cpo have at last announced the release of their recordings (on one CD) of Herzogenberg's Violin Concerto and Odysseus Symphony. They will be available on 22nd of this month...
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Heinrich-von-Herzogenberg-Violinkonzert-A-Dur-WoO-4/hnum/8752507 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Heinrich-von-Herzogenberg-Violinkonzert-A-Dur-WoO-4/hnum/8752507)
Usually I regret how time flies, but in this case I can't hardly wait...Great news!
Where does the concerto fit into the Herzogenberg canon, Alan? Odysseus is an early work, I know.
It's late-ish, dating from 1889. Should be interesting to see how much in thrall to Brahms it is and whether it's as sunny as its key-signature (A major) suggests.
The concerto's slow movement- but just its slow movement- has been broadcast from an earlier recording (of the complete concerto, coupled with op. 56 die Weihe der Nacht; label "Kuma", 2008 recording, Mario Schwarz cond., Lisa Shnayder vn., Collegium Musicum St. Gallen), I assume, over Radio Swiss Classic a few times already. Quite nice minor-mode songful piece. (If that earlier recording is commercially available then the cpo is not a premiere, I guess.)
Eric
I can't wait to hear the Odysseus Symphony (op16 1876), Alan. I think it will be a little different from the previous offerings. I remember reading somewhere, that he wrote four or five symphonies. Do you know of any others ?
Marcus.
Odysseus is an early work from his Liszt/Wagner phase. Two other (much more conservative) symphonies are available on CD - audio excerpts here...
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Heinrich-von-Herzogenberg-Symphonien-Nr-1-2/hnum/2727208 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Heinrich-von-Herzogenberg-Symphonien-Nr-1-2/hnum/2727208)
This morning my copy arrived and I immediately listened to the VC.
My first impression is... that I'm not overwhelmed. The work didn't give me the excitement as I had hoped for, a feeling I had after listening for the first time to the VC's by Dietrich, Reinecke and both Raff's masterpieces. Of course it's only my first listening experience, but I'm a little bit disappointed. It just didn't meet my expectations, but maybe this is unfair and besides, expectations based upon what? Herzogenberg's very appealing chamber music, I guess. Who knows how I think about the concerto after I've given it more listenings.
This afternoon I will listen concentrated to the Odysseus Symphony.
The performance, both by violinist Ulf Wallin and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, is excellent. It's a CD of first rate quality.
I'm very interested to learn what other members think of it.
I think it may be important to remember that Herzogenberg is a generation younger than Dietrich, Reinecke and Raff, so that we should perhaps be expecting something rather different. In addition, he is a rather more intellectual composer than many of his contemporaries, which may mean that his works yield up their secrets rather more slowly.
Odysseus should be quite different, coming as it does from his early Liszt-inspired phase.
The Odysseus. What a most surprising opus, lasting almost 48 minutes. It has left me tongue-tied for a couple of minutes, but not in a negative way. Is this really Herzogenberg? Yes it is.
It's good to know the history, and the informative booklet notes by Bernd Wiechert of the International Herzogenberg Society are very useful.
I think everyone who loves Herzogenberg's music, should get to know the Odysseus as well. It is so different. The work has beautiful passages, like the (unfortunately very short) solo violin playing in the last movement (after some 8 minutes), but as a whole it sounds like a hard nut to crack. It definitely needs and deserves repeated hearings, for it's surely an interesting work in comparison with Herzogenberg's other, much more traditional works, as I see it.
At this very moment I'm listening to the VC for the second time. The slow movement is most lyrical, but ends rather abrupt.
This new cpo disc with two interesting works is an absolute must-buy, not only for all Herzogenberg lovers.
The VC is a lovely work of the composer's maturity, recognisably in the same style as the sunny 2nd symphony. And it has tunes! I guarantee that, once heard, you won't be able to get the main theme of the finale out of your head! Is it Brahmsian? Of course, Herzogenberg and Brahms shared the same conservative musical aesthetic, but there is a certain earthiness to Herzogenberg which is quite different from Brahms.
Of course, you may prefer the Lisztian/Wagnerian posturing of the Odysseus Symphony - very exciting in its own way, and a fascinating musical document of its time. Either way, this is a magnificent CD, with around 80 minutes of unfamiliar music. An essential addition, I'd have thought - and all brilliantly performed and recorded, by the way.
I've written enough times here about my Herzogenberg blind spot. However I have to say that I have really warmed to the Violin Concerto after several hearings. Unusually for his music, the first movement made a strong impression from the first. Despite its comparative length, it's quite tautly put together and has both an immediate appeal and lasting value I suspect. I didn't rate the finale at first, despite its catchy material, but it has grown on me and I'm reminded of Bruch's 3rd. Violin Concerto, which it pre-dates by several years. I'm afraid that the slow movement has yet to make much of an impression, but two out of three isn't bad for me! Odysseus I have liked since hearing the radio broadcast which preceded this CD, but it's not typical Herzogenberg.
