I downloaded the new Naxos release of Ignatz Waghalter's violin music yesterday after it became available. I have now listened to the recording several times, with steadily mounting enthusiasm. Even taking into account all that happened after 1933 to disrupt the continuity of music, I am still amazed that a composer of Waghalter's evident genius was so completely forgotten. The violin concerto is an amazing work. I really do not know what to compare it to. It is overflowing with profound and brilliantly developed thematic material. The second movement is at once heart breaking and inspiring. The third movement is a joy to listen to. I could go on and on about the other pieces -- the Rhapsody, the Sonata for Violin and Piano and the two short pieces. They are all wonderfully conceived and so poignantly beautiful. I do hope that others will listen to the music and post their comments.
I've just finished playing through my downloaded tracks for the first time and echo Morris' enthusiasm. In my case the pieces which struck me most forcibly were the Concerto's slow movement, which is such a heartfelt utterance, and the Violin Sonata. I'll have some lunch and listen again...
The VC, it seems to me, is (sort of) a Bruch VC1 for the early 20th century. Thoroughly romantic in spirit, it has wonderful eloquence (slow movement) and excitement a-plenty (finale) - in fact it's surely a very welcome addition to the repertoire. Just shows what's still out there - and given that Toskey doesn't award it a very high 'difficulty rating', you'd think soloists would be queuing up to learn it...
Does it have a fully developed 1st movement, or is it truncated?
In that respect the Waghalter is different. I was thinking of scale and a certain sort of open-hearted romanticism.
Dear all. I am new (or really a guest) to the forum and really just popped in to say how delighted I am with the reaction to the new disc of Waghalter's violin music played by the excellent Irmina Trynkos. I am the conductor in the concerto and the rhapsody and have to say feel the music was a real discovery - this music must have popular appeal as well as being of the highest quality. There is a lot more music there that I am hoping to explore in the next few years performance and recordings. I hope to see many of you at Cadogan Hall on 14th November.
Welcome Alexander - I do hope that you don't regard yourself just as a visitor. There's a fount of knowledge here about about many composers as unjustly neglected as Waghalter who, on the evidence of your hugely persuasive recording, certainly has been badly served by posterity. There'll be a least three of us at Cadogan Hall this November and we'll certainly see you - though whether you see us is a different matter! :)
Welcome, Alexander. And congratulations on the Waghalter disc! It's just what this forum wants to see - wonderful music rediscovered and performed for a new audience today. A number of us will be there to see you live in London on 14th of next month.
Great. Please come and say hello to us all after the concert.
Any chance you can talk The Dude into allowing you and your soloist to come to town and take over his crew (the L.A. Phil) for a week?
Thrilled to see the Waghalter cd released, and I'll acquire a copy soon.
On first hearing I'd say the violin concerto brings to mind two other Poles, Karlowicz (in the rhapsodical passages and the transition to the second movement) and Moszkowski himself.
Kudos to all concerned for this excellent addition to the genre.
Karlowicz, who died so tragically at a young age, was a wonderful composer. But although Waghalter was born only five years later than Karlowicz, he clearly represents a later musical generation. I am still trying to assimilate the new Waghalter recording intellectually and emotionally. His music reflects an extraordinary range of musical influences that are ultimately blended together in a highly original manner. The violin concerto has a sort of kaleidoscopic character: Waghalter has the amazing ability to translate fleeting impressions of the world as he experienced it into significant melodic ideas. This is the mark of a great composer. As for the CD itself, Irmina Trynkos is clearly a major talent. An astonishing array of emotions find expression in her playing. And Alex Walker must be congratulated for his interpretation of the work. It must be incredibly difficult to accomplish this without being able to reference any other performance of the work. The Cadogan Hall concert promises to be a major event.
I received my copy yesterday. Amazing that this wonderful Violin Concerto has been neglected so long. In fact, amazing that Waghalter has fallen into oblivion. The VC is really a trouvaille. The slow movement is utterly serene and romantic, and while enjoying it, I was a bit shocked (awakened) by the sudden transition into the vivid last movement, which brings the listener into a totally different mood.
The Rhapsody is most lyrical and IMHO cannot have a better advocate than Irmina Trynkos. What a violinist she is!
