Ernst von DOHNÁNYI (1877-1960)
Violin Sonata in C sharp minor, Op.21 (1912) [18:28]
Four Rhapsodies, Op.11 (1902-03) [24:15]
Piano Concerto No.2 in B minor, Op.42 (1946-47) [27:27]
Ernst von Dohnányi (piano)
Albert Spalding (violin)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult
rec. 1951, NYC (Rhapsodies); 1952, NYC (Sonata); September 1956, EMI Abbey
Road Studio No.1, London (Concerto)
Ambient Stereo except the Concerto; full stereo
PRISTINE AUDIO PASC 381 [69:57]
The real prize here for rarity is the recording of Dohnányi’s
Violin Sonata. Recorded in 1952, it wasn’t released until 1978 when
it appeared on a Varèse Sarabande LP. It joins Pristine Audio’s
restoration of the Brahms sonata collaborations of Dohnányi and the
elegant American violinist Albert Spalding [Pristine Audio PACM078]. In a sense it’s not
a real reflection of Spalding’s stature, any more than the Brahms Sonatas
which were made for Remington the previous year, given that Spalding had retired
and was soon to die. Thus Spalding’s intonation wavers too often in
the C sharp minor sonata, and there are several points where his technique
buckles under the strain of Dohnányi’s passagework. Add to this
the increasing thinness of Spalding’s tone, especially at the top, and
one might be forgiven for thinking this little more than a historical curio,
an artefact beloved of collectors and completists but of no real function
beyond that rather rarefied, somewhat obsessive community. That would not
wholly be so. The performance demarcates how Dohnányi wanted his sonata
to ‘go’ and Spalding does generate a degree of romantic intensity,
not least via his expressive and pervasive portamenti. There is plenty of
drive in the outer sections of the finale and phrasal nobility from the violinist,
though the tonal colour of his best days is long gone. So, it’s no match
violinistically for Ricci, or Shumsky, or even - more relevantly in terms
of its time period, perhaps - for the English violinist Thomas Matthews who
recorded it on 78s for Australian Columbia. Then again, this is Dohnányi’s
sonata and he is playing the piano - no small inducement.
Another valuable item is the 1951 Remington LP transfer of the Four Rhapsodies,
Op.11. There has been no CD transfer of this either. Though volume levels
fluctuate in the original set-up, one can only admire the composer-pianist’s
command, not least in the post-Lisztian heroics of the G minor or in the pugnacious
Mussorgskian moments of the C major. This is the one with sound level fluctuation
and also some inherent tape wobbles. The Dies Irae courses through
the final E flat minor.
The transfer of the Second Piano Concerto recording is in stereo, taken from
an American Angel source. It was recorded in London with Boult and the RPO,
the composer once more the executant. Couched in late-Romantic vernacular,
the urgent March theme of the first movement imparts a Brahms cum Rachmaninov
cum Liszt patina to the work. In the slow movement, though, one hears a considerable
amount of refined pianism and Boult draws out some distinguished string tone
from the orchestra even though thematically things are not especially distinctive.
The chattering winds in the finale beckon liveliness and the loquacious high
spirits are duly forthcoming; an amiable fugato included.
I should finally re-emphasise the point in the headnote: that the first two
items are in ambient stereo, whilst the concerto is in full stereo.
Jonathan Woolf
These performances demarcate how Dohnányi wanted these works to go.