Ronald Corp has a gift for this sort of programme. The content here is
associated with the 78, with nostalgia and the wireless.
The blatant jollity of Jessel's
Parade der Zinnsoldaten is contrasted with the crooning, golden chimes and stately-sedate luxury of
Gold und Silber - the longest track here. The Pierné
March
is delightfully done. It spins and smiles along with economy-class
luggage rather than the aristocratic heaviness of the Lehár. The Gounod
Funeral March is a nicely sly and secretive piece which can
still surprise with its strange Beethovenian half-lights. Austro-German
voices are plenteous here and it's as expected that we get some Strauss
in the form of the famous breathless
Polka complete with its explosions and Hungarian skirls. Lincke's name is familiar but I did not know the
Glühwürmchen-Idyll - great title. It's a ballroom charmer and is delightfully pointed and lifted. Alfvén's cheeky little
Polka provides some relief from Teutonic embraces. Waldteufel's
Les patineurs washes gently forward, making obeisance to Tchaikovsky and Delibes along the way.
Andrew Lamb in his liner-note tells us of the popularity of Heykens'
Ständchen between the wars. It has a touch of Binge about it and very welcome too. Padilla's
El relicario comes tied with Hispanic ribbons and plenty of flowing Iberian atmosphere. I see that Padilla wrote the songs
Valencia and
Ça, c’est Paris! for Mistinguett. The waltz arises tireless and permeates the Italian composer, Becucci's
Tesoro mio!
and shakes over it a bounteous Spanish and Viennese dusting. While it
hails from the 1890s its ephemeral fame can be traced back to Britain
and the 1950s when it was decked out with English words as
Waltzing the Hours Away. Hellmesberger's chattering and flighty
Ball-Szene
is given a dashing run for its money - a virtuoso outing for the
orchestra, although it does eventually find a less hyperventilating
pulse for the equivalent of a cooling balcony episode. The Weinberger
Schwanda Polka is a voluptuous piece plucked from the opera
Schwanda the Bagpiper - recorded complete on Naxos by Wexford forces conducted by Julian Reynolds (
review review)
and previously on Sony (36926) with a Munich company conducted by Heinz
Wallberg. This is just the polka rather than its accustomed companion
'cellmate', the Fugue. Fetrás's
Mondnacht auf der Alster
comes next. The Alster refers to the Hamburg lakes. The moonlight plays
gently over this light waltz yet Fetrás also finds time for those
ball-room thunder-crashes. Halvorsen's
The entry of the Boyars
is the piece which kept his name in the glinting light. There's a touch
of Grieg's Mountain King about it. Chandos and Neeme Järvi have
recently done Halvorsen proud with a very fine 4 CD box of the
orchestral music (CHAN10834-4), rather eclipsing those Norwegian LP era
recordings.
If after hearing this reissued disc you are looking for more of the same then don't forget Guild's
Golden Age of Light Music
series - now approaching 140 discs strong and showing no signs of
'getting the stitch'. The present disc complements the same company's
American Light Music Classics CDA67067 - still at premium - and the bargain 4-CD boxed set of
British Light Music Classics CDS44261/4 - all with the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp.
Corp and the NLO affectionately stir the memories with the musical
equivalent of a pleasing grand tour - and nothing too profound.
Rob Barnett
Full contents list
Leon JESSEL (1871-1942) Parade der Zinnsoldaten [2:53]
Franz LEHÁR (1870-1948) Gold und Silber [8:40]
Gabriel PIERNÉ (1863-1937) Marche des petits soldats de plomb (Movement of Album pour mes petits amis) [2:57]
Johann STRAUSS (1825-1899) Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka [2:45]
Paul LINCKE (1866-1946) Glühwürmchen-Idyll [7:01]
Hugo ALFVÉN (1872-1960) Swedish Polka [2:31]
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893) Marche funčbre d'une marionnette [4:24]
Émile WALDTEUFEL (1837-1915) Les patineurs [7:43]
Jonny HEYKENS (1884-1945) Ständchen [4:22]
José PADILLA (1889-1960) El relicario [3:04]
Ernesto BECUCCI (1845-1905) Tesoro mio! [7:13]
Joseph HELLMESBERGER (1828-1893) Ball-Szene [5:48]
Jaromír WEINBERGER (1896-1967) Polka (Act 1 Scene 2, Opening of Švanda dudák - 'Schwanda the bagpiper') [2:10]
Oscar FETRÁS (1854-1931) Mondnacht auf der Alster [8:11]
Johan HALVORSEN (1864-1935) Bojarenes inntogsmarsj - 'The entry of the Boyars' [4:43]
