Franz von SUPPÉ (1819-1895)
Overtures and Marches
Overture to Leichte Kavallerie (1866) [6:33]
Overture to Boccaccio (1879) [6:51]
Boccaccio-Marsch (1879) [2:36]
Overture to Pique Dame (1864) [6:45]
Humoristische Variationen (1848) [5:46]
Overture to Dichter und Bauer (1846) [9:26]
Marziale nach Motiven aus der Operette - Fatinitza (1876) [4:24]
Overture to Das Modell (1895) [6:35]
Uber Berg, uber Thal (date uncertain) Adaptation by Max Schönherr (1903-1984) [2:35]
Overture to Die schöne Galathee (1865) [6:51]
Juanita-Marsch (1880) [4:39]
Overture to Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und ein Abend in Wien (1844) [8:08]
Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Neeme Järvi
rec. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 17-18 April 2012
CHANDOS CHSA 5110 SACD [79:42]
In the days when those of us of a certain age bought LPs, Suppé Overtures
were a standard part of such a collection. Normally you could get four on
each side and the standard classics were Light Cavalry, Morning,
Noon and Night in Vienna and Poet and Peasant. They were pieces
you knew and heard on the Light Programme - later called Radio 2 would you
believe - or elsewhere often in curious arrangements or at the Sunday bandstand.
I don’t know why but it seems odd that Chandos of all labels and Neeme
Järvi of all conductors should feel that they want to tackle this project
but they do.
Here we have eight overtures with the added interest of marches. There are
also other bits of incidental music created within the operettas but which
are less well known. These from a composer known sometimes as the ‘Viennese
Offenbach’ having been born in what was then Austria, now Croatia.
In many cases Järvi’s tempi are much brisker than you may be used
to. The disc is so well filled that if he had added a couple of overly exaggerated
rallentandos one of the items would have had to go, perhaps that accounts
for his tempi. A casualty of this is the OvertureThe Beautiful Galatea
with its absolutely gorgeous waltz tune, which comes twice. Järvi lacks
style in this wonderful melody and it all appears rather breathless. Indeed
Light Cavalry is also so fast that the string articulations and syncopations
are not clear in the Allegretto brillante section; notice that it’s
only Allegretto. I find this all rather disappointing but then Järvi
has done this sort of thing before, as I recall.
That said, most other pieces come off very well. Järvi responds positively
to the exuberance of the OvertureBoccaccio, one of the composer’s
most inventive and successful operettas which includes the rarely encountered
rather Straussian Boccaccio March, the booklet notes indicate that
this march concludes the opera in a bound of joy but it has little to do with
the author or with the book! The same thing applies to the operetta Pique
Dame using Pushkin’s story The Queen of Spades, to which
Suppé’s plot is only vaguely related, although the overture is
one of his best. Its good to know that Suppé could write memorable
tunes right up to the end as in the middle section of his last overture to
the incomplete operetta The Modelwhich ends with yet another
March.
A March of special interest is the Marziale using themes from a real
hit, the operetta Fatinitza, a military story based around events in
the Crimean war. Max Schönherr compiled this piece using about four of
the best tunes. Its opening trumpet fanfare sets the appropriate mood. A further
march is the short Up Hill and Down Dale, a piece of uncertain antecedents.
There is also the happy little Juanita-March,a work set in Spain
at the time of the Peninsular War. Suppé adds some attractive castanets
for local colour.
Another rare oddity, but a distinctly attractive and witty one is the Humorous
Variations on a Student Song, indeed the very song which Brahms, who admitted
to being influenced by Suppé, also used for his Academic Festival
Overture. In Suppé’s hands it turns into a waltz, a gallop
and to start with a sort of mysterious Lament.
The booklet cover picture shows the marching Imperial Viennese Guard. You
will have gathered by now that many of these operettas had a militaristic
plot but often set within a comic context. One such is Isabella with
its splendid trumpet fanfares and marching opening melody. Here Rossini might
come to mind - a composer whom Suppé had carefully studied. In fact
his earliest overture the famous Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna
is also rather Rossini-like; at times it recalls Weber also.
I have much enjoyed this disc despite the opening caveats and I’m sure
that you will too. The orchestra responds enthusiastically but precisely to
the music. The booklet essay by Calum MacDonald tells you all you need to
know. There are a few black and white photos and the Super-Audio recording
is superb, immediate and detailed.
Gary Higginson
I have much enjoyed this disc.
see also reviews by Simon Thompson, Dan Morgan, John Sheppard and Rob Barnett
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