Philipp SCHARWENKA (1847-1917)
Violin Sonata, Op. 110 [21:04]
Violin Sonata, Op 114 [19:08]
Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 99 [25:10]
Natalia Prishepenko (violin)
Oliver Triendl (piano)
rec. Kupferhaus, Planegg, Munich, Germany, November 2015
TYXART TXA16075 [65:50]
The name Scharwenka will be familiar to many readers, especially
those who are practising musicians, if only through the Klindworth-Scharwenka
Edition. In fact, there were two composers called Scharwenka who were active
in the second half of the nineteenth century – the brothers Xaver and
Philipp. Both composed considerable bodies of music including symphonies,
concertos, chamber music, works for piano and, in Philipp’s case, even
an opera.
Xaver, the younger by three years, achieved the greater reputation from his
career as a virtuoso pianist. His career rather overshadowed that of his sibling
and a select few of his works have remained on the fringes of the standard
repertoire. As a result it is his music, including all four of his entertaining
piano concertos, that has recently been the subject of greater attention and
more recordings. Philipp, the subject of the present CD, concentrated exclusively
on composing and teaching. When Xaver opened his own conservatory in 1881
Philipp became head of the theory and composition departments and eventually
took over the enterprise, merging it with the school of Karl Klindworth in
1893. He remained principal of this institute until his death.
The focus of current interest is Philipp’s chamber music and the few
recordings of his works that I have been able to find are devoted to that
form. He composed a piano quintet, two string quartets, no fewer than five
piano trios, a ’cello sonata, three violin sonatas and several miscellaneous
pieces for piano and ’cello or piano and violin - such as the Op. 99
Suite included on the present recording. The violin sonatas we also have here
are his second and third.
As one might expect from German-Polish works written in the second half of
the nineteenth century the music is very accessible and listenable if not
particularly original in style. The themes are distinct enough to sit in the
mind immediately without any effort being required of the listener. Both the
sonatas are in the standard three movements – fast/slow/fast. The second
(Op. 110) has a restless Allegro, followed by a very short and tragic
Largamente with a cadence-like transition to an Allegretto con
moto third movement. It was dedicated to the violinist Willy Burmeister
(the original dedicatee of Sibelius’s violin concerto). The third sonata
(Op. 114) starts with an elegant but passionate Allegro moderato
with a playful second subject, followed by a gentle Andante tranquillo
and a fiery Allegro animato finale which dies away quite quickly
without the suggested stretto-like coda. The piece is dedicated to the Belgian
virtuoso, Irma Saenger-Sethe. The Op.99 Suite is in four movements: a virtuoso
toccata, a romantic ballade, a fugal intermezzo and a tarantella finale. The
booklet note suggests that the musical language fits into a framework between
Brahms and Reger and mentions Brahms and Franck as being evoked by Op. 110.
Franck does come to mind but, to my ear, both Brahms and Reger are some way
away. The nearest equivalent style for all the music on this disc is probably
the violin sonatas of Saint-Saens – with occasional nods to the violin
and piano music of Josef Suk.
As for the artists I have encountered Triendl before – most recently
as the pianist on an excellent CD of the piano quintets of Gernsheim. Prishepenko
is a new name to me but it sounds as though she should be much better known,
with a lovely silvery tone and pretty well flawless technique. The two make
an excellent duo and serve this music extremely well.
Very few recordings are available for comparison. An Olympia CD from 2000
(entitled “Philipp Scharwenka Chamber Music Vol. 1”, although
Vol.2 never appeared) apparently included the Op.110 sonata in a performance
by Paul Barritt and James Lisney – although, as the result of some kind
of mix-up, what was recorded was actually the Op. 114 sonata. I haven’t
been able to find a copy of this recording although the snippets available
to hear online suggest a fine performance. For Op.110 I have resorted to a
Genesis LP from the 1970s (NLA but it can be found easily enough on Youtube),
coupling that sonata with Xaver Scharwenka’s Op 2, in performances by
Robert Zimansky and (in Op.110) Leonore Klinckerfuss. The Genesis performance
takes 23:22 overall, which appears more leisurely but, in fact, many of the
tempi chosen are pretty well identical with those of Prishepenko and Triendl.
It is purely Zimansky’s tendency to pull back some of the slower sections
of the music slightly more that accounts for the overall difference in duration.
Other elements of performance comparison are largely redundant because the
two duos (especially the violinists) sound astonishingly similar in style
and reading – so the recording on Youtube will give the interested listener
a good idea of what to expect here. Both duos give splendid and arresting
performances which are suitably subtle when the occasion requires. The recordings
are similar with the LP sounding the more recessed. The sound of the CD is
slightly veiled and, to my ear, not quite demonstration quality but it is
pretty good and very acceptable.
The rather underwhelming booklet notes are in German with shorter and adequate,
if not particularly good, English translations and single pages of French
and Japanese as an afterthought.
I hope that TYXart will be able to follow this enterprising release, perhaps
with the remaining violin sonata and a piano trio or two. Also, even now,
might Olympia get around to producing Vol. 2 of the chamber music - as (presumably)
originally intended? Either way, here is another engaging and approachable
composer whose music almost certainly deserves wider exploration.
Bob Stevenson
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