Jenö Hubay and His Pupil Emil Telmányi
Jenö Hubay (violin)
Emil Telmányi (violin)
Gerald Moore, Annette Telmanyi, Ottó Herz, Pál Kiss (piano)
Mária Basilides (contralto)
Members of the Budapest Orchestra/Ferenc Fricsay
Orchestra of the Hungarian Academy/Nándor Szolt
Royal Orchestra, Copenhagen/Thomas Jensen
rec. 1928-59
DANACORD DACOCD851 [77:21]
This splendid historical CD presents the ‘utterly rare’ complete recordings made by the Hungarian violinist Jenö Hubay as well as a selection of ‘sought after’ early recordings by ‘Danish by adoption’ violinist Emil Telmányi. They have been brilliantly transferred by Danacord engineer Claus Byrith. Even allowing for the fact that some of these pieces were originally ‘set down’ in the 1920s, this is an excellently resourced album of music for violin, piano and orchestra.
A few brief biographical notes about the two ‘star’ performers may set this CD in context. Jenö Hubay was born in Budapest in 1858. After receiving his early musical formation as a violinist and composer from his father, he made his earliest appearance as a soloist aged 11 years. Further study with two eminent violinists, the Hungarian Joseph Joachim and the Belgian Henri Vieuxtemps ensued. With encouragement from Franz Liszt, Hubay began his international career with a highly successful recital in Paris. He also pursued an academic career, firstly as head of violin studies at the Brussels Music Institute and, after 1888, as the head of the Liszt Academy in Budapest. In his capacity as a teacher Hubay had many outstanding pupils including Joseph Szigeti, Stefi Geyer, Jelly d'Arányi and Emil Telmányi. In 1886 he formed the Budapest String Quartet, which was highly regarded throughout Europe. They performed together for some 27 years. Jenö Hubay was prolific as a composer with nine operas, four symphonies (including two choral) and four violin concertos in his catalogue as well as numerous works for chamber ensembles. He died on 12 March 1937.
The Hungarian violinist Emil Telmányi was born in 1892, in Arad. At the age of ten he gave his first concert performance in his home city. Telmányi left the Budapest Academy with several diplomas in teaching, performance and composition. Thus began an international career that saw him make extensive tours in Europe and the United States. He was a great enthusiast of then-contemporary Scandinavian music. He married Carl Nielsen’s daughter, Anne-Marie and remained a great advocate of his father in law’s music until the end of his life. He was also an exponent of Bach’s solo violin instrument, to which he brought a romantic tone rather than a baroque interpretation. In 1939 he moved to Denmark and became a naturalised citizen. Emil Telmányi died in Copenhagen in 1988 aged 96.
I explored the second half of the CD first. These are the Jenö Hubay recordings. First up is the ‘Larghetto’ (originally the Andante) from Handel’s Flute Sonata No.9 arranged by the soloist for violin and orchestra. It is a gorgeous piece of music that works well in Hubay’s transcription. We are on familiar ground with the hackneyed Air from Bach’s great Suite No. 3 for orchestra in D major, BWV 1068. It is played to perfection here. Ok, it’s not Back to Bach, but it is sublime. The remainder of Hubay’s offering consists of four of his own compositions. Some of these were clearly encores. The lovely cradle song, Berceuse, written in simple ternary form, is quietly played. The heart-breaking ‘Intermezzo’, from Hubay’s opera The Violin Maker of Cremona op. 40 is heard at the end of Act 1 as the violin maker tries out his newly made instrument. Interestingly, this solo in the opera was usually played by Hubay himself, behind the scenes.
Jenö Hubay wrote a series of 14 ‘Scčnes de la Csárda’ (Scenes from the Tavern). These pieces clearly owe much to Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies. I understand that several were based on improvisations that Hubay gave at recitals. The form of each ‘Scene’ tends to include an introduction, several Hungarian folk tunes with variations including complex violin pyrotechnics to conclude. Two ‘Scenes’ are included here: ‘Pici Tubicám’ and ‘Hullámzó Balaton’ (translated, I think as ‘My Little Turtle Dove’ and ‘The Waves of Balaton’). Whatever they may be about, they are fun, lyrical and splendidly played. The final work by Hubay is the song ‘Ugy-e Jani?’ (Are you not Jani?) which is sung here by the contralto Maria Basilides, sounding very like Kathleen Ferrier. This features a violin and piano accompaniment. It is quite delightful.
