Hérold Piano Concertos

[Alan Howe]

Has anyone spotted this forthcoming release...?
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Louis-Joseph-Ferdinand-Herold-1791-1833-Klavierkonzerte-Nr-2-4/hnum/4920876

[Gareth Vaughan]

Fascinating.

[JimL]

It's about time!  These are probably the earliest extant French piano concertos.

[Mark Thomas]

Can we expect much from them (other than purely historical interest)?

[edurban]

If the tunes are as lively as those in Zampa, we could be in for a good time.

David

[Josh]

It's about time!  These are probably the earliest extant French piano concertos.

I have at least one in my CD collection that's earlier, by Boieldieu.
But anyway, I really can't wait for this!  I have his two symphonies, and they were disappointing, but not unpleasant.  I'd like to have some more, since I know that, if nothing else, this guy could write catchy tunes!

[eschiss1]

hrm. the Jadin brothers wrote keyboard (as in, playable by harpsichord as well?... not to be confused with Poulenc ) concertos, but I guess they were more keyboard than piano concertos... (on the Classical side of this forum's lines, also, those, true.  ) Still, Hyacinthe Jadin's concerto no.1 dates from 1796-7, and Louis-E. Jadin's concerto no.4 from 1810. Hrm. Then again, Boieldieu's in F is estimated to date from 1792, leaving those in the dust anyway... and is for fortepiano, not harpsichord? (Not everyone had made that step even at that late date, even though Mozart had long before...) Interesting...

[TerraEpon]

Not just Zampa, but La Fille Mal Gardee and La Somnambule.
Will be very interesting to hear his non-theater music.

[JimL]

Well, depending on the style, they may be the first French Romantic PCs, then!

[Mark Thomas]

Well, I hope that they are not as thin on interest and enjoyment as the symphonies proved to be.

[Alan Howe]

I'm not holding my breath. I'll wait for some audio samples to appear at jpc...

[kolaboy]

I hope it's a bit more memorable than the disc of string quartets that was issued in 1996...
A lot of these guys found their greatest success in dramatic/vocal works because those particular genres drew from them their finest inspirations. When it came to other areas of composition it often happened that the melodies flowed less freely. Not a hard and fast rule, but I have seen it demonstrated many times.
That said, I like the Boieldieu concerto. I have it on an old Vox/Turnabout album paired with his harp concerto.

[giles.enders]

Herold symphonies are indeed very dissapointing.  As for La Fille Mal Gardee, what we hear today is the result of many hands.

[alberto]

I share the unanimity of judgements about the Hérold symphonies.
Once, many years ago, I was attending a Melos Quartet concert in the beautiful Salle Garnier of Monte Carlo. On the Salle walls appear portraits of well known composers (say Berlioz, Rossini and so one) and .....of Hérold.
A manager (with a badge, coming from a "convention"), by chance neighbour to me, asked me....who was the guy named Hérold. I replied he was the author mostly of several operas, between them "Zampa" sometimes performed (more often the overture). Surely he understood.... what he already knew: that Hérold was not quite the equal of the other composers in the portraits.

[JimL]

Here's hoping that the dramatic element in the concerto that the other forms lack (i.e. the operatic pitting of a soloist against a larger body) makes for more interesting music than the symphonies, then.