MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

cover image

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Sound Samples and Downloads

Ernő DOHNÁNYI (1877-1960) Symphonic Minutes Op. 36 (1933) [14:58] Variations on a Nursery Song Op. 25 (1914) [24:24] Suite in F sharp minor Op. 19 (1908-09) [30:18]
Eldar Nebolsin (piano) (Variations)
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra/JoAnn Falletta
rec. Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York, USA 31 October-2 November 2008 (Symphonic Minutes, Suite); 6-7 February 2009 (Variations). DDD. NAXOS 8.572303 [69:39]

Experience Classicsonline

Erno von Dohnányi had the misfortune of being a twentieth-century Hungarian composer, born just a few years before Bartók and Kodály. Whereas, they absorbed Hungarian folk music and created their own national style, Dohnányi remained rooted in German Romanticism. He belongs more to the late-romantic tradition of Richard Strauss, Elgar and Rachmaninov than to twentieth-century modernism, and his music has been unjustly neglected. He may not have been the most original of composers, but his works are invariably well crafted and contain memorable tunes and no little humor. Undoubtedly his best-known composition is the Variations on a Nursery Song included on this disc.

This delightful work with its dazzling piano part should be a repertoire staple, a good substitute for the ubiquitous Rachmaninov Paganini Variations. Dohnányi begins the work famously with a mock-tragic introduction before the piano plays the simple tune Ah, vous dirai-je Maman (“Twinkle, twinkle, little star”). There follow eleven ingenious variations that recall such composers as Brahms (variation 3 near quoting his Second Piano Concerto), Saint-Saëns (variation 4), Dukas (variation 9 with its bassoons recalling the Sorcerer’s Apprentice), Richard Strauss (variation 7 waltz) and Rachmaninov (variation 10) before ending the work with an uproarious fugato. Keith Anderson in his notes in the CD insert describes these ingenious variations in some detail. The pianist gets a real workout, but so does the orchestra. Eldar Nebolsin, an Uzbek pianist born in 1974, is fully up to the task on this recording. While the Buffalo Philharmonic has a few less than perfect moments - take the rather strident trumpets in the introduction - overall it accompanies well. The woodwinds in particular shine. The previous recording, with which I was most familiar, was Solti’s with the Chicago Symphony and pianist András Schiff. I remember being more impressed by the sheer virtuosity of the great orchestra than Schiff’s pianism. Here the situation is somewhat reversed, with Nebolsin outstanding but also with the orchestra as a real partner.

The other two works on the disc may be less familiar, but are no less attractive. The first work on the disc, the oddly titled Symphonic Minutes (or Szimfonikus percek) was composed some twenty five years after the Suite in F sharp minor yet does not sound any more modern than the earlier works. It is also a suite of five movements that are beautifully orchestrated and very memorable. The first movement, a rather Mendelssohnian Capriccio, is followed by a Rhapsodia, a slow movement, which along with the fourth movement Theme and Variations is introduced by an elegant English horn solo. The third movement Scherzo provides a nice contrast to the two slow movements. The second and fourth movements, though, provide the real meat in this work. The fourth movement Theme and Variations is especially lovely. The haunting English horn solo returns at the end of the movement accompanied by the celesta. The finale is a whirlwind Rondo that ends the work in high spirits. Like the Variations on a Nursery Song, the Symphonic Minutes should receive more exposure on concert programs. Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic do the music proud.

The last work on the disc is the earliest and the longest of the three. It is basically in four movements, with the first movement an Andante with six variations. It is rather Brahmsian, but also brings Elgar’s Enigma Variations to mind. Again the themes are memorable and the work as a whole deserves greater exposure. Following the variations are a Scherzo, perhaps more Tchaikovskian than Mendelssohnian, and then a haunting Romanza with oboe, cello, and English horn solos. As in the Symphonic Minutes, the Suite concludes with a brilliant Rondo that takes on a Spanish flavor with the introduction of castanets before it ends. This performance does the work full justice. The recorded sound for all three works is first rate.

If you don’t know Dohnányi’s music, this would be as good a place as any to start. The music is delightful throughout and the performances are fine. Keith Anderson’s notes provide plenty of detail to enlighten even those who think they know and appreciate Dohnányi. Furthermore, this all comes at budget price.

Leslie Wright

see also review by Bob Briggs



 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.