Topic: Gurn's Classical Corner

[SonicMan46]

I just obtained Volume 7 of this estimable series. Have got to hear lots of 'new' music, and as Gordo notes, different players on each disk, including Viviana Sofronitzky, Alexei Lubimov and several others. Dussek was huge in his time, and a bit of a scamp, too. As so many others did, he tended to fade in the 19th century, but his quality was enough to provide a good reason for his return today. Highly recommended.

Hi Gurn - just checked my Dussek collection and I got up to Vol. 4 and must have not looked lately!    Will correct that soon!  Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

An interesting group of pianofortes, mainly the Longman & Clementi's (at least 2 of them) but also a Broadwood and a Viennese type made in Germany, and a Dutch one too. They all sound good, the players are uniformly excellent, IMO.

Volume 1 - Bart van Oort piano
Fortepiano Longman Clementi (Londen, 1798-1799), Collection Chris Maene, restored 2002.

Volume 2 - Piet Kuijken fortepiano
Instrument: Longman Clementi, London 1798, Maene collection

Volume 3 - Alexei Lubimov fortepiano
Fortepiano Longman Clementi (London, 1798-1799),Collection Chris Maene, restored 2002.

Volume 4 - Tuija Hakkila piano
Fortepianos
Op.5 No.3 & Op.43: Anonymous Viennese 5-octave fortepiano “Bureau de Musique, Leipsic”
(ca. 1795-1800), restored by Edwin Beunk, Enschede, Holland (2005). Collection: Tuija Hakkila
Op.24 & Op.61: Copy of a Longman Clementi fortepiano (London,1799) made by Chris Maene,
Belgium (2003). Collection: Malcolm Bilson

Volume 5 - Wolfgang Brunner fortepiano
Fortepianos
Robert Brown: Copy after Michael Rosenberger (Vienna c. 1810),
Oberndorf near Salzburg 2009 (tr. 1-2, 6-7)
John Broadwood and Son, London 1804, Rococo Summer Pavilion Stift Schlägl/
Austria (tr. 3-5, 8-11)

Volume 6 - Viviana Sofronitzki fortepiano
Fortepiano Longman Clementi (London, 1798-1799),Collection Chris Maene, restored 2002.

Volume 7 - Zvi Meniker fortepiano
Fortepiano by Clementi, London 1797, restored by Chris Maene

[Gordo]

That's a dream team! The only name I'm not familiar with is Mr. Brunner. All the instruments seem superb, too.

BTW, Lubimov recorded a highly recommendable disk on Alpha devoted to Dussek. It includes a concerto for two pianos (with Olga Pashchenko) and two chamber works.   

[Que]

That's a dream team! The only name I'm not familiar with is Mr. Brunner. All the instruments seem superb, too.

Great!  I guess the eventual boxset (how many discs are to be expected?) will be a non- brainer.... 

BTW, Lubimov recorded a highly recommendable disk on Alpha devoted to Dussek. It includes a concerto for two pianos (with Olga Pashchenko) and two chamber works.   

Noted, thanks! 

Q

[Gurn Blanston]

That's a dream team! The only name I'm not familiar with is Mr. Brunner. All the instruments seem superb, too.

BTW, Lubimov recorded a highly recommendable disk on Alpha devoted to Dussek. It includes a concerto for two pianos (with Olga Pashchenko) and two chamber works.   

Wolfgang Brunner records on the Hannsler/Profil label, I have 2 disks of Mozart, one he plays with Leonore Stauss, 4 hands music and the disk is called "Für Nannerl", very nice. I also have a second Mozart from him with the 2 & 3 piano concertos. In addition, he is conductor on a Haydn disk of the marionette opera "Philemon und Baucis". He conducts the Salzburger Hofmusik, which he also does on that Mozart concerto disk. He is a good player.

I also have that Lubimov Dussek concerto disk, it is most enjoyable. I've become rather a fan of Lubimov over the years...

