Theodor LESCHETIZKY (1830-1915)
Two Piano Pieces, Op. 38 (pub c.1889) [14:34]
Quatre Morceaux, Op.36 (pub 1887) [11:47]
Two Piano Pieces, Op. 43 (pub 1894) [7:29]
Pastels, Op. 44 (pub 1897) [11:27]
Two Piano Pieces, Op. 47 (pub 1906) [12:41]
Tobias Bigger (piano)
rec. 2019, Kulturzentrum Immanuelskirche, Wuppertal, Germany
BIS BIS-2518 SACD [58:52]
Along with Franz Liszt Theodor Leschetizky was perhaps the most prolific teacher of the late 19th century. He studied piano with Carl Czerny and composition with Simon Sechter (1788-1867), an Austrian whose most famous pupil was Anton Bruckner but who also taught counterpoint to pianists including Sigismond Thalberg and Adolf von Henselt. Leschetizky had a successful career as a pianist but he taught from an early age and this is generally how he is remembered. His many pupils form a diverse collection of pianists; Ignace jan Paderewski, Ignaz Friedman, Benno Moiseivitsch and Artur Schnabel are perhaps his most familiar students but fine Chopin player Auguste de Radwan and British pianists Frank Merrick and Katharine Goodson are among a myriad of other pupils who benefitted from his tutelage. As a composer he has been neglected though some of his pieces were popular encores once upon a time. I first heard his name on an LP of piano roll recordings by another pupil, Ossip Gabrilowitsch. I still love the piece he played, the Intermezzo in Octaves which is also on this disc. I discovered a few more pieces, generally played by famous pianists - Leopold Godowsky, Mark Hambourg, Guiomar Novaes, Ervin Nyiregyházi - and more recently Peter Ritzen and Clara Parks have recorded full CDs of his music. Tobias Bigger has done us a service in expanding the recorded legacy of Leschetizky's works. His is the fourth Intermzzo in octaves on disc and the Aria from op.36 was recorded by Ritzen but otherwise Bigger has chosen to record works that haven't been recorded before and has made the decision to play complete opuses rather than pick and choose amongst his output. Though exact composition dates are not known for these pieces they are generally his later works.
The two piano pieces op.38 open the recital, the first of which is the Menuetto capriccioso. Works in the baroque style and transcriptions of baroque works were exceedingly popular at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth – just witness the enormous popularity of the Minuet in G by Leschetizky's most famous pupil Ignace jan Paderewski. Leschetizky himself made concert arrangements of works by Rameau and Scarlatti. This Minuet is a vigorous dance, a far cry from the courtly dance of old. It is full of octaves and grand full bodied chordal textures. The central trio section maintains the movement of the outer sections but in a more lyrical manner, reminiscent of Brahms or even Liszt at his most atmospheric. Leschetizky weaves some marvellous keyboard textures throughout. After this is the Mazurka-impromptu opening with a delicate introduction that teases us with the mazurka rhythm; a glissando leads into the dance proper, a suave and poised salon mazurka that employs more glissandi to good effect. A more robust dance takes over in the middle with some highly virtuoso flourishes and it is this swaggering dance that returns to close the piece in grand style.
A lovely Aria, dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, is the first of Morceaux op.36. It is a melancholy tune with an accompaniment whose inner voices only add to the yearning sense of heartbreak. A baritone melody answers with passion of its own, a passion answered by the opening aria, the left hand playing both melody and accompaniment whilst the right hand is full of gently swirling arabesques. A Scarlattian Gigue is next, a two-voice canon bouncing along with impish high spirits. The Humoresque reminded me of Moszkowski with its jaunty melody tumbling alongside a syncopated accompaniment. The set closes with virtuoso study La Source, once recorded by Leschetizky pupil Mark Hambourg on a duo-art piano roll. It is a reminiscent of Schumann's Traumenswirren in its dazzling figurations but this spinning song is far less manic in its elfin finery. It is dedicated to the second of his four wives, the brilliant pianist Anna Essipova.
I was swept along by the Serenata op.43 with its cheeky, devil-may-care nonchalence. The singer is no hopeful, hapless youth. No, he is confident and charming and his carefree air is full of bright optimism. After a while he abandons his song to display his considerable prowess on the lute; apparently even in the 19th century the allure of the guitar solo was recognised. The companion piece in the set is a delicate, finger-twisting study called la Piccola. It has something of the character of a toccata and, yet again, a spinning song, flighty and capricious. Though I haven't managed to track down a recording it is interesting to note that there is a piano roll performance of this work by an Essipova student whose own compositions soon went in a completely different direction – the American Leo Ornstein (1895-2002).
With a dedication to the Liszt pupil Moriz Rosenthal the four Pastels op.44 are similar in style to the op.36 set. A Prelude opens the collection. It is all based around the opening rising arpeggio with a tender but rich Russian romanticism that reminded me of a Liadov or even early Rakhmaninov. The Gigue all'antica, gigue in the old style, blends Bach and Scarlatti with Mendelssohnian puckishness and hints of piquant harmony. Its octaves and keyboard spanning textures belie its “old style” title. There is a similar feeling of the old masters in the Humoresque, a highly decorated minuet with a central section whose lilting nature is interspersed with more rugged passages. The intermezzo in octaves is exactly what it says; a technically challenging study in octaves but one that is disguised as a merry dance, bright and breezy.
The final pair of pieces are a Nocturne and Scherzo, dedicated to pianist Marie Gabrielle Rosborska, Leschetizky's fourth wife. The Nocturne is an beautiful work, very much in the style of Chopin; after an brief introduction the Nocturne unfurls, a flowing melody over a simple syncopated accompaniment. There is a faster middle section and I found that as the piece progressed the language reminded me more of early Faure. The Scherzo is a big boned work with a grandly dramatic opening that introduces a sprightly flamboyant gigue, flying here and there over the keyboard. The tranquil central section is redolent of Brahms, though the melody, wrapped up as an inner voice in the texture, has the little triplet figures that crop up in Leschetizky's other works.
Tobias Bigger plays very well throughout. I have enjoyed his other discs of unusual repertoire from the golden age of the piano, in particular his CD exploring music by pupils of Leschetizky (Antes Edition BM319258 not reviewed); it was via the president of the Leschetizky Society, Burkhard Muth, hearing that CD that this project came about. This is not music about display and there is no virtuosity for its own sake but there are technical challenges aplenty, whether it is the gossamer delicacy of La Source or the more extrovert brilliance of the final Scherzo. Bigger is very effective here but he also has a fine ear for the more lyrical passages; the cradle song at the heart of that Scherzo, the more impassioned emotional heart of the Nocturne or the gently unfolding layers of the first of the Pastels. This is music worth exploring if the late romantic post-Chopin sound world and the miniatures of Moszkowski, Chaminade or Paderewski appeal.
Rob Challinor
Previous review: Jonathan Woolf