Dunno. Give it 3 months, maybe?
Hi All,
I've just found it on Amazon.co.uk with a release date of the 27th of April so it's available for pre order. Still no sign at MDT though... :(
I have now had time to listen to both the VC and the Odysseus Symphony a number of times and have come to really appreciate both works. I particularly like the VC, especially the first movement. As Alan said so aptly, it's a work which is similar in style to his sunny 2nd symphony. The Odysseus Symphony is also very impressive with its already stated, obvious Lisztian/ Wagnerian overtones. I like it a lot but it is quite different in style from his symphonies nos 1 and 2 both of which I am quite fond.
cheers
Dennis
Well, I took the plunge too. I just saw that this became available from CD Universe for $12.60, so I snapped it up. And the Devreese Piano Concertos are on their way from Canada as well. Think I'll lay off ordering stuff for a while.
For everyone's information:
The "other" recording of the Herzogenberg Violin Concerto is a live recording of the first public performance of the concerto ever, which was given at the International Lake of Constance Festival (Switzerland) in May 2008. The soloist was the Russian violinist Elizaveta (Lisa) Shnayder, playing with the Collegium Musicum St. Gallen under the direction of Mario Schwarz. The slow movement from the recording has been played a few times on the radio, in Switzerland and (apparently) elsewhere.
I have not heard Ulf Wallin's Herzogenberg VC recording and cannot compare the two, but I was present at the 2008 performance and was hugely impressed by Ms. Shnayder's thoughtful, expressive and technically sparkling rendition,* and the audience at this world premiere event was most appreciative as well. The cadenza, a soaring high-Romantic riff on the concerto's principal motifs, was composed by none other than the soloist's father, Marc Shnayder, and will not be heard on the other recording. (*As a member of the family, I freely confess my personal bias in favor of these artists!)
A CD of the 2008 performance does, indeed, exist, though it is apparently not being advertised for sale over the Net. I saw it being offered for sale by the Herzogenberg Gesellschaft (www.herzobenberg.ch) a week or so ago, during a concert intermission here in Switzerland.
Indeed, the concert last week was yet another excellent performance of Herzogenberg by Ms. Shnayder, this time the Violin Sonata no. 3 in d, Op. 78, with Andrea Wiesli on the piano. It was recorded by German radio (SWR 2), one would hope for a later broadcast (when? I don't know). I am not aware of any publicly issued recordings of this fine piece.
Best regards to all Herzogenberg fans!
Good to welcome you, Ethan!
It's interesting to hear of the emergence of Herzogenberg's VC. It is a very fine work and one hopes that it might find its way into the repertoire - although there is always the problem of persuading concert promoters to programme it in the first place. But Wallin's recording is a good start - I wonder whether he will be playing it in public at all?
Quote from: Ethan on Sunday 23 May 2010, 20:31
www.herzobenberg.ch
should read www.herzogenberg.ch, methinks...
And, by the way, anyone interested in Ulf Wallin's work as a violinist might like to check his recording of the Swedish composer Allgén's monumental sonata for solo violin (almost his last work), which is only about ten minutes shorter than a certain string quintet by another composer that's been mentioned on these boards; see details at http://www.loddingkonsert.se/artists.asp?id=131...
Well, I got the CD yesterday and started familiarizing myself with the music therein almost immediately. What strikes me most is how much promise he would have had if he had chosen to pursue Raff's lonely path of trying to bridge the gap between the two opposing camps in German music of the period. He could have numbered Odysseus his first symphony and still been able to compose in a more abstract style later on without sacrificing the orchestral color and harmonic ingenuity. Instead he disowned his earlier works, jumped ship and "tamed down" his style. Although I like the VC well enough, after hearing the symphony it seems to me to be slightly disappointing by comparison.
The VC is a slow burner, Jim. Give it a few more listens...
I've continued to listen to this CD, and while I am somewhat warming to the VC I keep on being strangely drawn to the Odysseus Symphony. I find myself wishing that he had composed the concerto in that same vein (for Wilhelmj instead of Joachim, who would never have accepted it under those circumstances.) You know what the symphony reminds me of, in spots? Believe it or not - Tchaikovsky. Not the Tchaikovsky of the symphonies, but of the tone poems, e.g. Francesca da Rimini, The Tempest, etc. The same orchestral palette, similar turns of phrase, etc. It seems weird to hear a Liszt/Wagner-influenced German sounding like a Westernized Russian, but there you have it. Anybody agree? Or disagree?
I originally bought the CD mainly for the VC, with the Odysseus Symphony as a welcome but not essential coupling. However, the more I listen to the latter, the more I admire it. And, while appreciating the similarities to Tchaikovsky, what it really reminds me of is Liszt (e.g. the Faust Symphony) whose music, of course, might be seen as having influenced both composers. A marvellous work, anyway, and absolutely typical of the New German-style romanticism which the composer was to turn away from soon afterwards.