I turned to the eight pieces played by Emil Telmányi. The one major work is Saint-Saens’s Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, op. 28 for solo violin and orchestra. This was composed in 1863 for the great violinist Pablo de Sarasate: the date of its premiere is unknown. The work introduces several Iberian sounding rhythms and tunes. I guess that it is designed to display the prodigious talent of the soloist, rather than being a profound work of art. The violinist is to the fore for most of the piece’s progress, with the orchestra providing typically a light accompaniment. Certainly, Telmányi gives a superb performance of this demanding and ever-popular piece.
The CD’s opening track is a ‘Largo’ by the Italian violinist and composer, Francesco Maria Veracini and arranged by fellow countryman Mario Corti. It is a melancholy little piece that is extracted from an unidentified violin sonata. Three little encores follow. The first is ‘La Caccia’ (The Hunt) by Turin composer Carlo Chiabrano, whose claim to fame is that he was allegedly the first to use double harmonics in a violin composition. The second ‘encore’ is ‘Hora Staccato’ by the Romanian violin virtuoso and composer, Grigoras Dinicu. It is a modish little number, that is the most modern sounding piece on this CD. This short and rapid piece demands superb technique of ‘up and down’ bow staccato. It has been arranged for many instruments and ensembles including full orchestra. Jenö Hubay’s ‘Les Fileuses’ is up next. This is the third number of the Impressions from Puszta, (Three Character Pieces). Puszta is a treeless plain in Hungary which is now a national park. The piece presents a musical picture of ‘spinners’ hard at work. Quite a little showstopper. I don’t know why Telmányi bothered to transcribe Robert Schumann’s Romance, op.28. This is the second piece from the Three Romances. It is much better for piano solo. Played here it is a dirge. Finally, Emil Telmányi performs two more of Jenö Hubay’s ‘Scčnes de la Csárda’. Once again these follow the pattern noted above. Clearly each of these pieces could also be used as an encore. ‘Hejre Kati’ would seem to translate as Come on, Katy! The second has not been noted in the liner notes, but in fact is ‘Kis furulyam’ – ‘My Little Flute.’
I was disappointed that the liner notes did not give historical or analytical details about this relatively rare repertoire. Sometimes it omits important information, for example opus numbers of track 6 and 7 above. Nor are translations of the Hungarian and Romanian titles always given. I spent more time ‘researching’ this CD than writing the review! It does include a good biography of the two principal soloists as well as details about the wider remastering project.
All these pieces are played with style, enthusiasm and technical wizardry. The remastering is near-perfect. Taken as a whole, this is an interesting, if rather specialised, historical CD. I enjoyed all (except the Schumann!) of the pieces presented here. Enthusiasts of music in the Fritz Kreisler style will regard this disc as essential listening.
John France
Previous review: Jonathan Woolf
Contents
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suite no.3 in D major, BWV1068; II Air 'Air on the G string' [3:57]
Carlo CHIABRANO (1723-1776)
La caccia [3:00]
Grigoras DINICU (1889-1949)
Hora staccato [2:10]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Sonata No.9 in B minor: Larghetto [4:43]
Jenö HUBAY (1858-1937)
Intermezzo, op.40 [4:12]
Les Fileuses [3:57]
Pieces caracteristiques (10), op.79; no.9 Berceuse [4:26]
Scene de la Csarda no.2, op.13 'Kis furulyam' [9:02]
Scene de la Csarda no.4, op.32 'Hejre Kati' [6:18]
Scene de la Csarda no.5, op.33 'Hullamzo Balaton' [5:43]
Scene de la Csarda no.12, op.83 'Piczi tubiczam' [8:13]
Ugy-e Jani? op.92 [4:33]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, op.28 [9:01]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Romances (3), op.28; no.2 in F sharp major [3:12]
Francesco VERACINI (1690-1768)
Largo [3:29]
