Sylvio LAZZARI (1857-1944)
Piano Trio in G minor, Op.13 (c.1886) [36:02]
Wilhelm KIENZL (1857-1941)
Piano Trio in F minor, Op.13 (1880) [27:30]
Wilhelm JERAL (1861-1935)
Sérénade Viennoise, Op. 18 (pub 1922) [3:17]
Thomas Christian Ensemble
rec. October 2012, Bavarian Radio, Studio 2, Munich
CPO 777 761-2 [67:04]
Sylvio Lazzari (born Josef Fortunat Silvester) and Wilhelm Kienzl make for logical disc-mates. Both were born in 1857 and died within a few years of each other during the Second World War. Lazzari was born in the South Tyrol but spent much of his life in Paris where he studied with Giraud and Franck from 1883, later becoming a French citizen and remaining intensely self-critical. Kienzl grew up near Linz and studied in Vienna and Prague but remained wedded to his homeland. Both men were particularly known for operatic works; in Lazarri’s case it was his scandal-hit La Lepreuse of 1889 that, because of its content, was only premiered in 1912. Kienzl’s Der Evangelimann, by contrast, was widely performed and admired.
In CPO’s disc the focus is on their piano trios and by a coincidence both are their Op.13. Lazzari wrote his work around 1886 and it was a popular piece until new currents emerged after the First World War whereupon it pretty much disappeared from the repertoire. The songful ardour of Lazarri’s writing is strongly predicated on mid-century Germanic models, principally one feels, Schumann, rather than a quick absorption of the latest French trends in chamber music. The plaintive reverie of the Andante, whilst a little repetitious, is finely laid out and most engaging whilst the Allegretto is an interesting example of music pitched mid-point between Brahms and the Salon, despite some contrapuntal interjections. The sweeping romance of the finale, fulsome chording and fugal elements duly ticked off, also revisit – with profit - earlier material. It’s played passionately here with Thomas Christian bringing a greater quotient of expressive intensity than his string partner, cellist Attila Pasztor. Evgeny Sinaiski anchors things securely.
If Lazzari reveals strong Romantic German affiliations, Kienzl is somewhat more conventional and perhaps reveals less personality but then he was only 23 when he wrote it. He had sought Brahms’ opinion about his music, though not specifically this trio, but Brahms was in a dismissive mood and grouchy. If Lazzari looked back to Schumann, Kienzl incorporated some Mendelssohnian element in his trio. The result is plenty of long-breathed lyricism in modified sonata form and confident handling of that form for a young man, no matter how unhelpful Brahms may have been. Again, Kienzl, like Lazzari, looks as much to the lightness of the salon in his own genial scherzo though here his lack of development is clear. And for all the passion of his finale and the music’s quick, easy sweep there’s something a touch unrelieved about it. Yet for all that, this is a work that shows decided promise and skill in the form.
Things end with Wilhelm Jeral’s brief Sérénade Viennoise. Jeral is the third in a triumvirate of not well-known composers. The Prague-born Jeral was a few years younger than Lazzari and Kienzl and a distinguished cellist; first cello of the Court Opera, in fact, until Mahler appointed him principal of the Vienna Philharmonic in 1904. His piece was dedicated to Fritz Kreisler and published in 1922. There are two waltz themes, highly appropriate both for the city and the dedicatee, and is a real charmer, not least in this evocative performance.
Fine notes add to the professionalism of this release, abetted by a scrupulously good Bavarian radio recording.
Jonathan Woolf
