Ernst von Dohnányi (1877-1960)

Started by Scarpia, November 26, 2010, 10:25:50 AM

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cilgwyn

That 'Sextet' sounds very tempting. I wonder what recording you are referring to Brian?

Brian

Quote from: cilgwyn on May 20, 2011, 04:07:29 AM
That 'Sextet' sounds very tempting. I wonder what recording you are referring to Brian?

[asin]B00008OP1T[/asin]

It's magnif! :)

cilgwyn

Thanks. I wondered if it was a Naxos disc. I've been thinking  about trying his chamber music for some time. I wonder if this is the only recording of the 'Sextet? Although,I don't think I'll look because with all that temptation on the internet I'll probably buy another wagon load of cd's  (eg every cd of Dohnanyi's chamber music in existence!) I can hardly move for the blighters now!
  Like Cyril Scott in England I suspect Dohnanyi was better at this kind of thing.

Brian

#23
Quote from: cilgwyn on May 20, 2011, 02:02:00 PM
Thanks. I wondered if it was a Naxos disc. I've been thinking  about trying his chamber music for some time. I wonder if this is the only recording of the 'Sextet?

There was a Decca recording of the Takacs Quartet, Andras Schiff, and friends, which you might find someplace, and I think another one exists somewhere (on Hungaroton). For what it's worth, the Naxos performance is stupendous.

Here's a clip (audio quality seriously reduced by the Amazon clip-making process)

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Brian on May 21, 2011, 12:11:11 AM
There was a Decca recording of the Takacs Quartet, Andras Schiff, and friends, which you might find someplace, and I think another one exists somewhere (on Hungaroton). For what it's worth, the Naxos performance is stupendous.

And there's the one on Praga that Erato has mentioned. I ordered that one because it has the Second String Quartet along with the Serenade for String Trio and Sextet.

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Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

cilgwyn

Thanks all! I can go shopping now without buying a s***%$@ of Dohnanyi (just the one/s I want!).
Hope you don't mind the symbols here. I once got moderated on the old Radio 3 message board for using offensive asterix! (the foul kind not the Gaul!).

Brian

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on May 21, 2011, 04:05:00 AM
And there's the one on Praga that Erato has mentioned. I ordered that one because it has the Second String Quartet along with the Serenade for String Trio and Sextet.

[asin]B000MR9E3U[/asin]


Sarge

Ooh! I might buy that anyway, because I've got the Serenade and Sextet but Praga have a golden touch when it comes to chamber music. They seem to have every Czech ensemble worth recording these days.

Opus106

Seriously, why are there so few recordings of Dohnanyi's first piano quintet? ???
Regards,
Navneeth

johnshade

#28
It is interesting to note that Dohnanyi spent the last several years of his life in Tallahassee, FL. He came to Florida State University as resident composer in 1949. He remained at FSU until his death in 1960.

I attended several of his concerts. He got an honorary degree and I graduated from FSU in 1957. Especially remembered was his performance as one of the pianist in Bartok's Sonata for 2 pianos, percussion and celesta. He was a great friend of Bartok even though Dohnanyi remained a true Romantic composer.

JS
The sun's a thief, and with her great attraction robs the vast sea, the moon's an arrant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun  (Shakespeare)

Scion7

Quote from: cilgwyn on May 18, 2011, 04:18:45 AM
Regarding Dohnanyi's son. Is this the assassination attempt where the bomb was placed behind a pillar?

Yes.  And his other son died in a Russian POW camp.  This poor composer was framed/libeled/slandered, and lost both sons in WW2.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

vandermolen

Quote from: cilgwyn on May 18, 2011, 04:18:45 AM
Regarding Dohnanyi's son. Is this the assassination attempt where the bomb was placed behind a pillar? I just happened to turn over to the 'yesterday channel' (freeview). Apparently there were at least 40-41 attempts on Hitler's life (such a popular bloke!). In this instance Hitler just happened to deliver a shorter than usual speech. I didn't see the end of the programme & I suppose some horrible fate befell the poor bloke who made the bomb.
Nice to see a Dohnanyi thread. A very underrated composer. I remember being in the late lamented 'Swales music centre' in Haverfordwest & they had the famous variations on the record player with Entremont playing. I had never heard it before & we asked what it was. In the event I bought the Lp & I've loved it ever since,although I'm not sure the Entremont was one of the best versions. Nevertheless,I enjoyed it at the time & it was my first encounter. I don't have the Entremont anymore but I'm sure it was more fun than my Chandos recording (not that there's anything wrong with it!)

