Franz DOPPLER (1821-1883) & Karl DOPPLER
(1825-1900)
Fantasie sur des motifs hongrois Op 35 [10:58]
Souvenir de Prague Op 24 [11:44]
Valse di bravura Op 33 [10:19]
Rigoletto-Fantasie [9:31];
Franz DOPPLER
Duettino sur des motifs hongrois Op 36 [7:24]
Andante et Rondo Op 25 [8:27]
Concert-Paraphrase sur des motifs de l’opéra Die Verschworenen
de Franz Schubert [8:00]
Souvenir à Mme Adelina Patti - Paraphrase sur des motifs de La Sonnambula
de Vincenzo Bellini Op 42 [7:10]
Claudi Arimany and Shigenori Kudo (flutes); Alan Branch (piano)
rec. 16-18 October 2007, l’Auditori Josep Carreras, Vilaseca, Tarragona
SAPHIR LVC 1119 [73:33]
This is announced as Volume 1 of recordings of the flute music of the Doppler
brothers. Their name may be vaguely familiar to you - Franz orchestrated several
of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies and wrote a Fantasie Pastorale Hongroise
which virtuoso flautists cannot resist. (But I should point out that as far
as I know the “Doppler effect” is nothing to do with them!). The
brothers were both born in Lemberg; today the city of Lviv in the Ukraine
but at that time in the Austrian province of Galicia and Lodomeria. Both were
child prodigies on the flute, and when they moved to Budapest in 1838 they
rapidly became important figures in Hungarian music as flautists, conductors
and composers. Franz is the better known of the two but they wrote many pieces
together including four of the seven on this disc. They were written to be
played at the concerts they gave together in the 1850s and 1860s and were
clearly designed to show off the particular qualities of their playing. Thus
throughout this disc we find not only virtuoso figuration but also sections
designed to exhibit the quality of their tone. One of their most effective
devices in the operatic fantasies is to have one instrument playing the tune
while the other executes a quieter but impressively quickly moving accompaniment.
This is shown at its best in the “Rigoletto” Fantasie, which is
itself probably the best work on the disc. Various motifs from that opera
- not always the most obvious ones - are treated in turn in a variety of ways,
always interesting in a way that is unusual in operatic fantasies and potpourris
of the period.
It is perhaps significant that the other two operatic works are also particularly
effective, as are the specifically Hungarian works. The least effective are
the Andante et Rondo and the Valse di Bravura, both of which far outstay their
welcome, which suggests that the brothers were better when refashioning other
music than when producing something wholly original. It is in any event best
not to play the disc right through as the various ingenious hurdles set for
the players can seem somewhat repetitive. Better to savour and marvel at the
pieces one at a time. The flawless playing and beautiful tone of the two flautists
and their hard working pianist - often playing a transcription of an orchestral
part - can then be enjoyed all the more. Clearly they must have put in a great
deal of work to achieve the resulting wonders which are likely to be immensely
enjoyable to flautists and non-flautists alike. The recording is clear and
the notes, in French and English, give much useful background information.
This is said to be Volume 1, although whether it is unclear whether this refers
to possible future volumes of the brothers’ music for two flutes or
more generally to music of all types by them. Either way this looks like being
an interesting and enterprising series.
John Sheppard
An interesting and enterprising series.