The final release in this series is forthcoming:
Jan Hugo Voříšek (1791-1825): Grand Rondeau Concertant Op.25 for Piano Trio & Orchestra (1820)
Wranitzky: Concerto in C for 2 Violas & Orchestra (1805)
Beethoven: Concerto Fragment in C for Violin & Orchestra (1792)
Reicha: Solo de Cor alto in G for Horn & Orchestra (1823)
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/jan-hugo-vorisek-rondo-op-25-fuer-klaviertrio-orchester/hnum/9629792
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08LN5HMVM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1
(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8153Cbui-IL._AC_AA360_.jpg)
Hmmm, what's this Reicha?
I know of a 'Solo in e' for Horn and Piano, an Introduction and Rondo for Horn and Orchestra (which I have), and 'Two Solos' for Horn and Orchestra.
I'm just relating the details on the back cover of the CD...
It'd be handy to have a complete and reliable catalogue of Reicha's works.
Hmm. G major / e minor - same key signature. Someone might just have got confused. Hiller's first piano concerto appears in works of reference as being variously in F minor or A flat major - it's the same sort of thing (errorwise, I mean).
Does anyone know of a better works list than this?>>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Anton_Reicha
Has/did Drummond ever release his work in the form of a book or large article?...
Who he?
I think Eric might be referring to this: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/articles/reicha/bio.php (http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/articles/reicha/bio.php)
Undoubtedly: I too found that article by Drummond. But we need a full and reliable listing...
It's obviously a taxing job because, as Drummond mentions, many earlier works were published with late opus numbers. Speaking as one with recent cataloguing experience, it's not a prospect I'd relish.
One for an expert researcher, no doubt.
That's not what I was referring to, actually; I was under the impression that Drummond spent years studying Reicha's music from a musicological and cataloguing POV, but was wondering out loud if the results of his researches ended up in something book-sized or something...
It would be good of it did, but I am not aware of anything substantial having been published.
There is this:
Antonin Rejcha: tematický katalog by Olga Šotlova, published by Supraphon in Prague in 1977. At 254 pages it seems pretty substantial, but is all in Czech.
All the Wikipedia article really mentions aside from what we have, Drummond-wise, is Drummond's prefaces to Merton's editions of Reicha's string quartets. (Which leaves the question whether anyone has access to one of them and whether they contain useful information.)
Apologies for hasty posting without proper checking first. I didn't realise Šotlova's work was also published in English.
Her name is Sotolova actually and a second hand copy of her catalogue is listed on amazon.co.uk for £152. However, I daresay it can be consulted in libraries.
The name is misspelt Šotlova instead of Šotolová in my local university library catalogue, with the second 'o' being omitted, it can only be consulted on site in Basel.
I imagine there are very few copies (if any) available from lending libraries. In the UK there are copies of the translation by Deryck Viney (1990) listed in the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the University of Cambridge Library, University of Nottingham Library, University of Birmingham Library and the Royal College of Music. Additionally, copies of the original publication in Czech (1977) are listed in British Library, University of Cambridge and University of Oxford (Bodleian).
How odd. I got it through Interlibrary Loan here in the US with no issue, though as mentioned it's all in Czech which for sure made it hard to parse sometimes.
My only concern would be that it's over 40 years old and very likely hugely behind the curve in terms of up-to-date knowledge of Reicha's oeuvre. Still, a good starting-point, no doubt.
The CD turns out to be well up to the standard of the previous releases in the series. The first item, the opening movement of a Violin Concerto in C by Beethoven, completed in 1879 by J.Hellmesberger (ed. Joseph Mayseder), is a lovely find and surely worth an occasional outing in the concert hall. It's an expansive 15:40 in length. There then follows the Concerto in C for 2 Violas by Anton Wranicky, dating from 1805, an astonishingly vital and powerful piece approx. 26½ mins in length, clearly reminiscent of Mozart, but equally clearly able to stand on its own merits.
More when I've listened to the remaining two items...
Oh, and the orchestral contribution is superlative - if only all HIP recordings were as strong and full-sounding as this. Excellent soloists too. Bravo, Reinhard Goebel!
Quote from: Alan Howe on Wednesday 03 February 2021, 17:00More when I've listened to the remaining two items...
We will be as you say holding our breath.
:)
Reicha's Solo de Cor Alto in G for Horn and Orchestra of 1823 is 9:49 of gorgeous entertainment: it's hard to imagine horn players passing this piece by when their repertoire is so lean. I'm tempted to say that, although this is a relatively slight work, it reveals Reicha as perhaps closer to master-composer status than any of his colleagues featured on this or any of the other CDs in the series. What makes him so fascinating is his quirky resourcefulness and inventive spirit. And boy, is this work a virtuoso piece!
And then there's Voříšek's substantial (15:13) Grand Rondeau Concertant for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra, Op.25, composed in 1820), of which more later...
...and it's the Voříšek which, I guess, the majority of purchasers of this CD will appreciate most. In a way, though, it's a bit unfair, as he's essentially a composer of the next generation. Nevertheless, this is a most winning and generous work - 15:13 of lovely interplay between the three soloists, alternating passages of scintillating brilliance with more reflective lyrical sections. Once again the standard of playing is of a very high level, with supreme virtuosity from the soloists and powerful support from the quite brilliant Munich Radio Orchestra under Goebel.
All I'd say, though, is that the finale of Beethoven's Triple Concerto is more memorable. Voříšek was a great loss at 34; who knows what he may have become? But Beethoven remains the titan of his age - although I suspect that we urgently need to hear more Reicha before we come to firm conclusion about his standing...
My copy arrived this lunchtime and I agree with every word that Alan has written. I am impressed by the quality of the orchestra and the thought that has gone into such a well-balanced programme Probably the best of an extremely worthwhile series and I´m glad to have purchased it.
Much/all of this marvellous CD can be heard at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg9C4rrr-8o&list=OLAK5uy_kfvPl_7AwNiIF5_cDQeiwQb6EYjwDcDdU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg9C4rrr-8o&list=OLAK5uy_kfvPl_7AwNiIF5_cDQeiwQb6EYjwDcDdU)
The page says this is provided to YouTube by Sony Classical.
Finally getting around to listening to this. Never heard of Wranitzky but this double viola concerto is utterly wonderful.
... Which Wranitzky is on the recording? There are two significant composer brothers of that surname (Pavel & Anton). (Sometimes spelled Vranicky and otherwise.)
This is Antonin Wranitzky (Vranicky) - Concerto in C major for Two Violas & Orchestra.
Huh. I have a piece for wind ensemble called Waltz and Allegro by 'Anton Vranicky'. Always hate it when composers have multiple romanizations like that...