berlin because of WWI, only to settle in Vienna and suffer there through WWII?

Yes indeed! Bortkiewicz wrote in his autobiography in October 1936:
Only someone who has been torn forcibly from the soil of his homeland can know how painful this feeling can be sometimes. Perhaps this yearning for his homeland grips most strongly the creative artist, the author, the composer. He would like to go 'back to the mother', as Goethe says... to the source, to the native soil, in order to gather new forces, to refresh his fantasy, to live again...
Quoted from Malcolm Henbury-Ballan (2002) in his booklet notes for the CD with the two symphonies, the first (op. 52) subtitled From my Homeland.

Interesting to learn that the German text of Bortkiewicz's autobiography was translated by Bhagwan Nebhraj Thadani. This Thadani has done a lot to promote his idol Bortkiewicz. Just see www.geocities.com/bthad.geo. According to Wouter Kalkman (www.bortkiewicz.com) the music is recorded by computer and sounds rather mechanical and dull, in fact not a promotion for Bortkiewicz's great music. Nevertheless, it's interesting.

[Christopher]

Thank you very much to Herrarte for uploading so much Bortkiewicz (the suites) in the downloads section.  I've done an audit of which orchestral and operatic works have and have not (apparently) been recorded, as below.  Can anyone add extra information? I'm particularly keen to hear the Russian Rhapsody. It seems that the "Philharmonia" Academic Symphony Orchestra of Chernigov, conducted by Mykola Sukach, has been particularly assiduous in recording his works.  Does anyone have any leads there? (do they have a website?)

Symphony No.1 in D Major "From my Homeland", Op. 52    RECORDED
Symphony No.2 in E flat Major, Op. 55    RECORDED
Othello, Op. 19    RECORDED
Piano concerto No. 1, Op. 16   RECORDED
Cello concerto, Op. 20   RECORDED
Violin concerto, Op. 22   RECORDED
Piano concerto no. 2 for the left hand only, Op.28   RECORDED
Pianoconcerto no. 3 'per aspera ad astra', Op.32   RECORDED
Österreichische Suite for String Orchestra, Op. 51    RECORDED
Overture for Orchestra, Op. 53    RECORDED
Jugoslawische Suite for Orchestra, Op. 58    RECORDED
Arabische Nächte, Op. 37    RECORDED
"Des Frühlings und des Pans Erwachen, Op.44   NO INFORMATION
Russische Rhapsodie for piano and orchestra, Op.45   NO INFORMATION
Russische Tänze for Orchestra, Op. 18    NO INFORMATION
Träume, Fantasy for Orchestra, Op. 34    NO INFORMATION
Die Akrobaten (Opera), Op. 50    NO INFORMATION
"Hafis Songs" after Hans Bethge for singer and orchestra, Op.43    NO INFORMATION
Seven Songs for voice and orchestra (no Op.No.)     NO INFORMATION 
Olympic Scherzo for orchestra (no Op.No.)     NO INFORMATION 
Symphony No. 3 (unfinished; sketches only)     NO INFORMATION 
Two Songs, arranged for voice and string orchestra (no Op.No.)   NO INFORMATION 
Three Pieces for cello and orchestra, Op.25A  NO INFORMATION   
Heitere Suite for orchestra, Op. 57   NO INFORMATION

[britishcomposer]

The Cello and Violin Concertos had been made available for download in this forum but it was before my time (and before the Downloads Section opened) and I cannot trace the links any longer.
Are they still around somewhere?

[eschiss1]

Hrm. They seem to be downloadable or playable at least directly from the orchestra's own site, see the link http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,165.30.html  and the site links given on the thread's last page, http://classic-online.ru/ru/production/21927 (cello concerto) and http://classic-online.ru/ru/production/14121 (violin concerto) (it helps to have a browser with a Translate button)

[britishcomposer]

Ah, thanks; that's the website I mentioned myself sometime ago. They have some commercially available CDs ripped for download and it's not always easy to find out if a work is otherwise available or not. So I have not used this site until now. But the two Concertos are definitely 'free'?

[eschiss1]

I don't know.

[eschiss1]

I should modify that.
In one sense they are decidedly not- the score (versus the recording, I mean) of the violin concerto, at least, I believe is copyright-free only in Canada because of first dates of publication, valid-to-my-knowledge and renewed copyright (there are apparently a few exceptions to the "PD-US = first pub 1922 or less rul... ah heck with ...), and Bortkiewicz's fortunately later-than-1940 date of death (I think the cello concerto is PD-US, though again not PD-EU).

(The effect this has on the copyright status of recordings is not clear to me- when I uploaded a recording of a late Vaughan Williams work to IMSLP that had been released into the Creative Commons by the conductor (VW 9), it was blocked by the admins in the US precisely because the score of the symphony was first published with valid and validly renewed copyright in the US after 1922 (though the recording had been released CC.)  But that's IMSLP stuffs, I think.)

Searching for Bortkiewicz and looking for his cello concerto (recordings) on Worldcat does turn up the synthesized recording by Mr. Thadani in a Canadian library but I expect what's relevant here (I expect "of course" should be added here but I should not play the expert that I am not) is whether -this- recording that has been linked to, has been "published" in some relevant sense (and I don't know the exact definition of the relevant sense). But will see what little I can find out before my headache (partially caused by weather, partially by any discussion of copyright law, just because, well, apologies to my lawyer relatives but - well - it's law... or rather, legal code, which is to say, chaotic.)

[eschiss1]

Hrm, I didn't know his violin sonata had been recorded. I didn't even notice there was one in his list of works at IMSLP, possibly because most of the works around it (though not the violin concerto either though...) are underlined by now (and so have a page with -something- in it anyway...) *g*... Hrm. Opus 26, 1922, published by D. Rahter of Leipzig in 1924...

[britishcomposer]

Well, I just streamed the Violin Concerto from classic-online.ru and it often makes sounds which I know from damaged or badly ripped CDs. Hrm...   
There's long applause at the end, so it's a recording of a concert at least, not a (commercial) studio production.
Is this the only recording? The distortions make it not very pleasant listening. 

Or, perhaps anybody has this recording without the distortions?
I would appreciate an upload very much!

I really like Bortkiewicz but until now I thought him a mere pianist-composer. But no, he can write very fine stuff without any piano spinning around!  

[eschiss1]

  Then there's his opera Acrobats, op.50...- I recall its being mentioned - trying to remember in what context.. didn't write a string quartet (I had him confused with Feliks Blumenfeld somehow... hrm. Wonder how that piece is.) but Bortkiewicz's composition list has some interesting stuff in it.

[giles.enders]

There was also an earlier piano concerto written circa 1902, which is no longer extant.  It was around until the early 1920's so it might have been canibalised for the left hand concerto, who knows.  There is also the Russian Rhapsody for piano and orchestra which I believe is soon to be recorded.
The symphonies which were at one time thought lost, were unearthed in a New York public library archive several years ago.

[Christopher]

There was also an earlier piano concerto written circa 1902, which is no longer extant.  It was around until the early 1920's so it might have been canibalised for the left hand concerto, who knows.  There is also the Russian Rhapsody for piano and orchestra which I believe is soon to be recorded.
The symphonies which were at one time thought lost, were unearthed in a New York public library archive several years ago.

Giles - do you know who is planning to record the Russian Rhapsody and when?  Is it Sukach and the Chernigov Philharmonic again?  I have heard the piano recorded by Bhagwan Thadani with piano and synchronised orchestra and it sounds like a real crowdpleaser - fast-moving with lots of recognisable Russian themes (Solg of the Volga Boatment for example), so would love to hear a proper recording.