[Gurn Blanston]

Great!  I guess the eventual boxset (how many discs are to be expected?) will be a non- brainer.... 

Noted, thanks! 

Q

I was doing some counting recently to try and answer that question, and it looks like 2 or 3 more will cover the sonatas, unless they go out and begin to include the solo piano music otherwise. So, 9 or 10 total. Not quite the 18 in the Clementi set! 

[Gordo]

Noted, thanks! 

Q

Like Gurn, I'm a fan of Lubimov; although I didn't need a process, it was a sudden effect after listening to his Mozart's piano sonatas several years ago.

Closer to Badura-Skoda and Bilson than people like Bezuidenhout, van Oort. Beghin, the last three my favorite fortepianists after the demigods.

[Gurn Blanston]

...Closer to Badura-Skoda and Bilson than people like Bezuidenhout, Bart van Oort. Beghin, the last three my favorite fortepianists after the demigods.

I agree with everything you say here. Lubimov and The 'B's' clearly have it when it comes to fortepianos! 

[San Antone]

Is Donizetti considered a Classical era composer?  He falls right at the end of the time frame, born the same year as Schubert but lived much longer, but not as long as Rossini, who was born five years earlier.

His string quartets sound like they could easily fit in with the style of the period, not sure about his operas since I don't listen to opera very much.

[vers la flamme]

Is Donizetti considered a Classical era composer?  He falls right at the end of the time frame, born the same year as Schubert but lived much longer, but not as long as Rossini, who was born five years earlier.

His string quartets sound like they could easily fit in with the style of the period, not sure about his operas since I don't listen to opera very much.

I didn't know Donizetti wrote string quartets, but I rate his operas, like those of the other Bel Canto guys, as pure early Romantic. Though Italian opera evolved on a totally different timeline than German concert music I think. It almost exists outside of that whole continuum of baroque, classical, romantic, modern. It may be a different story with the quartets, I'd have to hear them.

[Gurn Blanston]

Is Donizetti considered a Classical era composer?  He falls right at the end of the time frame, born the same year as Schubert but lived much longer, but not as long as Rossini, who was born five years earlier.

His string quartets sound like they could easily fit in with the style of the period, not sure about his operas since I don't listen to opera very much.

I think he is stylistically Classical. Chronologically (which is so deceptive!) he would be an early Romantic, but he is much more concise than Schubert, for example, since you mentioned him. I wouldn't dispute at all that his operas are Romantic style, but I think his quartets (and much other chamber music) which he wrote very early on (all before 1820) tend towards Classic.

[San Antone]

I didn't know Donizetti wrote string quartets, but I rate his operas, like those of the other Bel Canto guys, as pure early Romantic. Though Italian opera evolved on a totally different timeline than German concert music I think. It almost exists outside of that whole continuum of baroque, classical, romantic, modern. It may be a different story with the quartets, I'd have to hear them.

Donizetti was alone among the opera composers to devote his attention to chamber music, especially string quartets, he wrote 15.  And they are really very good.

I think he is stylistically Classical. Chronologically (which is so deceptive!) he would be an early Romantic, but he is much more concise than Schubert, for example, since you mentioned him. I wouldn't dispute at all that his operas are Romantic style, but I think his quartets (and much other chamber music) which he wrote very early on (all before 1820) tend towards Classic.

Thanks, that is kind of how I was thinking about it.   

[Florestan]

I rate his operas, like those of the other Bel Canto guys, as pure early Romantic.

This.

I think his quartets (and much other chamber music) which he wrote very early on (all before 1820) tend towards Classic.

And this.

