Pejačević Symphony & Piano Concerto

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from Chandos, with Peter Donohoe and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo:
https://mobile.twitter.com/oramsa/status/1466396714567446532
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9321714--pejacevic-piano-concerto

Here's Oramo's performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xWbOb3-qvU
https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2021/event/bbc-symphony-orchestraoramo-a-masterpiece-rediscovered

[M. Yaskovsky]

This and much more of Dora's orchestral music is available on the cpo label. I like those releases very much.

[Alan Howe]

Of course - and I agree. However, Oramo's reading of the Symphony appears to be considerably tighter than Rasilainen's and it's always good to have another recording of such a fine piece. The coupling is also a major pluspoint, I think.

[Gareth Vaughan]

There is always room for another recording of neglected repertoire, and I shall be interested to compare Peter Donohoe with Oliver Triendl (CPO) in the solo piano part of the piano concerto

[Alan Howe]

I concur. I'll be purchasing this as soon as it's available.

[Alan Howe]

[Rob H]

Mia Pecnik has also just recorded this with Jan Latham-Koenig according to her facebook page but I can't see where it is released and the post doesn't make it clear.

[Alan Howe]

It looks as though the orchestra was the Zagreb Philhamonic:
https://dumpoir.com/c/9821916018469960182

...and that the new CD has vocal items by Dora as coupling; trouble is, I can't tell what label it's on:



This is an excerpt from a recent concert given by the orchestra and soprano concerned during their current tour of Britain:

Four of Pejačević's orchestral songs, sung by the soprano Marija Vidović, had opened the concert. Settings from 1915 of poems by Karl Kraus and Rilke are ambitious late romantic essays, with Strauss and perhaps Zemlinsky as their stylistic references, while the two Butterfly Songs, composed in 1920 just three years before Pejačević's death at the age of 38, are charming miniatures, composed with the lightest of touches, which Vidović presented with just the right combination of tact and charm. (my emphasis)
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/08/zagreb-philharmonic-jan-latham-koenig-review-anvil-basingstoke

[Wheesht]

If you rotate the image you can just about read the label Croatia Records. Their website doesn't list the new CD (yet) or perhaps I couldn't find it as it is all in Croatian, except for the About Us section.

[Alan Howe]

Oh, well spotted! I'd concentrated on the logo and hadn't seen the wording lower down.

I have just emailed the label...

[Alan Howe]

Croatia Records replied as follows:

The CD "Dora Pejačević" performed by the soprano Marija Vidović and Zagreb Philharmonic was released only as a promo CD for their British tour. We'll release this CD for sale in about two months.

[Rob H]

Thanks for all the research and info - will just wait now. I had a CD with the op33 piano concerto but gave it away as the performance wasn't great so looking forward to Pecnik's version.

[hyperdanny]

I see that Oramo shaves a substantial 5 minutes off the symphony, which makes me hopeful, because I could never "love" the cpo release: I always felt that Rasilainen's intepretation was over indulgent and a little flabby. I really believe this early 20th century late romantic music needs a tight rein, and Oramo usually has it.

[Mark Thomas]

But listen to Andris Nelson's performance with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on YouTube here. His overall timing is roughly the same as Rasilainen's, and so the same five minutes longer than Oramo's upcoming recording, yet Nelsons invests the work with a forceful drive and almost Sibelian grandeur which is quite stunning. Couple that with the Gewandhaus' superb playing and Nelsons' interpretation makes a compelling case for the Symphony.

[Alan Howe]

This seems to be a clear case of a world-class orchestra winning out; in addition, when Nelsons is good, he's very, very good. Just don't buy him in Bruckner - he's terrible there.