Going by all the comments made of Waghalter's VC and other violin works, I simply had to buy this CD. I've had the CD a couple of days now and have listened to it several times already. I echo the comments made by other members of the forum : the music is absolutely stunning! I too wonder how Waghalter up till now has remained unknown? Surely that will change now!
During the past weekend, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin celebrated its 100th birthday. Manuel Brug, the well-known music critic of Die Welt, a major German daily newspaper, opened his review of the celebration with a warm tribute to Ignatz Waghalter and the new Naxos CD of his music. He wrote on October 22:
"Let us begin with Ignatz Waghalter (1881-1949). This composer of full-blooded but not uninteresting romantic music seems to have fallen out of historical time. His anniversary has not been celebrated, and he must count among the most unjustly forgotten composers of the interwar period. But Naxos has just released a CD of his various compositions for violin that will have connoisseurs licking their lips with delight.
"For what they will hear is truly breathtaking music. Moreover, it was the Polish Jew Waghalter -- Pay Attention, Centenary Celebrators -- who conducted the very first performance of Fidelio, upon the opening of the Deutschen Opernhaus Berlin (which we now know as the Deutsche Oper) on November 7, 1912. Not only that: For 11 years this now totally forgotten musician -- who composed four operas and who secured a place for Puccini's music in Germany -- was the music director of an opera house that was established by wealthy citizens of Charlottenburg-Berlin as a corporation. This was certainly not in conformity with the saber-rattling nationalism of the Wilhelmine epoch."
This is a just tribute to a man who was, quite clearly, an extraordinary musician and, as it may turn out, a great composer. It appears that the Waghalter CD is really having an impact. And, frankly, it is hard to resist the emotional pull of Waghalter's music.
I am eagerly awaiting the November 14 concert at Cadogan Hall. I hope that readers of this site will do everything to get the word around.
I was at the Cadogan Hall concert which was very well done. The attendance however was a little disappointing - the hall was about half-full at best.
It was good to hear the concerto and the Rhapsodie performed live by Irina Trynkos. She has clearly has the temperament to really bring these pieces to life, as of course has the conductor. Please tell us of your future projects Mr. Walker!
Waghalter's grandson David Green and his wife flew over specially from the USA to attend the performance. Mr. Green has been responsible for the almost singlehanded revival of his grandfather's music - he started the Waghalter website www.waghalter.com (http://www.waghalter.com) and in addition to the normal printed programme last night he put out a 4-page leaflet documenting how he re-discovered the music which was lying in an attic in the family's former London home.
I look forward with great interest to further recordings, especially the operas.
I was there too and it's difficult to imagine a more persuasive or committed performance of the two Waghalter works, which were very well received by an enthusiastic audience.
I too was at the concert - at which I also had the privilege of meeting David Green. David has since been in contact and clearly has further plans up his sleeve. Let's hope that the Naxos CD will spark a revival of interest in Waghalter's lovely music.
I was fortunate to have a small part in this project. I played in an amateur string quartet, and was hunting for late romantic quartets which were with in our playing ability. I stumbled on Waghalter's Op. 3 string quartet, and printed it off. It was wonderful. So I started hunting for more info. I e-mailed the website Waghalter.com, and received a reply from Mr. Green. In chatting back and forth, I discovered that he lived in the Detroit area--not that far from me. So I arranged a meeting with the conductor of the university orchestra I play in, with Mr. Green and myself. He brought us a copy of the chamber music CD he had produced (I already had a copy, our conductor took it...). He also had copies of the violin parts of the concerto and rhapsody, and was eager to see if our orchestra might play them.
I also showed him some of my transcriptions of orchestral music (the opera "Cleopatra's Night") by Henry Hadley. He asked how much I charged. I said, I'd do it free of charge if it would be useful to the revival of Waghalter's music. He said he'd be in touch. Some time later he contacted me and told me about the recording project with the Royal Philharmonic. He had parts for the concerto, nut none for the Rhapsodie, and asked if I'd be willing to produce a set.
