The booklet notes enclosed with this disc explain how bourgeois musical
life
developed in Vienna around the time that Beethoven’s third piano
concerto
was first presented. It at last escaped the overriding influence of the
imperial
court and the nobility. The Musical Academy organised by Beethoven had an
influential
role in this development. It further explains that this atmosphere came to
its
zenith around the turn of the twentieth century. It was then that the
young
11 year old Viktor Ullmann moved with his mother to Vienna in 1909. This
was
from his birthplace in Teschen in the Moravian-Silesian part of
today’s
Czech Republic - now known as Český Těsín.
Ullmann’s
father was an officer of the imperial and royal monarchy. With all this
information
we can see the tenuous link between the two composers on this disc. Even
so
they are surely strange musical bedfellows. That said there is no reason
why
you can’t have an almost mid-twentieth century work followed by one
that
dates from shortly after the end of the eighteenth century. In any event
it
is good to hear both works since the Ullmann piano concerto is rarely
heard
and one can certainly never hear Beethoven’s third too often.
By now I imagine people, and certainly those who read reviews on MusicWeb,
International
will be well aware of the cruel story attached to the life of Viktor
Ullmann.
He, together with other Czech composers of his generation, Schulhoff,
Klein,
Krasa and Haas were unfortunate in this context to be born Jewish. As a
result
they perished at the hands of the Nazis, as indeed did the dedicatee of
the
concerto, the pianist Juliette Aranyi. It is a cruel irony that Ullmann
suffered
this fate despite the fact that his parents had become Catholic converts
before
he was born. Composed in 1939/40 the piano concerto was scheduled for a
performance
in a two piano reduction in Terezin (Theresienstadt), the
‘transit’
camp from where the inmates were mainly shipped off to Auschwitz. Juliette
was
to play the main part and Ullmann himself the orchestral part on a second
piano.
The performance never took place.
The concerto is dark in character with the piano’s role effectively
acting
as an integrated part of the orchestra rather than as a solo instrument
per
se. The work springs into action right from the start with an
insistent
theme that briefly becomes a little sunnier before reverting to its
anxious
sounding atmosphere. The second movement is the only oasis of calm in the
entire
concerto but even it has an underlying troubled feeling to it.
Ullmann’s
love for Mahler is evident here with echoes of his
6th
Symphony
and some lush orchestral writing with long flowing lines. The second
movement
is but a brief respite from the darkness and unease that generally
pervades
the concerto. The third movement with its own Mahlerian undertones brings
that
feeling back. The short finale has a gentle sounding theme but once stated
it
is then compressed and distorted to become a grotesque ending to this
short
but effective work.
What can be said of Beethoven’s third piano concerto that has not
already
been said and by critics far more erudite than I could ever hope to be?
Listening
again one cannot but shake one’s head in wonder at the pure genius
that
Beethoven was. After the orchestral introduction the piano enters at the
perfect
moment and everything is laid out it the best of all possible ways. It is
no
wonder that the concerto could never suffer from overkill as so many other
works
do. The entire experience just reaffirms my feeling about this composer. I
always
come back to him no matter what journeys of discovery I make. He is my
musical
rock to which I always feel anchored, my benchmark against which all other
composers
are measured.
Romanian-born pianist Herbert Schuch, whose home has been in Germany since
the
age of nine, plays with an innate sensitivity and much flair. While there
are
many brilliant performances of this concerto which means any new one has
an
uphill struggle to make its mark this is not without some very beautiful
passages.
I particularly enjoyed his phrasing and his lightness of touch, especially
in
the
Largo. His performance of the Ullmann was extremely effective
and
he made a very good case for it. I know of only two other recordings so he
doesn’t
have many rivals on that score. In both concertos he is accompanied by a
superb
orchestra that has garnered much well deserved acclaim. It is conducted by
Estonian
Olari Elts, Principal Guest Conductor of both the Helsinki Philharmonic
and
the Estonian National Orchestra. He appears regularly with a variety of
others
around the world.
While one may prefer many other recordings of the Beethoven anyone who
wants
to hear the Ullmann should hear this disc. However, my feeling is that the
disc
would have been a more attractive proposition if it had featured other
piano
concertos by composers who were persecuted or murdered by the Nazis such
as
Erwin Schulhoff and Hans Gál.
Steve Arloff
Masterwork Index:
Beethoven
piano concerto 3
See also review by Byzantion
