Salomon JADASSOHN (1831-1902)
Piano Concerto No.1 in C minor Op.89 (1895?) [16:09]
Symphony No.1 in C major Op.24 (1860) [24:13]
Ignaz BRŰLL (1846-1907)
Violin Concerto in A minor Op.41 (2nd movement) (1880) [8:54]
Serenade No.1 Op.29 (4th and 5th movements) (1877) [10:37]
Overture - Macbeth Op.46* (1884) [8:52]
Valentina Seferinova (piano); Ilya Hoffman (violin)
Belarussian State Symphony Orchestra/Marius Stravinsky
Karelia State Philharmonic Orchestra/Denis Vlasenko (* live performances)
rec. July 2007 and December 2008
This music was specially recorded for a television documentary entitled "Out
Of Darkness" yet to be released.
CAMEO CLASSICS CC9026CD [68:40]
Ignaz BRŰLL (1846-1907)
Symphony in E minor op.31 (1880) [31:03]
Serenade No.1 in F major op.29 (1877) [35:16]
Belarussian State Symphony Orchestra/Marius Stravinsky
rec. Minsk, Belarus, July 2007.
CAMEO CLASSICS CC9027CD [67:06]
Cameo Classics have been stealing a march on the big players in the classical
market. If they continue in this vein they will win the respect and loyal sales
of a public increasingly willing to chance its arm with new or revived nineteenth
century repertoire.
Marius Stravinsky and the Belarussian State Symphony Orchestra give Jadassohn's
First Symphony a performance full of verve. It brings leaping out from its
pages the fire of Schumann's Fourth Symphony and something of Dvorak 8 too.
There is a Mendelssohnian joy and effervescent quality to the Scherzo which
contrasts with the long and sometimes sentimental Largo e mesto. Those
striding, surging and shuddering Schumann lines return for the invigorating
finale. Wonderful stuff. The piece ends with a degree of conventional bombast
and received convention but overall this is very attractive indeed. This is
followed by a starry Andante from the Brull Violin Concerto of 1882.
It seems a pity to appear by itself. However the music is heartfelt and somewhat
sentimental. The ensuring two movements from the Brull Serenade No. 1 are taken
from the complete recording on Cameo CC9027CD. Brull’s overture Macbeth has
a typically brooding character - in essence a tone poem in microcosm in the
manner of Schumann's Julius Caesar overture. In Jadassohn’s Piano
Concerto we are treated to a stormy attack. Heroic shrapnel flies every which
way in repeated evocations of the Liszt and Schumann piano concertos. Valentina
Seferinova is fully in charge and attacks the solo part with great romantic
flourish. Her stonily commanding tone is unmistakable. I did wonder about the
tuning once or twice though. This is one of the romantic concertos recorded
live in concert as part of a Cameo Classics video documentary on German Jewish
composers whose music was suppressed. This single movement concerto as written
encompasses just over 16 minutes.
Marius Stravinsky was again the conductor in July 2007 for the Cameo sessions
in Minsk for two Brull works. This brings us to the second CD - all Brull this
time (www.ignazbrull.com). His First
is a big symphony in four movements across 31 minutes. It is a determinedly
romantic work. It has a very slightly Brahmsian accent with a Brucknerian tension
in the brass. A steady Allegretto has some nice pizzicato filigree. The Scherzo
is jolly and has a rustic tang which links with Beethoven’s Pastoral.
Some lovely explosive pizzicato writing not to mention a revolutionary and
almost Tchaikovskian swooning takes the listener a step outwards into the unknown.
The stepping off point for this music seems to be Brahms’ Third Symphony.
The big final Moderato deploys a lovely dignified theme of ecclesiastical
weight. Yet it also has a yearningly passionate aspect. It’s a sort of ‘enigma’ theme;
a real corker with great dignity and lunging energy. This deeply unfamiliar
music is liberated with great passion by the Belarus State Symphony Orchestra
and Marius Stravinsky. It may not be as lush in the string benches as we would
want but the passion in the performances goes a very long way. The big Serenade
No. 1 is a lower key affair but with plenty of pleasing invention though nothing
to compare with the wonderful Symphony. In that sense the Serenade is to the
Symphony what Brahms serenades are to Brahms symphony No. 1. The exception
is to be found in the movement at track 8 which is more interesting with echoes
of Mendelssohn's Hebrides and in its more dramatic moments of Ruy
Blas, Athalie and The Fair Melusine.
It’s a shame about the typos and impossibly small print in the inserts
but this is a small price to pay for discoveries you might perhaps have expected
first from CPO.
Rob Barnett