In our previous meeting he'd told me about the large body of unpublished manuscripts which Waghalter had produced after his flight to the United States, including an orchestral song. I was really eager to see this. So, I told Mr. Green that I would make a set of parts for the Rhapsodie in exchange for a copy of the manuscript of that orchestral song. He agreed. So I set about work, and eventually finished the parts and sent them to him. I was very excited to have a part in the project, and that my work would be performed by the Royal Philharmonic. I'm hoping, Maestro Walker, that there weren't TOO many mistakes... ; )
My only disappointment was that Mr. Green then sent me only the manuscript of a song with piano accompaniment. Which was nice, but not was I was hoping for or what I had asked for. I mentioned it later, and he said he'd see what he could do, but I haven't yet gotten my promised payment! I'd love to transcribe any of Waghalter's unpublished works, and hope to convince Mr. Green to permit me in to do so in the future.
Eric
Hi all,
After Waghalter's Music was so intensively recommended here, I just had to buy a copy as well – and as far as I can judge after listening twice, the piece is really great. I hope his further music will be published on cd on day!
ewk
I thought forum members might like to read David Green's entry on Waghalter in Grove (online):
Waghalter, Ignatz
(b Warsaw, 15 March 1881; d New York, 7 April 1949). Polish-German conductor and composer. Having completed his apprenticeship at the Berlin Komische Oper (1907–11) and the Stadttheater in Essen (1911–12), he rose to prominence in Berlin as a conductor at the Deutsche Oper (1912–23) and opera composer. His three major operas, all composed in a richly melodic vein, received their premières at the Deutsche Oper: Mandragola (1914), inspired by the Renaissance comedy by Machiavelli; Jugend (1917), adapted from the realist tragic drama by Max Halbe; and Santaniel (1923), based on a Polish fantasy tale. In 1925 Waghalter succeeded Josef Stransky as principal conductor of the New York State SO. Despite his favourable critical reception, Waghalter returned to Germany where he was active as a guest conductor and composer. He fled from Germany in 1934, first to Czechoslovakia and then to Austria, where he composed his last opera, Ahasaverus und Esther (1937). Emigrating to the USA in 1938, Waghalter established an orchestra of black musicians, but the enterprise found little support in the prevailing social climate. He died in obscurity at the age of 68. But the centenary of his birth was commemorated by the Deutsche Oper, which also, in 1989, offered a public performance of Jugend. Other works by Waghalter include a String Quartet in D op.3; a Sonata for Violin and Piano op.5; a Violin Concerto in A op.15; and several operettas (including Der später Gast, Wem gehört Helena, Bārbel), lieder and pieces for the piano. He left behind an autobiography, Aus dem Ghetto in die Freiheit (Marienbad, 1936).
David W. Green
Fascinating! And a man quite out of place in the times and conditions in which he lived. Hopefully the present revival will make some amends for his long neglect, although nothing can entirely compensate fot it.
Well, he joins a very big club there, as all of us here know.
Yes....alas, once again you are entirely right, Mark! The comment was made with a serious and sincere intention, but of course it doesn't imply any disregard for all the many distinguished members of this very big club.
Of course, it's a much bigger club than its sung equivalent. Makes you think a bit...
Indeed! Must be an unexplained bit of mental telepathy going on here, for that was precisely the thought I'd been mulling over.
I'd been reading this morning an earlyish Peter Singer work (OK - not embarrased at all for he is one of my heroes!) where he talks of the 'moral club'. The latter, of course, is that small sub-set of animals which our traditional prejudices inform us are deserving of moral consideration, viz. human animals. Singer is at pains to argue that this elevation to a special sphere is nothing but a prejudice and is akin to placing others in a separate category on account of gender or race or whatever.
Ha, just the same with composers I thought. There have been, and hopefully will always be, thankfully countless of them. But some get placed in a special category where their compositions are picked out, performed, recorded, downloaded, written and talked about, and celebrated. But in terms of actual musical worth there is often very little difference between the sung and unsung. In the past (and well before I ever encountered this forum) I've had ferocious squabbles with people who have the stupidity to argue that X can't be any good because he is never performed, left to gather dust, and not worth recording. What a stupid argument!
But I can hear Alan shouting: Fair enough, but enough of your warbles, and Waghalter.....?
Nope, I think what you have said is eminently worth saying. It's what drives us all on. Now back to Waghalter! ;)
Every month, the prestigious European music journal Pizzicato reviews hundreds of newly-released CDs. Of these, only a handful receives its coveted Supersonic designation, which it reserves for those it considers "An Extraordinary and Masterly Achievement [Aussergewöhnliche Spitzenleistung.] A Must-Buy!" The December 2012 issue of Pizzicato has awarded this designation to the new Naxos CD of the Ignatz Waghalter's Violin Concerto and other music for Violin, which features the brilliant Polish-born soloist Irmina Trynkos.
