Victor BENDIX (1851-1926)
Serenaden-Scherzo, Op. 8, No. 1 (1874) [6:34]
Seelenerlebnisse, Op. 8 No. 2 (1874) [12:17]
Stimmungsbilder, Op. 9 (1874) [12:25]
Sonate, in G minor, Op. 26 (1896) [38:20]
Fünf Clavierstücke, Op. 1 (1870-72) [11:14]
Nocturne, Op. 11, No. 1 (c.1878) [5:46]
Walzer, Op. 11, No. 2 (c.1878) [4:02]
5 Klaverstykker, Op. 33 (1880-1919) [15:19]
In kleinerem Style, Op. 2 (1873) [9:19]
Album, Op. 22 (1870-88) [28:07]
Capriccio (1880) [2:11]
Isabel Carlander (piano)
rec. 2002/03, Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark
DANACORD DACOCD901-2 [75:26 + 72:59]
Danacord has a valuable tranche of recordings of the music of Victor Bendix. The four symphonies are on DACOCD436-37 (see review) and the Piano Concerto is on DACOCD461 (see review). That said, it’s perhaps unfortunate that he is, biographically at least, best known for being the father of the great pianist Victor Schiĝler, who took his mother’s surname. I hardly need to add that Schiĝler’s many recordings, studio and live, occupy a place of honour in Danacord’s catalogue.
This twofer covers a variety of solo piano compositions written from 1870 to 1919. Some cleave to expected mid-nineteenth century models whilst others sport more quixotic elements. The earliest piece is his Op.1, Five Piano Pieces composed when he was nineteen or twenty, that are succinct and pleasing, though not especially individualistic. His two Op.8 works are included. The first is Serenaden-Scherzo, which is fresh and attractive, whilst the second, Seelenerlebnisse, is refined and delicate though with stormier elements. The notes relate that this work, the translation of which is ‘Experiences of the Soul’, is a kind of confessional tone poem dedicated to his talented older brother Otto. I don’t know, though, why, from eight minutes onwards, he quite clearly quotes and modulates on the theme of the finale of Beethoven’s Op.109 sonata. I suspect some even more private narrative is being acted out but on this particular subject the notes, perhaps reasonably, are silent. Stimmungsbilder, written the same year, is a set of four delightful character studies, in turn gentle, jogtrotting, virtuosic and quietly noble.
The other collections reprise these qualities of charm and miniaturisation. The Klaverstykker is a compilation of works written between 1880-1919; note that there are four in this block and that the fifth can be found as his Op.11 No.2, a most delightful Waltz, to be found on the second disc of this twofer. The highlight of this set, however, is the lovely Nocturne (No.4). Of the In kleinerem Style set of five, the only extended example is the central one but none of these little character pieces are especially distinctive. Rather more convincing is the Op.22 set called Album which brings together works composed between 1870 and 1888, often in revised form. There are one or two moments here where Bendix mines folklore – something largely absent in the other sets – and juxtaposes pensive panels with jollier material. He has a gift too for drawing on both solemn and easy-going themes.
The Piano Sonata is in four movements. Composed in 1896, Bendix first played it in 1898, and it was published by Breitkopf & Härtel five years later. Jens Cornelius goes all out in his booklet note saying that this is his greatest work and that it’s also his longest at 45-50 minutes’ playing time. I should note that the sensitive pianist Isabel Carlander gets through it in 38 minutes, but I’ve seen that Peter Seivewright has also recorded it for Rondo Grammofon and takes 47 minutes, which is pretty much bang in the centre of Cornelius’ timing estimate. I admire Cornelius’ admiration for the sonata but can’t share it - not here at any rate. Yes, there are strong chordal flourishes and some welcome bardic romanticism, and he is never without wit, but it’s too often stodgy and for all those pellucid and colourful moments it doesn’t really get anywhere.
Bendix’s complete solo piano music fits neatly onto 2 CDs. I think too often he channels this music in expected stylistic directions but in the Sonata falters in both thematic development and form. I much prefer his symphonic works; there he seems freer, more happily welcoming of a range of influences and free of the solo piano – his instrument, after all – that seems too often to shackle his imagination.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review: John France
