Sergei Bortkiewicz (1877-1952), a revival

[mjkFendrich]

A new CD - entitled "Scheherazade" - from the Austrian label Paladino  (https://www.paladino.at/cds/scheherazade) 
also contains a transcription of 5 songs from Bortkiewicz' ballet "Arabian Nights" Op.37 for clarinet, violin, cello & piano,
impressively performed by the Zurich Ensemble.



The piece is also available as HD-video from Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/album/2324520/video/62666061

(The most impressive item on this disc, however, is Khachaturjan's Clarinet Trio from 1932 :-)

[DennisS]

I am a little surprised that on-one so far has followed up on the Zurich Ensemble CD Scheherazade. It caught my eye immediately! As some members of UC may know, I have a particular love of all exotic, oriental, Arabian inspired classical music and have built up quite a large collection of this sort of music over the years. I have always loved Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and have grown up listening to this work. Yes, it's an old workhorse but if you don't listen to it too often, you never tire of it. At least I don't! I bought this CD as much for R-K's Scheherazade as for the Bortkiewicz and Khachaturian works (both composers I am very fond of - see earlier posts in this thread). Needless to say, listening to this CD for the past two weeks, I have been very impressed, not just by the works on the CD but also by the playing of the Zurich Ensemble. I love the chamber music version of Scheherazade. The combination of clarinet, violin, cello and piano gives a refreshingly new flavour to the piece and indeed, seems to make the music more Middle Eastern sounding, especially the clarinet, which at times adds an almost klezmer effect to the music. It is also quite striking that at times the Zurich Ensemble achieves such a full, rich sound for just four musicians. At other times, the piano also adds a more intimate atmosphere to the music. For me, this version works very well indeed. (As an aside, if chamber versions of Scheherazade are of interest, I highly recommend the album 1001 Nights, Ferhan and Ferzan Onder, which contains a wonderfully evocative version : a Transcription for 4 hands!). The Bortkiewicz Five Melodies from "a thousand and one nights" is also a very enjoyable piece to listen to. Bortkiewicz was clearly influenced by R-K and I hear quite a few references to Scheherazade in this piece. The work is though a little light weight and Bortkiewicz does not in this instance equal the melodic and lyrical inventiveness of R-K. Nevertheless the work is still quite appealing. As mjkFendrich has stated, the Khachaturian piece is indeed impressive. I can see why it was chosen and why the CD title is Scheherazade! I find the work, cool, elegant, with at times an almost impressionistic take on Debussy, together with an almost at times jazzy take on R-K's Scheherazade! If you like R-K's Scheherazade, you will like all three works on this CD. I highly recommend this CD to those who like this sort of music!

[DavidAlcock1000]

Hi
Please can somebody help me. I have read somewhere, and I think it was on this forum, that Bortkiewicz's opera Akrobaten - though the score is at present lost - that there is a poor recording of the opera which was broadcast by one of the Austrian radio stations during Bortkiewicz's lifetime. I think someone has a copy of it. Can anyone enlighten me if this is so. I am dealing with radio broadcasts of Bortkiewicz's works during his lifetime and today. Knut Franke used to play his music in his programmes in Germany prior to 1972. What radio broadcasts are available today from German and Austrian radio? Also, it is interesting that the BBC Proms has never featured Bortkiewicz. He would also make a very interesting subject for Composer of the Week. I am going to suggest it. Many thanks if anyone can help. I know Malcolm Henbury-Ballan is on a mission to find that opera score!
Many Thanks
David

[FBerwald]

I was wondering [and hoping] since many a times, scores that have been deemed lost turn up [case Moszkowski's 1st Piano Concerto and both the Symphonies of Bortkiewicz], so what is the status of the following

Cello Sonata, Op. 36
Suite for Cello Solo, Op. 41

are they still out there somewhere or definitely destroyed and lost forever. I started thinking about these pieces after reading the "Godard's sonatas for solo violin--"baroque" music from the 19th century" and  "Bortkiewicz 2017 Festival" threads recently.

[MHBallan]

I believe the Cello Sonata and Cello Suite still exist.............as do a number of his works that are still deemed  missing like his opera 'Akrobaten'.  But like any detective story there are often many blind alleys, and it takes a lot of time and patience to locate scores (took me over 5 years to find the symphonies as it was).  I'm currently trying to locate the Olympic Scherzo / Overture and think I now know where a copy resides (fingers crossed).  As libraries and archives digitalise their card indexes, it does help to increase the chances of finding these works - recently found some Wieniawski that had also been deemed missing - so you never know what tomorrow will bring !

Malcolm   

[Ilja]

Hi Malcolm,


regarding Bortkiewicz's First Symphony, it would seem that there was at least one other edition, since this performance on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7e0VPY2CgQ)omits the God Save the Tsar from the coda (which as a result falls a bit flat). Can you tell me whether that was the case or they excised the quotation for some other (political?) reason?

[MHBallan]

It is interesting that the composer, in his original recording of the work, also 'missed off' the 'God Save the Tsar' ending in the coda......but not sure why Sukach does the same in the YouTube recording, beyond possible political sensibilities between Ukraine and Russia ?  I know Ukraine have a complete copy of the symphony as I provided the score, but beyond that I have no idea why that tune was excluded.  The definitive recording can be heard on the Hyperion label, conducted by Brabbins.

Malcolm

[Ilja]

Malcolm, thanks for clearing that up. The Russians have had something of a tradition in excising references to the tsarist anthem (including in Tchaikovsky's Ouverture Solenelle 1812) but I wasn't aware the practice had been continued after the fall of the Soviet Union.

[adriano]

1) Russian cultural responsibles were always specialists in mutilating musical scores for political reasons. Another example, besides a few operatic ones, is the text of Tchaikovsky's "Moscow" Cantata...
2) The Brabbins CD of Bortkiewiczs Symphonies is absolutely magnificent!
3) The Khachaturian Trio is a real great piece!
4) Speaking about chamber music ensemble arrangements of orchestral works coming from Zurich, I am bold enough to say than my own arrangement of Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" for flute, clarinet, harp and string quartet has been performed already 8 times in different countries and by renowned artist - and even at the Cheltenham Festival. One version can be heard here:
http://www.adrianomusic.com/styled-10/styled-12/index.html
(sorry for this self-promotion :-)

[FBerwald]

Just came across this ... I wasn't aware that Bortkiewicz's Op. 25 was for Cello and Orchestra. Nevertheless its absolutely beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odTTWAIT5v0

[FBerwald]

A beautiful performance of a concerto that (shall I safely assume?) most of us like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAeOkO4TZlw

[Gareth Vaughan]

Yes, indeed. Bortkiewicz's cello concerto is a most beautiful work.