Review by Remy Franck, Editor in Chief
December 2012
"What a discovery: The Violin Concerto of composer Ignatz Waghalter (1881-1949) was, with its romantic characteristics, somewhat 'out of fashion' at the time of its composition in 1911 – but the wealth of ideas in this composition [Einfallsreichtum der Komposition] is fascinating. And that goes as well for the other works in this CD.
"Ignatz Waghalter was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw as the fifteenth of twenty children. Already as a child he was a virtuoso violinist and pianist. At the age of 17 he went to Berlin to seek his fortune there as a musician. He came to the attention of the famous violinist Joseph Joachim, who managed Waghalter's admission into Berlin's Academy of the Arts. He quickly made a name for himself and became principal conductor of the Berlin Opera House and New York Symphony. Aside from his activity as a conductor he composed symphonic works, operas and chamber music.
"An example of the latter is also represented in the Waghalter Project of Violinist Irmina Trynkos. The passionately formulated Violin Sonata is an enrapturing [hinreissendes] piece of music which was with good reason distinguished in 1902 with the Mendelssohn Prize.
"The engaged interpretations of the British violinist Irmina Trynkos, who is of Greek-Polish ancestry, is an eloquent testimony on behalf of unjustly forgotten music."
[Translated from the original German]
The review as posted on the Naxos website may be accessed at: http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/Reviews/8.572809_Pizzicato_122012_gr.pdf
(http://www.naxos.com/SharedFiles/Reviews/8.572809_Pizzicato_122012_gr.pdf)
Great contribution, David. Thank you!
Got my copy today. I can hardly wait!
Good news from David Green:
In its current list of Naxos "Best Seller" CDs, the Waghalter recording is Number 29! Considering the enormous number of CDs released each week by Naxos, this is an impressive result -- all the more so when one considers that this is a recording of a composer, dead for more than 60 years, whose work had been so totally forgotten. It is evident that Waghalter's melodic genius is evoking a significant response among music lovers.
Naxos has also included the Waghalter CD among its "Critics Choice" list for January 2013.
http://www.naxos.com/best_sellers.asp (http://www.naxos.com/best_sellers.asp)
http://www.naxos.com/feature/Critics_Choice_January_2013.asp (http://www.naxos.com/feature/Critics_Choice_January_2013.asp)
Anybody notice right below the Waghalter? The CD listed is the complete Rossini overtures, but the one pictured is Sarasate music for Violin and Orchestra.
Actually, Jim, it is called 'creative marketing' - give the punter a slight puzzle to solve, and when they do so they're more likely to purchase the product.
Further down, the image of the English Viola Music CD by Sarah-Jane Bradley and Christian Wilson is also out of place.
Ignore my frivolity! I'm really intrigued by the fact that Waghalter comes in at 29. Absolutely great news, of course, that it does. But, and this is the question, why? Waghalter is clearly not a household name - the man in the street doesn't go out with the intention of bagging a Waghalter in his christmas shopping. I also have the impression that the publicity given to the CD by Naxos is no more and no less than any other of their numerous releases. And apart from jubilant whoops of delight in places like this forum, there isn't any reason to suppose the release of this CD is some kind of major cultural phenomenon.
So why the successful sales? The only possible explanation is that the general public out there have become more knowledgeable and discriminating. The public must keep an alert eye out for things of real musical significance. And, if true, that's wonderful for it allows us to be a little more optimistic about the success of sales and projects with all the other composers that we care so much about.
This chap clearly can't be quiet! I know that most on the site respond to Eduard Franck with somewhat less enthusiasm than I do, but I am delighted to note the recent Naxos Franck disc comes in at 15. Splendid! Do give Franck a chance - his music is much more than the pretty confectionery that it is sometimes reputed to be. It is wonderfully well crafted music from this composer who moved in the Mendelssohn - Schumann circle and intent on composing within traditional forms.
For what it's worth, Peter, you're not alone. I really like the E Franck works (and Richard, too, for that matter). They may not be "profound' - whatever that means- but they're a darned good listen.
Jerry
Thank you Jerry! You are clearly a man with a highly developed sensibility. Alas both of us will doubtless have to face the firing squad for going way off a Waghalter thread. Awrgh, hell!
