MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
Crotchet

 

Frantisek DUSSEK (1731-1799)
Piano Concerto in D major (c.1774) [20:55]
Piano Concerto in C major (c.1774)[16:15]
Piano Concerto in E flat major (c.1774) [20:49]
Karek Kosárek (piano)
Prague Chamber Orchestra
rec. 29 April-3 May 2007, Church of St Simon and Juda, Prague
ETCETERA KTC1369 [59:12] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


The Bohemian composer and pianist Frantisek Dussek rose from humble origins to be one of the most influential musicians in Prague. As a young man he gained an aristocratic patron, Count Johann Sporck, and studied music both in Prague and later with Wagenseil in Vienna. From 1765 he developed a successful career in Prague, where he remained for the rest of his life, working as was a keyboard player, teacher and composer. His wife Josefina was a notable soprano, and his friendship with Mozart proved important. Mozart stayed at Dussek’s home when he visited Prague and in fact completed the composition of Don Giovanni there in 1787. Today the Dussek house is one of the finest music museums in the world, a most atmospheric venue. 

As a composer Dussek remained loyal to the lighter galant style, completing some forty symphonies, plus at least three keyboard concertos, some twenty string quartets, a good deal of wind chamber music, and sonatas for keyboard: piano or harpsichord. But he is not the only Dussek, and should not be confused with the equally important Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812), another composer of keyboard music whose career took him throughout Europe. The two were not directly related. 

The first thing that needs be said about this disc of three keyboard concertos is that the recorded sound is particularly impressive. Set at a high level but with sensitive balancing, the music leaps out of the speakers at the beginning of the D major Concerto. As such the music really comes alive, and it is fresh and appealing, although not profound. The formula is the usual classical three-movement construction, and in two of these concertos, the D major and E flat major, the slow movements are substantial, some ten minutes in each case. While there are no dramatic experiences after the manner of later classical masters such as Beethoven, it is a tribute to Dussek’s sensitivity and taste that the music does not outstay its welcome. In part this is due to the carefully crafted balance between solo and ensemble. 

In a useful insert note Vojtech Spurny points out that the music might have been conceived with the harpsichord in mind, even if it was also played on the new fortepiano. The keyboard style is direct and to the point rather than indulgent of virtuosity, and in a different performance a more florid approach to decoration might occur. Not that the interpretation of Karel Kosárek is found wanting, since he plays most tastefully at the same time as directing the excellent Prague Chamber Orchestra. While there are interesting horn parts it is the strings who dominate the orchestral textures, and with most pleasing results. 

Ten years later Dussek’s friend Mozart was writing piano concertos which took the genre to new heights. However, these three works are enjoyable examples of the prevailing style of instrumental music from the 1770s, and they have real taste and refinement, as well as no little vitality. None has been recorded before, and Kosárek and the Prague Chamber Orchestra can be congratulated on bringing them before a wider public. 

Terry Barfoot





 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.