Leo WEINER (1885-1960)
Romance for Cello, Harp and Strings Op.29 (1949) [7:36]
Divertimento No.2 'Hungarian Folk Melodies' Op.24 (1938) [15:00]
Pastorale, Fantasy and Fugue Op.23 (1934) [22:16]
Hungarian Nursery Rhymes and Folk Songs (1955) [9:31]
Divertimento No.1 'After Old Hungarian Dances' Op.20 (1934) [11:44]
Ditta Rohmann (cello), Melinda Felletár (harp)
Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV/ Valéria Cśanyi
rec. 2018/19, Studio 22 of Hungarian Radio Budapest & Hungaraton Rottenbiller Street Studio, Budapest, Hungary
NAXOS 8.574125 [66:33]
This is the fourth disc in Naxos' survey of the orchestral music of Leó Weiner - each performed by the same artists as here. All of these CDs have been impressively and idiomatically performed and the repertoire is valuable in expanding the knowledge of Weiner's work outside his native Hungary. For those discovering his music for the first time, this disc might be the best introduction to his work of the series so far. With the exception of the [small] orchestral Hungarian Nursery Rhymes and Folk Songs, all of the music presented here is written for string orchestra and all of it has been recorded before.
Although Weiner was only four or so years younger than his famous composer colleagues Kodály and Bartók, he did not fully absorb Hungarian folksong into his musical vocabulary until after 1930. Up until this point, as István Kassai details in his useful liner note, he made some use of the musical rhythms and melodic shapes of folksong and dance within his late Romantic music without it ever dictating the style or form. Post-1930 the influence of folk music became more explicit and defining in his compositions. The two String Divertimenti of 1934 and 1938 recorded here are examples of this compositional 'reawakening'. The Divertimento No.1 'After Old Hungarian Dances' Op.20 is probably Weiner's most recorded work and as near to a popular piece as he wrote. That said, it is still relatively unfamiliar to non-Hungarian audiences and players. But if you respond to the direct appeal of works such as Bartók's Roumanian Dances or Hungarian Sketches this will prove immediately enjoyable. That work is placed last on the disc - almost in the role of an encore - so there is the best part of an hour's music to listen to first.
In Hungary, Weiner's main contribution to the artistic life of his country was as a teacher and in fact many of his former pupils have carried the flame for him as a composer by recording his works. A case in point is the Romance for Cello, Harp and Strings that opens the disc. The great János Starker recorded this work and although it is slight it is a charmer. Originally a piece for cello and piano, the addition of an important harp part - which sounds more demanding than the solo cello! - is very effective. The cello part here is played by Ditta Rohmann very beautifully although it makes few demands on a player of any real stature as she clearly is. Throughout this and previous discs, conductor Valéria Cśanyi and the strings of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV are provided with a rich and resonant acoustic which helps give the playing a vibrant warmth that suits the music well. In the context of the other music presented here, this piece pre-dates Weiner's embracing of his country's folk-music, so the thematic material has a distinct folk-like flavour without him using any particular original melody. The use of pentatonic themes both here and in the other works give the music an appealing 'open air' quality but the accompanying harmony and the orchestration imply a sophistication that speak more of the concert hall than the countryside. Rohmann's cello and Melinda Felletár's harp are very well caught by the engineers - discreetly prominent but not overly so. The pensive lyricism of the work - the only brief climax is no more than a cloud passing across the sun - is very appealing indeed and this proves to be a highlight of the disc. Kassai rightly points to a French impressionistic sensibility in the use of harmony and the instrumental writing.
The difference is immediately clear when hearing the next work on the disc, the Divertimento No.2 'Hungarian Folk Melodies'. Weiner was an avid listener to and transcriber of phonograph cylinders that were held in Budapest's Ethnographic Institute. These provided him with the raw musical material for many of his later works. This Divertimento is another attractive work with four contrasting movements which altogether run for a compact fifteen minutes. The strings of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV play with a security that I imagine comes of familiarity and the acoustic helps gives the group a rich and full sound. Interesting to make a direct comparison with the 2017 recording on Chandos of the Five Divertimenti [Numbers 3-5 are for orchestra] by Neeme Jarvi and The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. The playing there is very good as well although the recording distances the strings which results in much of the music sounding refined rather than earthy. Both discs reveal how effectively Weiner can orchestrate and handle his source material.
In terms of both musical content and simple length, the Pastorale, Fantasy and Fugue Op.23 is the most substantial work on this disc. Although the opus number positions it between the two 'folk' Divertimenti, Kassai places the work in the earlier phase of Weiner's creative development and rightly so. The use of folk-inspired melodic and rhythmic shapes is unmistakable but none of these are explicitly folk-derived although the fugal finale does draw on a traditional Hungarian bagpipe song. There are curious moments in the opening Pastorale where for a second it can sound as if the music has been transported to an English countryside before a harmonic twist or melodic counterpoint pulls you back to central Europe. The central Fantasy is an impressive movement with more explicit emotional content than Weiner usually exhibits which in turn allows some impressive playing from the orchestra and its leader. Kassai points out Weiner's technical skill as a composer in the closing fugue where the folk material is used to "combine the structure of a fugue with sonata form and the quality of a Mendelssohnian scherzo." This is certainly a work that deserves to be more widely known and played outside of its native Hungary.
The Hungarian Nursery Rhymes and Folk Songs that follow are receiving their world premiere recording on this disc. They are charming but slight - the nine movements lasting a combined total of just 9:31. Nominally these are for orchestra but - without access to a score - it sounds as if this is a chamber orchestral group with a harp, single wind and a pair of horns added (occasionally) to the strings. Weiner is skilful in allowing this simple music to be just that - simple. No.3 'Spring Breeze' [track 11] is a case in point which is disarmingly beautiful. Quite how out of place in 1955 Hungary this was with the prevailing political mood is an interesting if probably irrelevant thought.
As mentioned previously the Divertimento No.1 'After Old Hungarian Dances' Op.20 which completes this disc is Weiner's best known, most often recorded work. Direct comparison of this new performance with that of another Weiner pupil - Fritz Reiner in Pittsburgh is telling. There is a distinct difference in approach. Of course the near seventy year old Reiner recording cannot match the new one in purely technical terms but he favours a firey and overtly virtuosic approach over Cśanyi's rather more relaxed (and slower) interpretation. Certainly Reiner emphasises temperament in this music with accents very sharply etched and rhythms pointed which results in an excitingly compelling interpretation. Another Weiner pupil, Georg Solti, did not commercially record this work as far as I know but he follows a similarly incisive and overtly brilliant style in the Weiner works he did commit to disc [Csongor & Tunde and the Serenade for Small Orchestra]. So while this new disc is a useful and attractive introduction there is an argument for a more dynamic approach to the music than Cśanyi favours.
However, this well recorded, confidently played programme cements the attractive music of Leo Weiner as being well-worth performing. With the exception of the Pastorale, Fantasy and Fugue Op.23, this is essentially quite light but very enjoyable music that benefits from sympathetic and idiomatic performances. István Kassai's English-only liner is very helpful highlighting information about both the music and this relatively unfamiliar composer.
A useful addition to Naxos' expanding catalogue of music by this skilled composer with the Romance and Pastorale, Fantasy and Fugue proving to be works worthy of much wider dissemination.
Nick Barnard
