Re: Hyperion RVC Vol.22 - Lassen, P. Scharwenka & Langgaard

[Sharkkb8]

Back in May, Martin posted the scoop...."Linus Roth is to record both Philipp Scharwenka & Eduard Lassen violin concertos next month for Hyperion, and also, as a filler for what promises to be a generously-filled CD, the one-movement concerto by Rued Langgaard!"

Well, iTunes is now showing it as May 31 release, available to pre-order now.  Try as I might, I can find no offering for it elsewhere, and so I am unable to post a link here (you can't really post a traditional internet link to an item within iTunes, or at least I don't know how).  A link to a screenshot I did is below, although sometimes Dropbox can be temperamental.  Anyway, those with access to iTunes can simply search "lassen scharwenka langgaard" and it will come up in the "future release" category.

(And hooray for Hyperion - planned, recorded & released in about a year!   CPO take notice!)   

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ps8dbcl2kolo7z/jgw5114.jpg?dl=0

[Sharkkb8]

"you can't really post a traditional internet link to an item within iTunes"

Sorry about that, I just figured out how to do it....

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lassen-scharwenka-p-langgaard-violin-concertos/1451708638

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Sharkkb8. Now this is more like it, a really enticing release in what has been a somewhat pedestrian series by comparison with its RPC stablemate. Really looking forward to this one.

[Alan Howe]

All three VCs have featured in BBC Radio 3's Afternoon Concerts this week.

[Alan Howe]

I've listened to the first movement of P.Scharwenka's VC, finding it nothing special - attractive, certainly, but not up to the standard of the Lassen. The slow movement, though, sounds a different matter. I'll report back when I've listened all the way through.

[Mark Thomas]

It's good to hear Scharwenka's Concerto, although Alan's suspicions are correct: it's an attractive but not great piece of work. The first movement manages to be both highly lyrical and rather busy, although I got the impression that the issue was speed rather than momentum, so maybe a more measured approach to it would give the lyricism some depth. It is labelled Allegro moderato after all. The delicately scored slow movement does have depth, and is by some way the best of the three, a poetic outpouring of cantabile melody, hardly disturbed by drama. The last movement is no better or worse than many another tail-chasing concerto finale and, though it lacks the melodic richness of its two predecessors, it's an effective enough ending to the work. So, a bit of a curate's egg really, but I've heard far worse. It's good to have a recording of it and, barring my suspicion that the first movement is taken too fast, the performance itself is tip-top.

[Alan Howe]

Oh, I'd definitely put Moses in the 'pleasant' category. That's the trouble with it...

I've not yet really been bowled over by anything of P. Scharwenka's. The nearest would be his very Tchaikovskian 'Dramatische Phantasie' (on Sterling) which is certainly worth a listen.

[eschiss1]

I still hope to hear it; I find Scharwenka's chamber music quite good, eg. and have hoped to hear more. And a commercial recording of the Lassen is good news, agreed.

The comment about "That's the trouble with it" - allowing that I haven't heard Rubinstein's Moses and just as a general statement about too-nice settings of texts that presumably should be earth-shattering - reminds me of one thing I rated very highly about a certain (out-of-our-bounds, but expressively undoubtedly stunning ) 20th-century Swedish symphonic/choral setting of the Book of Revelation (even though I'm not Christian.)

[Alan Howe]

[Alan Howe]

There's now a brief excerpt from the P. Scharwenka at Hyperion's website:
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/ym.asp?ym=2019_06

[Alan Howe]

...longer excerpts are now available at the same link.

[Revilod]

I expect many of us have been getting to know these concertos recently. My impression is that both the Lassen and Scharwenka concertos are uneven but worth getting to know, in particular for their slow movements. Both slow movements are strong melodically and the Lassen includes some highly unsual effects.  The Langaard is pretty slight, though. Overall, this is one of the best in the RVC series.

[Mark Thomas]

Jeremy Nicholas in this month's Gramophone is unimpressed, calling the CD "one of Hyperion's less compelling releases". He lays into the Lassen in particular: "I found little to enjoy in it's procession of unmemorable, wishy-washy themes, it's amorphous first movement and, I'm sorry to say, the thin, unvaried tone and dynamics of the soloist". There is more in the same vein. The Scharwenka gets, by comparison, a thumbs up: "stronger material and a greater sense of purpose"; the slow movement is "beguiling" and the finale "delightful". He likes the Langgaard.

[Alan Howe]

The Lassen - unmemorable? Why, then, can I recall it in my mind's ear so clearly? Did Mr Nicholas give it his full attention?

Of course, we've known the piece here at UC for nearly four years...

[eschiss1]

Belatedly (prompted by its appearance in the RI catalog) I am reminded I agree; it was and remains a fortunate rediscovery.