As is self-evident from the early recording date, this is a
re-release. The disc was first issued in 1995 as Capriccio 10444,
and is identical apart from the cover artwork, which, it must
be said, is a considerable improvement on the gaudy original.
Capriccio 10444 is still available on the internet on various
commercial sites - in fact, the Naxos store at classicsonline.com
offers a choice of either at the same download price. The original
disc almost shades it in fact, thanks to the hilarious heading
on the front cover which proclaims "Piano Concertos of
the Beethoven Area"!
When this disc first appeared, it was one of few recordings
of Dussek's music. Today, there are still shamefully few recordings,
so this release offers a good opportunity to the music-lover
to acquire this highly collectible disc, particularly as the
sound quality is very good, both balance-wise and technically
- putting many modern recordings to shame, in fact.
'Dussek' is an authentic spelling, by the way, in that it was
the form used by Jan Ladislav, at least once he left Bohemia.
The original Czech version of his name was 'Dussik', which nowadays
would be spelt 'Dusík'. Further Dussek-related confusion may
arise from the fact that his father was also a composer called
Jan (1738-1818), and from other composers in this musical family
to rival Benda or Stamic, including Dussek's brother FrantiŠek/Franz
(1766-1816 - see recent review
of his own piano concertos), his sister Katerina (1769-1833)
- also known as Veronica, whose surname sometimes occurs in
its Czech form Dusíkova, but was also known under her married
name Cianchettini; his wife Sophia (1775-1847), whose surname
became Moralt when she remarried after Dussek's death; and his
daughter Olivia (?1798 - after 1841), whose music was published
under the name "O.B. Dussek", the "B" standing
for her married name Buckley.
In any case, there are 17 piano concertos in all by Jan Ladislav,
including one for two pianos and an early work which has been
lost. One published as op.66 is actually a cheeky alloy of the
outer movements of one concerto and the middle of the B flat
op.22. The publishing chaos of the time can be further illustrated
by the fact that the G minor Concerto op.49 was also published
as op.50. The Sufferings of the Queen of France op.23
was also published under "op.44" and again without
opus number!
Dussek's monumental Piano Concerto in G minor, op.49, is an
as yet unrecognised masterwork of the era in this genre. Though
only four years separate Dussek and Mozart, and despite the
fact that this work is initially redolent of Mozart's highly
influential C minor concerto K.491, Dussek's piano writing by
1801, the year he wrote this Concerto, clearly belongs to a
different time, with greater expressiveness, chromaticism, more
adventurous chords and richer textures. Though structurally
pretty much of its time - a long Allegro, followed by a shorter
Adagio and a Rondo finale - this work peers harmonically and
dramatically far into the century ahead as one of the pioneers
of the Romantic piano concerto. The long, brooding first movement
has a Sturm und Drang feel to it, as do the dramatic
exclamations in the otherwise calm slow movement whose lyrical
quality is reminiscent of Schubert. The final Rondo, marked
Allegro non troppo, makes fine use of silence and ritenuti,
but is otherwise a bustling, optimistic, ironically almost Haydnesque
movement. Dussek waited nearly a decade before composing a final
work in this genre - see review
- although he did in the meantime write the one for two pianos.
The Piano Concerto in B flat, op.22 is a more exuberant, but
also more modest and fairly conventional work: the orchestration
is straightforward textbook Classical, the piano writing virtuosic
though never tawdry. It sounds considerably more like a cross
between Viennese Mozart and Beethoven, particularly the latter's
own Concerto in the same key, the so-called Second that was
in fact his first. As Dussek's work predates Beethoven's by
two years, the direction of influence is all the more intriguing.
As an indisputable fortepiano virtuoso and expert on this period,
Andreas Staier quite unsurprisingly gives a brilliant performance
in both concertos, even at this relatively early stage in his
career. Staier's decision to interpolate some of his own music
at the start of the final movement of the op.22 Concerto on
the grounds that "one becomes weary of the key of B flat
major", which Dussek had unusually written all three movements
in, is controversial and perhaps arrogant - but thankfully it
is tastefully and seamlessly done, and does not detract from
Dussek's fine music.
