Hyperion RPC no.55 - Widor

[albion]

I recently came across reference to a cpo release of two Widor Symphonies for organ and orchestra. The first is an orchestrated amalgamation of movements from the 6th and 2nd solo works (designated as Op.42), the second is the later Sinfonia Sacra, Op.81 -



CPO 777 443-2 (SACD)


Although I'm not a fan of solo organ music I love the instrument in combination with an orchestra, so this may be one that I decide to explore. Hurwitz gave this release a 10/10 rating: is this a reasonable assessment?

[reineckeforever]

I gave a look to the 2 piano score of Boyle Piano concerto i d minor, very interesting.
The piano writing, tempo  and the 6/4 bars, recall strongly Brahms PC1.
This remember me an idea for a new topic about unsung piano concertos. I think there are some threads, trains of thoughts that relate works by different composers and different times. For example, beethovenPC4, Brull PC1 and Reinecke PC 3, as said in an other topic. It would be nice to find and discuss these relationships, sometimes I found that unsung came before sung.
Sorry for going out of topic, bye. Andrea

[semloh]

From perhaps a rather different perspective the two reviews on Amazon both rate it 4 out of 5, as does the review at hbdirect.com; the review at aud.aud.com seems to be liekwise positive but not enthusiastic "quite enjoyable". It gets two positive reviews and a third absolutely slating it at:
http://www.sa-cd.net/showreviews/6155
I have the Guild recording of the Op.42 arrangement. The organ is spectacular but doesn't overwhelm the orchestra, and I think this is as good as it can be. The dynamics are always a problem, I much prefer the organ alone, and I suspect Widor was perhaps persuaded to make the arrangement against his better judgement.(?)

[JimL]

...I think there are some threads, trains of thoughts that relate works by different composers and different times. For example, beethovenPC4, Brull PC1 and Reinecke PC 3, as said in an other topic...

I think you meant Brüll PC 2, Andrea.  Brüll PC 1 starts out with the orchestra.

[reineckeforever]

yes JimL...of course.
  sorry

[markniew]

thankyou,
nothing about the next issues of this series?
bye, Andrea

Hi,

I am not sure but perhaps Hyperion is going to record in further future pf cto by the Polish Jozef Wladyslaw Krogulski (1815-1842).
During this year edition of the International Music Festival "Chopin and his Europe" Howard Shelley played that composition - very nice and tuneful in early romantic style. Up to that moment there exists only one recording of it done in 60s for the Polish Radio archives by Regina Smendzianka. She recorded then also Krogulski's Variations in form of Krakoviak - for pf and orch. Krogulski composed also second pf cto - never however recorded.

and one more possible addition to the Hyperion series. Last year after the concert of Jonathan Plowrigh here in Warsaw I asked him about his future input to the series. He replied that he did or was about to record concertos and Ballada by Ludomir Rozycki.

Marek

[reineckeforever]

thank you Marek,
i'm going to learn more about these composers..
Bye, Andrea

[Gareth Vaughan]

I don't know the Krogulski works but if Howard Shelley has become interested in them there is a very good chance Hyperion may consider them for recording, especially as he wrote enough concertante music to devote a full CD to him. The Rozycki does not surprise me either - it's an obvious choice for the series (again, like Krogulski, 3 concertante works for piano & orchestra which would nicely fit a CD).

[X. Trapnel]

Marek--Thank you for the very welcome news about the Rozycki concertos. now if someone would only do the symphonic poems, Anhelli in particular. I think of Rozycki as making up in part the Karlowicz we never had.

[eschiss1]

Based on the recording I think I've heard over BBC, Anheli sounds very good... (it's been recorded before though, on an LP on Muza and then (the same performance, I think) as a CD on Olympia back in '88; hopefully one of the labels that's been mining Olympia's selections will reissue it in turn...)

[X. Trapnel]

Anhelli is my favorite work by Rozycki, but I've always found the sound on the cd harsh and grating. It really deserves a new recording.

[chill319]

To synthesize two threads of this discussion...

What do you gentlemen (and, I hope, lurking ladies) think was the role, if any, of French influences on early 20th-centrury American music that were *not* from Debussy/Ravel? Did Widor have an influence on organ music (or other music) composed in the States? Farwell demonstrably drew inspiration from Franck. And what of d'Indy and the Schola Cantorum? Are Beach's String Quartet and late Piano Trio legitimate descendents? Did Severac or Satie leave traces?

[eschiss1]

Beach's quartet in particular is an odd one, I think (a very posthumously published odd one, too, I think, despite the moderate opus number)- but then so are works by many of those composers, including their string quartet works (to my mind among their finest, d'Indy's sometimes maligned first two included without hesitation- etc.) I wonder which of these works which composers demonstrably knew- probably a reasonable number if (and I think this is pretty definitely so for many of these composers) they had access to chamber and orchestral concerts in medium-to-larger cities at the time (where groups which played both foreign and US repertoire were often heard, I think, judging from what I can obtain of concert programs- e.g. the Musical Yearbook of the United States and the Boston Symphony's program guides at Google Books, etc. ...)

[semloh]

Getting back to Widor - I see that he wrote a significant amount of orchestral music which doesn't feature the organ, including 2 symphonies, a Spanish overture, at least half a dozen works for chorus & orchestra, several ballets and associated suites, various bits of incidental music, a Fantaisie for piano & orchestra, a cello concerto and a violin concerto, and ISMPL lists the two piano quintets as concertos. None of this music appears in current CD catalogues, as far as I can tell, and I must confess I've never heard anything but his organ works. His chamber works and songs have been quite widely recorded. Does anyone know what the orchestral music is like?

[X. Trapnel]

Another American composer who might have been French influenced was Ralph Lyford (1882-1927) who had some association with Debussy. There is a piano concerto...