Felicja Blumental (1908-1991)
recorded a couple of albums under the
generic title ‘Friends and Rivals’ which
included Beethoven and Hoffmeister [review]and,
as with this one, Mozart and Clementi.
In their case friendship was rather
less pronounced than rivalry though
contempt might be a better way of describing
Mozart’s position ("Clementi is
a charlatan, like all Italians.")
A pupil of Drzewiecki
in Warsaw, Blumental’s reputation has
been based on her exhumation of unusual
repertoire both from the classical period
and the early nineteenth century. It
was therefore good to have encountered
recently her impressive Chopin – no
sense of specious romanticisation –
and her Mozart Concerto here. She earned
a fine repute for her Mozart in Vienna
and was active in the recording studios
in Salzburg and also in Innsbruck among
other places. The E flat major certainly
bears out her reputation as a cultivated,
idiomatic and sensitive musician. She’s
accompanied by Leopold Hager, himself
Salzburg-born, whose Mozart Concerto
recordings with Engel will undoubtedly
be better known than this 1976 traversal
of the Jeune Homme with Blumental.
Coupled with it is
the Clementi, a bigger, bolder and more
attractive work than one might have
imagined. I believe this performance
has been available in a Vox Box but
its appearance here is no less attractive
– not least in uniting her with Alberto
Zedda with whom she recorded a slew
of similarly rare repertoire (Paisiello,
Viotti, Koželuh,
Vogler). Clementi’s Concerto in C certainly
breathes Mozartian air albeit rather
more constricted. It’s a degree more
stiff, though has plenty of logic in
its development and animation as well.
The slow Adagio is the high point and
is played by Blumental with great
simplicity and directness. The finale
is confident and strong.
The 1976 and 1980 recordings
are not the last words in refinement
but there’s plenty of clarity to compensate.
Brana continues to do good work in restoring
Blumental’s legacy to the catalogue.
Jonathan Woolf
Felicja Blumental (piano) 