The fortepiano Staier plays here is both historically appropriate
and a tribute to Dussek's own influence on the development of
the instrument through his relationship with the Scottish manufacturer
John Broadwood, whom he persuaded to extend its range in the
early 1790s from five to five-and-a-half octaves and then again
to six. The fortepiano used in this recording is in fact an
1806 Broadwood, and with the period instruments of Concerto
Köln creates a marvellously authentic sound.
The final work on the disc is a real curio, and not just because
the title of The Sufferings of the Queen of France is
given in the track listing as Tableau "Marie Antoinette".
What Dussek's original title was is not clear - the booklet
gives no contextual information at all about the work, not even
a hint as to why it has even been included on the disc - it
is written after all for piano solo. The New Grove Dictionary
gives only the Sufferings title and, moreover, makes
no mention of a text or narrator. The most likely explanation
is that Dussek himself made notes in the score.
Appropriately the text is recited in 18th-century French, with
a strangely modern-seeming overlap in places of declamation
and music. The text is printed in the booklet in modern French,
which differs slightly, and there is a translation into German.
Oddly there is no English version - though Capriccio is an Austrian
label, the rest of the booklet does have an English section,
so this looks like an omission. On the other hand, even with
half-forgotten school-level French almost everyone should be
able to follow the 'action'. And in any case, this is not a
work that will likely appeal to all and sundry - whilst some
will find it a well-written, imaginative tribute to an interesting
historical figure personally known to Dussek, others will see
it more as feeble melodrama. The ten brief sections are titled
as follows:
1 Largo: The Queen is imprisoned
2 Maestosamente: She reflects on her former greatness
3 Agitato assai - andante: She is separated from her children
- Final farewells
4 Allegro con furia: The death sentence is pronounced against
her
5 Allegro innocente: Her resignation
6 Andante agitato: The situation during the night before her
execution. The guards who must escort her to the place of execution
arrives. They enter the prison
7 Lento - marche
8 Presto furioso: The angry tumult of the crowd can be heard
9 Molto adagio: The Queen prays to the Almighty at the moment
of death. The Guillotine falls
10 Allegro Maestoso: Apotheosis
Dussek wrote the piece away from the turmoil of the Revolution
in England, although whether or not he actually fled there,
as some biographies claim (including the one in the New Grove
Dictionary), is, like several stories attached to this larger
than life figure, open to debate - by 1807 he was back working
in Paris, where he stayed until he died. In any case, the piece
is musically interesting both for its multiple modulations and
for its rhetorical figurations which Dussek employs to great
effect to create dramatic flourishes, sighs, tears, drumming,
and the fall of the Guillotine blade.
The CD booklet is informative, with an interesting note by Christopher
Clarke, who restored the 1806 Broadwood, on "Dussek and
the English Piano". However, the translation of the notes
on Dussek's music leaves a little to be desired; for example,
the German "B-Dur" of Dussek's concerto becomes "B
major" instead of B flat major in Staier's note explaining
his decision to add a few extra bars. More ridiculously, "Dussek
died of gout, mourned by musical society throughout Europe"
is rendered as "Dussek died of gout, deplored by the musical
society all over Europe". The punctuation and diacritics
too are poor: random almost to the point of absurdity in places,
especially in the French translation. Capriccio have had over
fifteen years to correct the errors, which number in the dozens
- there is no excuse for this.
Also, the biographies of Staier and Concerto Köln are now years
out of date. Werner Erhardt, for example, described as the ensemble's
"concert master and spiritus rector", left in 2005.
Both Staier and Concerto Köln have grown in stature since this
recording was made. At least two CDs featuring Concerto Köln
have appeared in the last few months, both well received here
and here.
Staier has also stayed busy in the recording studio - last year
alone Harmonia Mundi issued three discs featuring Staier: Bach's
Goldberg Variations (HMC 902058), C.P.E. Bach Sonatas and Fantasies
(7576302) and Schumann Sonatas for Piano and Violin (HMC 902048).
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
Andreas Staier (piano)