It's been years since they began, but I'm still occasionally a bit flabbergasted(?) that Naxos is recording some of this music (a lot of it). Way off their original schedule. Often very well and all to the good and no complaint from me. Just pleasantly very surprised. Anyhow, back to the thread. Sorry.
Having at last found time to listen to the Naxos recording, I must say that this music fares much better in the fuller, richer sound of the RPO than it did in the under-nourished orchestral sounds I heard at the Cadogan Hall concert at which, as Mark and Alan will testify, I was not as enthusiastic as I had hoped to be. This work is no forgotten masterpiece, but it is beautifully written for the instrument and contains lots of gorgeous, late-Romantic lyricism which makes it a joy to hear when presented in the sumptuous colours and textures intended by the composer. It really is important with forgotten works to give them the best possible advocacy - otherwise, many listeners will just shrug and say: "Well, I'm not surprised it was forgotten!" I hope Jarvi will do this for Raff because his recording of the Symphony No. 2 really makes the music leap out at you and will surely convince doubters of Raff's importance as a serious composer of real merit in a way that some of the recordings of the symphonies we have hitherto enjoyed (and we have enjoyed them - no doubt of that - and are grateful to those conductors and orchestras who have given them to us) are unlikely to do to nearly the same extent..
even better-known music could use being treated much less routinely- but really, agreed.
First of all, let me again express my appreciation for the interest this site has shown in the progress of the Naxos release of my grandfather's Violin Concerto (and other music for the violin). In a recent posting, Peter Schott writes:
"So why the successful sales? The only possible explanation is that the general public out there have become more knowledgeable and discriminating. The public must keep an alert eye out for things of real musical significance. And, if true, that's wonderful for it allows us to be a little more optimistic about the success of sales and projects with all the other composers that we care so much about."
I share Peter's optimism. For decades, it seemed unimaginable that my grandfather's music would be publicly performed, let alone be recorded by an orchestra of the stature of the RPO and released by a label such as Naxos. And yet, suddenly, events moved with incredible speed. In 2009 I was contacted by the extraordinary musician Irmina Trynkos. Within little more than a year and a half, I found myself witnessing the recording my grandfather's music. Before Alexander Walker raised his baton on March 15, 2011 (the 130th anniversary of Ignatz' birth), I had never heard any of my grandfather's music with orchestration. "Is this really happening?," I wondered. Then, in the autumn of 2012, the recording was released. And through some incredible process of word of mouth, the CD seems to have found a substantial and appreciative audience. Yes, the music is beautiful. But it always was, and yet it languished unheard for such a long time. So many things had to happen for the music to come to life again. But all these "things" involved people taking an interest in the sort of, excuse me if I use the word, "beautiful" music that critics and academics have deprecated for decades. Irmina had to take an interest. Alex had to take an interest. The RPO had to take an interest. Naxos had to take an interest. Yes, so many people had to take an interest, including the many writers and readers of this invaluable web site, and now, finally, the music lovers who are responding to Waghalter's music.
What does this tell us? The sudden presence of a critical mass of "interested" listeners suggests that we are witnessing a shift in musical aesthetics. Waghalter's "success," however modest it may appear, is one of the many signs of the deep dissatisfaction of the music-loving public with the self-absorbed, demoralized, elitist ("who cares what the masses like") and frequently unlistenable music that has enthralled so many academics for decades. There is a new openness and receptivity to unknown and unsung composers who, for a vast complex of historical and cultural reasons, were thrust aside and forgotten. But the roots of melodicism are too deeply embedded in musical history and human emotion to be eradicated forever. The rediscovery of the old masters of melodicism -- and I suspect that Waghalter will not be the only beneficiary of this process -- will provide inspiration for a new generation of musicians who will champion this idiom and raise it to new heights.
I'm rather touched, David, that the grandson of this fine composer has become a participant in discussions on the Forum. An especially warm welcome to you! And I do hope you'll keep us posted of future Waghalter happenings.
I'm interested in both the supposedly "unlistenable" music in question and in Romantic music that has fallen through the cracks but have come to think that, well, trying to get people to realize that the classical audience isn't so large that we can pit parts of the audience one against the other without "hang together, or hang separately!" coming to mind, is more than a bit of a lost cause itself.