Eugène Ysaÿe - previously unrecorded violin/piano works from Divine Arts

[Sharkkb8]

Divine Art will release an album of heretofore unrecorded works by Eugène Ysaÿe, including a "previously unknown" Violin Concerto from 1910.

Scènes Sentimentales
Élégie
3 Études-Poèmes
Petite Fantaisie Romantique
Violin Concerto in G minor

Divine Art's blurb contains a hint of a red flag for this forum, although I'm not sure I remember hearing any Ysaÿe that I thought likely to frighten the horses (based on somewhat limited listening, though):

"Belgian violinist, conductor and composer Eugène Ysaÿe (1858–1931) has been recognized as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of the 19th and early 20th centuries; regarded as the "King of the Violin" by Nathan Milstein, his legacy has inspired generations of musicians. Ysaÿe was also a true avant-garde composer whose works feature revolutionary modern violin technique, unique expressive devices, profound musicality and harmonic originality, which eventually served as the bridge between the era of the Romantic virtuoso and contemporary music. It is odd, then, to realise that many of his works remain unknown, unpublished and unrecorded. This album presents for the first time several works for violin and piano ranging from 1885 to 1924, and a previously unknown Violin Concerto in G minor from 1910, which was orchestrated by Sabin Pautza."

8 Oct at Presto, Amazon USA & UK

https://smile.amazon.com/Violin-Discoveries-Sherban-Lupu/dp/B099TSBK3R/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ysaye%3A+Violin+Discoveries&qid=1632100661&s=music&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ysaye-Discoveries-Symphony-Orchestra-DDA25222/dp/B099TSBK3R/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ysaye+violin+discoveries&qid=1632100597&s=music&sr=1-1

https://smile.amazon.com/Violin-Discoveries-Sherban-Lupu/dp/B099TSBK3R/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ysaye%3A+Violin+Discoveries&qid=1632100661&s=music&sr=1-1

[eschiss1]

I thought the 1910 concerto had been recorded before...

[JP]

Yes I believe it was previously issued on CPO label.

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Eugene-Ysaye-1858-1931-Werke-f-Violine-Orchester/hnum/3493450

[Alan Howe]

It can't be the same piece. The cpo disc was recorded in 1998-9, but the new Divine Arts release reveals that the orchestration was done by Sabin Pautza in 2017.

The label's website says this:
This album presents for the first time several works for violin and piano ranging from 1885 to 1924, and a previously unknown Violin Concerto in G minor from 1910, which was orchestrated by Sabin Pautza. (my emphasis)
https://divineartrecords.com/recording/eugene-ysaye-violin-discoveries/

...and this review of the cpo CD tells us:
The Violin Concerto might raise hopes as to an undiscovered masterpiece but it's actually a surviving work – among many concertos – from his relative youth and boyhood. (my emphasis)
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/May06/Ysaye_Violin_7770512.htm

[Alan Howe]

It would be useful to know how many VCs Ysaye composed - and how many have survived, and in what form (e.g. violin/piano reduction, orchestration by another hand, etc.)

[eschiss1]

I was under the impression that only the one had survived, but it's nice to know that perhaps two have...

[Mark Thomas]

The recording is now available. Audio extracts at Presto here. Extracts from the PDF version of the booklet:

While several of Ysaÿe's works were arranged and published by his descendants after his death, many works were missing or unpublished, including at least six violin concertos! Written records of those concertos survive in Ysaÿe's biography, written by his son Antoine Ysaÿe: "Ysaÿe used a great deal of manuscript paper and only a very small part of what he wrote remains...There is still a large amount of works that is yet unpublished. Most are at the Musée de Liège. However, encyclopedias and dictionaries still persist in only listing the six concertos which have never seen the light of the day!".

In the past decade, several of the master's unknown concertos have come to light, including his concertos in E minor and D minor and the work titled Concerto No. 8, which were possibly composed in Ysaÿe's youthful years. Within this context, the Violin Concerto in G minor (1910), reconstructed by Sherban Lupu and orchestrated by Sabin Pautza, is an extremely important discovery. In Lupu's own words, "It is a historical milestone towards understanding Ysaÿe's creative genius. It will serve to better understand his influence on the violin repertoire in his creative output."

Found in the library of The Royal Conservatoire of Liège, the concerto exists in several different manuscript versions. Lupu dedicatedly organized every single sheet of paper out of several hundred handwritten pages; in the course of his research, he noticed that several of Ysaÿe's pupils had tried to put this concerto together out of the manuscripts around 1954. But they probably did not have access to all the papers, so it was a poor attempt. What makes this piece so special is the fact that it evolved over 17 years of Ysaÿe's life (1893–1910). Digital manuscript copies from Lupu suggest that there are four major versions of the manuscripts. Handwritten markings on the manuscripts indicate that Ysaÿe came back to this concerto every few years, making changes on the older scores and finishing new ones.

The violin part that was used in this recording was arranged and edited by Lupu, with the early inspiration he received from Gingold on Ysaÿe's improvisational style. The orchestration was done by the Romanian composer Sabin Pautza based on the few orchestral pages by Ysaÿe and the piano score of the 1910 manuscript version. This orchestral edition (consistent with the edited violin part) is slightly different from the manuscripts in terms of tempo markings, harmonization, and the total number of measures. Thanks to Pautza's compositional versatility, we have been granted the opportunity to experience this great work with equally well-crafted orchestration.

[Alan Howe]

The VC is a very striking work - right on the outer limit of our remit owing to its often extreme chromaticism. It's hard to think of any work quite like it. Of course, it's a reconstruction, so it's hard to know what one is listening to -  Ysaÿe or Pautza/Ysaÿe?

At all events, it's eminently worth a listen. See what you think...