[SonicMan46]

Eberl, Anton (1765-1807) - searching this thread, Eberl's last post was about 6 years ago, so anything new?  The first 4 (3 top; 1 bottom left) are in my current collection - I decided to 'cull out' the 3-CD set of John Khouri (much better fortepianos exit) - SO, I was exploring Amazon today and not much has been added to this composer's listings there except for an upcoming release (in a few days) of the Sonatas of fortepiano, a 2-disc Brilliant production - the recording is already available on Spotify, thus an upcoming listen and possibly a purchase?  Dave

   

   

[Gurn Blanston]

Eberl, Anton (1765-1807) - searching this thread, Eberl's last post was about 6 years ago, so anything new?  The first 4 (3 top; 1 bottom left) are in my current collection - I decided to 'cull out' the 3-CD set of John Khouri (much better fortepianos exit) - SO, I was exploring Amazon today and not much has been added to this composer's listings there except for an upcoming release (in a few days) of the Sonatas of fortepiano, a 2-disc Brilliant production - the recording is already available on Spotify, thus an upcoming listen and possibly a purchase?  Dave

   

   

That Brilliant set looks nice. I don't have any of his solo pianoforte works, nor have even heard them, but he was a student of Haydn, who thought very highly of him, and what I have heard, I liked. Write me about the Khouri: I love crappy old fortepianos!

[SonicMan46]

That Brilliant set looks nice. I don't have any of his solo pianoforte works, nor have even heard them, but he was a student of Haydn, who thought very highly of him, and what I have heard, I liked. Write me about the Khouri: I love crappy old fortepianos!

LOL!    Well, I'm more tolerant of 'restored' original PIs vs. reproductions which I expect to just sound better.  I probably donated the Khouri set a few years ago after a third or so listen - cannot quite recall my main complaints but just felt that portions were 'unpleasant' - attached are reviews, both positive and negative; Jerry Dubins is in the latter category; another quoted below from Amazon gave me a chuckle.  Both Amazon and BRO have the 3-CD set for about $18.

At the moment, I'm listening to the 2-CD Brilliant offering w/ Luca Quintavalle on Spotify - he performs on a Paul McNulty copy of an 1805 Walter fortepiano (more info in the other attachment) - listening on headphones (not to disturb Susan - ) - there are 7 Sonatas on two discs; at times, the sound seems somewhat distant and cavernous in the softer passages; plenty of dynamics; an excellent fortepiano - now the physical CDs vs. Spotify streaming likely makes a difference in my past experience - so, I'd like to see some reviews before committing to a purchase but am enjoying.  Dave

I only have to say that I wrote to the company that released this records to ask for an explanation of how this atrocity could be presented to the public. The sound of these "instruments" is simply disastrous. I have heard beautiful fortepianos ( look in Amazon for Viviana Sofronitzky's Mozart's piano concerti) and there is no possible explanation of why Khouri's are such an awful mess.

[SonicMan46]

Fesca, Friedrich Ernst (1789-1826) and his son, Alexander Ernst Fesca (1820-1849) - continuing to go through my collection and now up to this father-son duo, both tragically dying young from 'lung disease' (father had TB; less specific about the son - check links, if interested).  Friedrich Fesca belongs here basically bridging the deaths of Mozart & Beethoven; his son into the Romantic era.  Below are the recordings I own and not much else has appeared on Amazon nor is available on Spotify (there is one disc of Friedrich's Op. 1 SQs w/ the Authentic SQ).

But since not much has appeared in these pages on F. Fesca (and in a while), the father was a virtuoso violinist, serving as the concert master in a number of orchestras and royal courts. As a composer, he wrote both instrumental and vocal works, including 16 String Quartets, 4 String Quintets, and 4 Flute Quartets (List HERE).  Now listening to his Symphonies having completed the 3-CD CPO set of half of his String Quartets w/ the Diogenes Quartett; apparently, another 'box' of the remaining quartets was planned?  Reviews of the SQs have been mixed w/ a rather 'snarky' putdown by Jerry Dubins, but several others with excellent comments (see attachment) - I'm sure that both father and son, if each had lived longer, would have provided future listeners w/ a lot more enjoyable music.  Dave