Only replying three years late to this  ::). Re: the Hitler bomb was the one placed beneath a conference table at Hitler's HQ in East Prussia. Someone kicked the briefcase containing the bomb and moved it to the other side of a thick wooden table leg which protected Hitler when the bomb went off. It's estimated that 5000 people lost their lives as a result of the purge which followed, including Dohnanyi's son.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Daverz

I don't agree with the previous poster who called the symphonies unmemorable.  I'm only familiar with symphony 2, but it has some very memorable tunes and is well constructed.  A fine work.

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vandermolen

Quote from: Daverz on July 14, 2014, 04:11:00 PM
I don't agree with the previous poster who called the symphonies unmemorable.  I'm only familiar with symphony 2, but it has some very memorable tunes and is well constructed.  A fine work.

[asin]B000000AZ3[/asin]

I'm the previous poster but I don't think they are unmemorable at all. I really like No.2.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

cilgwyn

I like both symphonies. Big boned,colourful,slightly OTT,late romantic extravaganzas? I can't see anything not to like! That said,the tunes and ideas aren't as memorable as those in Gliere's third or Korngold's Symphony. I can't 'run through' the symphonies in my head. For example,there is a big tune in the first movement of one of them,rising to a huge climax. It's very stirring and nationalistic,quite exciting. But the fact that I can't remember whether it's in No1 or 2 is a bit worrying and,maybe,says it all! I still enjoy listening to them now & again. In fact,I like almost everything I've heard by this composer. I don't think he's a major figure,but at best he's very enjoyable!
One or more point. I seem to recall reading that he composed operas. I wonder whether they are worth hearing?

Just checked! He did! The final one,from 1927, is called 'The Tenor'!

vandermolen

New release:
[asin]B00JL1BIEG[/asin]
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

snyprrr

Quote from: cilgwyn on July 15, 2014, 07:56:07 AM
I like both symphonies. Big boned,colourful,slightly OTT,late romantic extravaganzas? I can't see anything not to like! That said,the tunes and ideas aren't as memorable as those in Gliere's third or Korngold's Symphony. I can't 'run through' the symphonies in my head. For example,there is a big tune in the first movement of one of them,rising to a huge climax. It's very stirring and nationalistic,quite exciting. But the fact that I can't remember whether it's in No1 or 2 is a bit worrying and,maybe,says it all! I still enjoy listening to them now & again. In fact,I like almost everything I've heard by this composer. I don't think he's a major figure,but at best he's very enjoyable!
One or more point. I seem to recall reading that he composed operas. I wonder whether they are worth hearing?

Just checked! He did! The final one,from 1927, is called 'The Tenor'!

comparisons to Gliere and Korngold = 2 valium!! (just saying- I was napping to DSCH 5 earlier... had to turn it off after Largo...)

cilgwyn

Has anyone here tried his Piano Concertos? I keep thinking of buying a cd of them. Then I don't! And if I ever do should I opt for Chandos or Hyperion? There are so many romantic piano concertos out there and so many of them chock full of the same gestures and rhetoric. A pleasant wallow,perhaps,but ultimately in one ear out the other! One reason why I don't have any releases from the celebrated Hyperion series in my cd collection!

Scion7

#37
Both piano concertos are very good - the first one is bright and perhaps more "happy" while the second has more brooding moments and was composed quite some time later, but don't think that No.1 is a lesser work of art technically - Dohnanyi was a master technician who knew technique and theory much, much more than Liszt did, for example.  While his chamber works are the real feather in his cap, the symphonies, the konzertstuck, and the piano concertos are fine works.  Look at it this way, although they had little in common musically, Bartok was a staunch defender of Dohnanyi, and vice-versa.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

Scion7

Glad to see the FSU Symphony release - Dohnanyi made himself a resident there after leaving Argentina and was a U.S. citizen and chair of a music department there - he died in the U.S.A., just a few days after recording some stereo performances in 1960.  Too bad he could not have been caught at the height of his technical ability on better recording equipment in the Twenties.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

vandermolen

#39
Just listened to Symphony 2 (twice!) - the Matthias recording on Chandos. I had forgotten quite how good it is. The opening did remind me of the Korngold Symphony, but elsewhere I was reminded of Bruckner and the reconstructed Elgar's 'Third Symphony' (especially in the opening movement). I did find the work memorable and did have themes going through my head afterwards (and not just the moving Bach episode from the last movement). It has a terrific, inspiriting coda, the emphatic final notes reminding me of the end of Mahler's First Symphony (and the Symphony by Bernard Herrmann for that matter). I imagine that the symphony must relate in some way to the troubled period in which it was composed.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).