Raff symphonies from Chandos

[Alan Howe]

Very interesting, Mark. It'll be instructive to see whether the critics pick up on the subject...

[Alan Howe]

I note this wording at Chandos' website:

<<This disc marks the beginning of a new series of recordings devoted to the engaging, albeit neglected orchestral music of the Swiss-German composer Joachim Raff.>>
(emphasis added)

So, this is to be a series of recordings - wonder how many are planned?

[Mark Thomas]

Quiet, I'm hugging myself!

[eschiss1]

Yes, if they go as far beyond the symphonies as they have for some other composers in similar series, and there seems to be a lot of orchestral Raff un- or under-recorded (I very much like the concert overture op.123 and I await a second recording with happy anticipation, for instance)? -- well, it is very good news!

[Mark Thomas]

Under-recorded orchestral Raff there certainly is, Eric, but there will be no un-recorded free-standing orchestral works of any substance once Sterling's series of CDs is concluded later this year. The final CD will have Raff's arrangement and orchestration of Liszt's original 1850 sketches for the Prometheus Overture, a reconstruction of the Incidental Music to Bernhard von Weimar (the Ein feste Burg Overture and two marches) and the orchestral intermezzi from the oratorio Welt-Ende -  Gericht - Neue Welt.

All that will remain unavailable then will be Raff's orchestrations of three dances from a set originally written for piano four hands. The Concert Overture has been recorded twice: by Schneider for Marco Polo (still available as a download) and by Stadlmair for Tudor. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Chandos used it as a filler.

[DennisS]

I downloaded the CD a few days ago. Since then, I have listened to it some 7 or 8 times already and I must say, I have been most pleasantly surprised. Symphony no 2, although liked, was never one of my out and out favourite Raff symphonies but now, it has become exactly that : one of my favourite Raff symphonies, thanks to Järvi's splendid interpretation! The sound is much better than the Stadlmair, the orchestration is more vivid and the faster tempo of the second movement sounds exactly right! The 4 overtures are also wonderful. I am really looking forward to seeing what symphony Järvi next tackles (if I were to choose, I would opt for either Im Walde or Lenore as there is always room for a new and hopefully excellent interpretation)!

[Mark Thomas]

Alan's the one with the inside info on Chandos, but I think it's Lenore next, isn't it?

The Shakespeare Preludes, which Dennis has mentioned, are also much more successful in Järvi's hands than in any other recording, including my previous front runner, the broadcast Albert/NDR ones which were unfortunately never issued by cpo. The most compact work, Othello, receives a hugely powerful performance, with every last drop of drama squeezed out of it. Although I would have preferred Macbeth to be just a little more expansive and not quite so driven in the faster passages, it too is a very exciting listen in Järvi's hands and the orchestra's virtuosity is quite astonishing. To be honest, I've never thought much of Raff's Romeo & Juliet. His melodic gift seems to desert him in a work which cries out for a "big tune". Again Järvi makes a good case for the piece and, whilst he can't improve Raff's thematic material, his careful phrasing of the quieter passages makes them much more effective than I've heard before. The longest work, The Tempest, is rather more rambling than the other three scores and under both Stadlmair and Albert it seems at best an attractive but disjointed work. Compared to their performances, Järvi has tightened it up substantially and in the process revealed a much more coherent piece which, whilst it remains more episodic than the other three, benefits from Järvi's brisk tempi now giving it a narrative flow lacking in the other interpretations. All in all, the Preludes are as much of a revelation as the Symphony. What a fabulous Raff debut!

p.s. (and I'm not getting at you, Dennis) I never understand why so many people, including CD labels, persist in calling the Shakespeare pieces "Overtures". Each is quite deliberately titled "Orchestral Prelude to Shakespeare's Othello" etc., Vorspiel not Ouvertüre, yet even Raff's pupil Macdowell, who got Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet published in the USA in the 1890s, wrote of them to Raff's widow as "Overtures"!

[Alan Howe]

Lenore is apparently next in line for Järvi.

[Alan Howe]

As I go on listening to Järvi in Raff 2 and then compare it with the two previous recordings, it is slowly dawning on me just how much has been missing up to now. In particular, Järvi brings out all the orchestral colours missing, particular from Stadlmair's account, as well as the sheer punch and exuberance of the writing. It's almost as if a familiar painting has had a good clean and is being seen for the first time. It also reminds me how important it is that unfamiliar music is as well presented as possible: I've no doubt that this single CD will do more for Raff's reputation than any issued up to now - yes, even than Herrmann's Lenore!

[Mark Thomas]

I understand that the Lenore Symphony will be recorded this coming June and that the couplings will be the Jübel-ouvertüre Op.103 and the Overture to the opera König Alfred.

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Life becomes better and better, eh?

[Alan Howe]

Fab-u-lous!

[DennisS]

Great news - pity though that we will have to wait some time for the CD to become available. The wait will be worth it!

[Alan Howe]

I guess it'll be available around this time next year...

[Mark Thomas]

I should clarify that I know that the overtures will be recorded then. I have assumed that Lenore will be the symphony recorded with them. I suppose it's always possible that the overtures will be part of Volume three and that another symphony will be the coupling. But that would be too much to hope for!