These two historic
performances make most natural disc-mates.
The Violin Concerto is the first recording
whilst the Horn Concerto derives from
a live concert performance given by
the visiting Dennis Brain in 1956, the
year before his tragic death. Hungarian
violinist Stefi Geyer (1888-1956) shared
with her compatriot Jelly d’Aranyi an
almost magnetic allure for composers
– in the case of the former Bartók
and Schoeck, both of whom wrote concertos
for her (d’Aranyi stirred variously
admiration and something more from amongst
others Ravel, Elgar and Bartók).
This is germane to
the Violin Concerto because Schoeck
fell in love with Geyer and wrote the
work – and smaller violin and piano
pieces – for her, though in the end
she didn’t give the première
performance. The fantasia element is
strong throughout the three-movement
work, which takes as
its compositional axis a confluence
of Dvořák and Brahms. There’s a
great deal of highly persuasive lyricism,
and a sensitive cantilena – Schoeck
ending the first movement with a genuinely
effective reserve. The Grave second
movement achieves real poignancy
and the finale opens the windows with
fresh air swirl and a dancing evocative
release. It’s an unusually wistful work
and has, thankfully, received modern
recordings. Jecklin sound to have utilised
commercial 78 copies (one can faintly
sense the side joins at 4.10 and 8.25
in the first movement for instance)
but it’s very, very dimly and backwardly
transferred. Comparison with the LYS
CD transfer of a few years back shows
that whilst theirs was rather blatant
and unsubtle, there was also far more
detail, immediacy and life. One can
clearly hear with LYS Geyer’s almost
cellistic lower strings in the second
movement and the pellucid, though not
very distinctive, upper ones as well.
The sonics for the
live Horn Concerto are pretty good.
Written in 1951 it reflects the increasing
transparency of scoring that Schoeck
adopted though there was no diminishment
in his lyricism and sense of fun. The
model is broadly Straussian, virtuosic
and challenging, but lyrical. Brain
proves himself secure in even the highest
positions and responds with élan
to the work’s many opportunities for
lyricism and display. The second movement
in particularly effective - colour and
vibrancy to the fore and a real romanticism
as well, topped by a lighthearted hunting
Rondo finale.
The fine notes are
by Schoeck expert Chris Walton. Jecklin
are doing good things for Schoeck and
that’s very welcome. I can’t in all
honesty recommend their transfer of
the Violin Concerto but the rarity value
of Dennis Brain in the Horn Concerto
can’t be over-estimated.
Jonathan Woolf
see also review
by Rob Barnett
Stefi Geyer (violin)