Raff String Octet, Fantasy for Piano Quintet, etc.

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from MDG:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/kammermusik-vol-3/hnum/11061218

[Mark Thomas]

Another hugely welcome surprise release in Raff's bicentennial year. The Octet and Piano Quintet Fantasy have been recorded before (the Octet many years ago by the Academy of St Martins-in-the-Fields), but the two Revue Musicale sets are especially happy recording premieres for me. When researching my new Catalogue of Raff's music (forgive the commercial), I discovered that Raff had "ghosted" for the publisher Schott three collections of opera arrangements (each with five sets of pieces from operas by Verdi and Meyerbeer), supposedly by the recently deceased Joseph Küffner. They continued series already begun by Küffner and were published under Küffner's name. As far as I know, this was previously unknown. These are two sets (volumes 30 and 32!) from one of those collections. I'm not expecting great discoveries (Raff was very smug about how well he'd imitated Küffner's style), but it's a fascinating addition to our knowledge of Raff.

[eschiss1]

I thought there were more recordings of the octet for some reason, but besides a live performance on YouTube and the two you mention (including this one), that may well be it. Interesting...

[John Boyer]

I thought there were more recordings of the octet for some reason

There was a Jecklin CD, coupled with the Spohr. 

[Mark Thomas]

Indeed there was (is) - a 1978 LP, released on CD in 2017, but for my money the Academy of St Martins-in-the-Fields recording for Chandos is superior.

[eschiss1]

The Jecklin does exist at least for streaming, I see.

[eschiss1]

This volume, without a cover photo and described only as "vol.3" of the MDG series, with "world premiere recordings" of his chamber works (misleading, as some are world premieres but the largest items are not), is advertised as being expected December 9th from Presto.

[eschiss1]

btw IMSLP understandably still credits the Trovatore etc. arrangements to Küffner, but I've put a notice up in the discussion section of the relevant work page that, it seems, some of the Op.305 (the Revue musicale collection) are actually not by him, and look forward to learning more.

[Mark Thomas]

My copy of this disc has just arrived from jpc and if the rest of the performances are as exceptional as that received by the Phantasie for piano quintet then it's going to be a highly recommendable CD. The only previous recording is by Il Trittico on Divox and, good though that is, it is quite eclipsed by the Leipzig Quartet and Rudolph Meister whose tenderness in the middle section is gorgeous and leads to a spectacular hell-for-leather dash in the finale which shows just how exciting Raff can be. Terrific.   

[Mark Thomas]

The Octet gets a similarly full-on, committed performance from the Leipzigers which, despite feeling much more urgent and driven than Chandos' Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble interpretation, still shaves only a minute off their timing and that's entirely down to the slow movement which does drag a little in the older recording. The MDG sound is more immediate and forward than the warm Chandos ambience and so resembles a live chamber performance. I'm not sure which of these two rather different views of the Octet I prefer, the exciting or the relaxed, and luckily I don't have to exercise a choice - it's good to have both.

The two Revue Musicale sets of Verdi arrangements are Raff aping the style of the nowadays unknown Küffner and so are difficult to categorise or evaluate, but as salon music they're quite inventive in their presentation of well-known melodies from Rigoletto and Il Trovatore and, needless to say, are well played. For Raff completists like me they're a welcome bonus but the main events are the fine performances of the Phantasie and the Octet, both of which are superb.

[eschiss1]

Is Küffner too early for us, btw? Not much of his music has been recorded, but a growing amount of his music, including the parts to his symphonies, is now available at IMSLP... and while he is unknown, it's difficult at the moment to judge whether that should be the end of the story, since his what might be his best works are, often only in parts (maybe a time to sit and apply some typesetting work now that I want to experiment with the latest Lilypond...)

[Mark Thomas]

Interesting question, Eric, which in the absence of hearing anything substantial by Küffner, can only have a theoretical reply at present. He didn't die until 1856 and he was composing right up until the end, so just on date grounds a lot of his music would qualify. I see his first two symphonies were published in 1819, by which time his opuses had already reached the mid-70s, and his last recorded work is Op.334 (the Raff pieces were published as his Op.305). Stylistically one might assume late classical melding into early romantic, perhaps like Krommer, Weyse, Wilms or his near contemporary Hummel. On the other hand, he was only 15 years older than Meyerbeer, but who knows?