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Clémence
de GRANDVAL (1828–1907)
1. Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1878) [16.54]
2. Lamento for oboe and strings [4.14]
3. Scherzo for oboe and strings [4.10]
4. Romance for oboe, violoncello and strings [3.51]
5. Gavotte for oboe, violoncello and strings [3.08]
6. Trio de Salon [8.14]
7. Noel [5.47]
8. Aux Quatre Morceaux (excerpts) [7.01]
Lajos Lencses
(oboe, cor anglais)
Ansgar Schneider (cello)
(4,5); Ulrike Sonntag (soprano) (7); Libor Sima (bassoon) (6);
Francois Killian (piano) (6-8); Budapest Strings (2,3)
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR/Andrey Boreyko (1,4,5)
rec. 16 June 2005, Stadthalle Sindelfingen (Concerto); 12-14
June 2006, Studio Karlsruhe (works with String Orchestra), SWR
Stuttgart, Kammermusikstudio HÄNSSLER CLASSICS
CD 98.295 [54.09]
Clemence
de Grandval is not a well known name now. However in 19th century
Paris she was a person and composer of stature. Born Marie de
Reiset her family were wealthy and the composer Friedrich Flotow
was a family friend. Flotow gave her composition lessons and
she had piano lessons from Chopin. Flotow left Paris before
she finished her musical training. She married the Vicomte de
Grandval and went on to study for two years with Saint-Saëns.
He remained a friend and the dedications of her major works
are testimony to her wide musical circle.
Her
works were esteemed during her lifetime and she garnered both
performances and favourable reviews. She wrote five operas and
a number of other major works. In 1878 she wrote an oboe concerto
for the brilliant oboist Georges Gillet. At its premiere the
work was conducted by Edouard Colonne, then Gillet and Saint-Saëns
went on to tour the work around Eastern Europe.
The
concerto became a familiar examination piece at the Paris Conservatoire,
in its oboe and piano form. But despite this popularity the
orchestral score seems to have disappeared. In order for the
concerto to appear on this disc, oboist Lajos Lencses has produced
a new orchestration. In fact he has also orchestrated some of
her smaller pieces, creating charming miniatures for oboe and
strings.
The
oboe was not a characteristically Romantic instrument. A disc
called the ‘Romantic Oboe’ would have to dig quite deeply to
produce any major works written for the instrument. It is not
clear why de Grandval wrote so much for oboe, but apart from
the Concerto the pieces are more like salon music, though of
a most superior stamp. Perhaps de Grandval’s friendship with
Gillet helped to generate the works.
Lencses’s
orchestration of the concerto is effective and helps give the
work life, though I did wonder whether he had been a little
conservative. The orchestral effect can be a little face-less
at times, though it is obvious that de Grandval is taking care
not to obscure the oboe in the tuttis. The work is in three
movements and requires an oboist who can cope with its brilliance
and its charm. Lencses does both, but the tone of his instrument
would seem to be more suitable for Classical rather than Romantic
music, though this is a rather small quibble.
Whilst
the concerto is effective and shows off the talents of the oboist,
I felt that the smaller pieces were more successful. Obviously,
given that she wrote operas and large-scale works, de Grandval
was capable of much but in these salon pieces she seems to relax
and create a charmingly sunny atmosphere.
Lencses
has created two pairs of pieces with string accompaniment. There’s
a Lamento and a Scherzo for oboe and strings,
then a Romance and a Gavotte for oboe, cello and
strings. It was in the Romance and Gavotte, where
Lencses’s oboe duets with the cello of Ansgar Schneider that
the warmth and delight of de Grandval’s talent really shines
through.
The
remaining pieces on the disc remain in their original salon
format: a two movement trio for oboe, bassoon and piano, a song, Noel,
for soprano, oboe and piano and finally two movements for cor
anglais and piano.
In
the trio and the song de Grandval seems to work well when she
creates textures from the oboe and other soloists. Here Lencses
is well supported by the bassoon of Libor Sima and piano of
Francois Killian.
Lencses
does sterling work on the disc, both in terms of the orchestration
and playing the brilliant oboe part. He deserves much credit
for reviving de Grandval’s work.
Inevitably
this disc will be essential listening for oboists, but these
are charming pieces, so the disc is well worth searching out
especially if you are interested in the musical life in Paris
in the 19th century.
Robert
Hugill
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