I have been interested in the music of Ernest Bloch ever since hearing a Radio 3 broadcast of his opera Macbeth (Swiss Radio recording). Later I heard Schelomo, the Rhapsody America, the Violin Concerto (Menuhin) and the Concerti Grossi. I had heard the Sacred Service before in an earlier Chandos recording (CD release - 1989) but it made little impact at the time.

Jewish Musical Heritage Recordings have done a great service to music-lovers and collectors (not always exclusive categories!) by reissuing these recordings from the Decca archive. They comprise recordings made by Bloch during his visit to London in 1949 and were associated with concert performances. The celebrity point of the visit was the premiere of his 1949 Concerto Symphonique for piano and orchestra. This was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and broadcast live on the then Third Programme (BBC). The soloist was American pianist Corinne Lacomblé. The composer conducted. Unfortunately that work was not recorded at the time .. at least not commercially by Decca. Does it survive on acetate somewhere?

The concerts including a Prom offered Schelomo (soloist Nelsova), Suite Symphonique (1944) and the first performance in London of Sacred Service. The artists went into the Decca recording studios shortly afterwards. Schelomo has been recorded by many cellists but this is something special being both a vibrant projection of the music and one conducted by the composer. Nelsova herself studied the work with the composer and of her three recordings said she liked the one with him (the first) the best.

These are al lhistoric recordings in mono and they do not have the sonic richness of a modern recording. They do however have an immensely more vibrant musical richness (try Schelomo at 7:03). The years have taken their toll on the sound quality which can be coarse-grained. This is especially noticeable at the start of Schelomo. The ears soon adjusts to this. The work itself is inspired by the Book of Ecclesiastes and Vanity of Vanities. Bloch’s own notes refer to the work’s momentary joy in sensual pleasures and the sharpness and utter negation inherent in the realisation that it is all evanescent. This sense of negation ends the work. Nelsova seems to have absorbed the essence of the work and projects it with conviction. I came to know the Dvorák Cello Concerto through a tape of one of Nelsova’s BBC broadcasts. It is good to hear her again and I can only hope that she will be invited back to perform with the London and other British orchestras.

The Three Sketches ‘From Jewish Life’ (cello and piano) are soulfully gentle, tentative and quietly exotic. There are no grand outbursts. Instead the mood is sustained across all three brief movements. Nelsova brings the same concentration and inwardness to her playing that we hear in Schelomo.

Sacred Service has not had that many recordings over the years. I can recall the Chandos LP and was there a Bernstein version? The recording quality is the best of the three works here and the choral singing comes over with satisfying depth. The orchestral passages (track 5) come over with a glittering savage grandeur. Interesting that the devotional atmosphere is contrasted with a certain wildness. Aron Marko Rothmüller’s voice is darkly intense although at times his slight vibrato is a distraction and he clearly finds Lift Up Your Heads a strain. At track 6 3:10 there is an exotic march-like figure which seems to stride right out of a Vaughan Williams (or Holst) choral score. There are many attractions in the score but overall the steady pacing and consistently elevated tone of the work does not consistently hold the attention .. or at least not mine. The performance seems dedicated as would be expected.

I rather hope that JHMT will now seek out other archive recordings of Bloch. Any chance of finding a decent tape of Macbeth (I predict widespread interest in that one)? Concerto Symphonique is on a Vanguard CD. The Rhapsody ‘America’ is on Delos. I believe there is a commercial recording of the Israel Symphony (Vanguard again) but I have never seen a recording of the very early ‘Symphonic Fresco’ Helvetia. Interesting that Bloch chose to celebrate his birth and adopted homelands in such an explicit way. Recordings of the Symphonic Suite, Concerto Grosso for quartet and strings and the viola concertino would be interesting.

There are thorough notes by Alexander Knapp and an interview with Zara Nelsova (happily still with us). Nelsova reminisces about the composer and her visits to his Oregon home. This reminds us that in researching the life and music of a composer CD booklets must not be ignored. The booklet is splendidly detailed. Trilingual notes (English French German).

This generously-timed CD recommends itself very strongly to Bloch enthusiasts. Nelsova fans will also do well to get the disc as will anyone concerned with performance styles and the role of the composer as conductor/performer. For the general listener Schelomo would be the best introduction to Bloch and there are quite a few modern stereo recordings around although I doubt that many can match the musical spirit of Nelsova’s and Bloch’s partnership. This disc represents a wonderfully rewarding project bringing largely forgotten though important recordings back into availability.

Reviewer

Robert Barnett

I would be very interested to hear of any private non-commercial radio tapes that may exist documenting Bloch’s conducting of or involvement in his other works. It would be surprising if none existed given that he died in 1959.

Reviewer

Robert Barnett