Franz Schmidt(1874-1939)

Started by Dundonnell, October 01, 2008, 02:42:04 PM

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Dundonnell

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on November 15, 2008, 06:58:25 AM
I own the Mehta and W-M Fourths and ordered Luisi's a few days ago (I hope to have it in my hands early next week). I plan to compare the three recordings. I'll post my thoughts here.

Sarge

Look forward to that!

Moldyoldie

(Once again, pasted from "What Are You Listening To?")


Schmidt: Symphony No. 1
R. Strauss: Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, cond.
CHANDOS

Continuing my backward traversal of the symphonies of Franz Schmidt (skipping over No. 3 for the time being), I've read so much of how No. 1 is derivative of this or that composer and this or that antedated construction; to me, it starts out for all the world like Schumann's Rhenish Symphony, then continues on in a delightfully flowing and melodic fashion firmly ensconced in the late 19th century Viennese tradition -- it was first performed there in 1902.  (An egregious error exists in the notes: It correctly states that Schmidt was born in 1874, then later states that he wrote his First Symphony at the age of thirty-eight!  It was actually composed in the years 1896-99 upon the composer's graduation from the Vienna Conservatory and in his early years serving as cellist for the Vienna Philharmonic.)  Much like the other symphonies I've heard, I mostly think of Brucknerian construction, Brahmsian lyricism and Straussian lilt; but that would only be for the purposes of illustration.  It's actually quite unique in voice and expression.  The orchestration is often dense, but not so thick as to preclude harmonic clarity; the spaciousness of the vivid recording in Detroit's Orchestra Hall probably lends a bit of translucency to the procedings. I can't think of anything that could possibly rebuff the modern listener over it's roughly forty-five minutes and four disparate movements of nearly equal length.

The same can be said of Strauss' Four Interludes from Intermezzo.   We're treated to full-bodied dramatic excitement; a delightfully lilting waltz; a dreamy reverie leading to a hyper-Romantic long-limned, er, interlude; a playful bit featuring piano and strings of an almost cloyingly obvious Viennese character -- all concluding with a brief rousing finale.   Kudos must go out to Järvi and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the seemingly authentic qualities they evoke here -- this was great fun to listen to!
"I think the problem with technology is that people use it because it's around.  That is disgusting and stupid!  Please quote me."
- Steve Reich

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Dundonnell on November 15, 2008, 07:03:44 AM
Look forward to that!

Had a problem with my credit card: the number was stolen and the thief made purchases in Texas, England and Italy before I became aware of the theft! I straightened it out before I left for Ohio last month and changed the CC number at amazon.com; I thought all was well. But amazon.de still had my old cancelled CC number when I placed the Schmidt order. I've re-ordered and hope to have Luisi's Schmidt 4 this week...with a review to follow.

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"

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: moldyoldie on November 21, 2008, 11:22:24 AM
(Once again, pasted from "What Are You Listening To?")


Schmidt: Symphony No. 1
R. Strauss: Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Neeme Järvi, cond.
CHANDOS

This is a truly great performance, the Detroit imitating, to astonshing effect, a great central European orchestra. I have Luisi's CD too but prefer Järvi for his marginally slower tempos. The extra breadth pays dividends here (and, I think, in the Schmidt's Second and Third symphonies where Luisi is just bit slower than Järvi).

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"

Moldyoldie

(Pasted from "What Are You Listening To?")

Schmidt: Symphony No. 4; Variations on a Hussar's Song
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, cond.
EMI

There's no doubt in my mind that Franz Schmidt's Symphony No. 4 of 1933 is a true masterpiece of Late Romantic expression; its incredible inspiration draws from personal tragedy (death of the composer's adult daughter) and manifests itself in a most exquisite extended interweaving of unbroken melodic and harmonic lines across four uninterrupted movements. My sole recording till this one was that of the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta. In my review of that recording, I stated: "I've yet to hear another recording of this work...the presumptuous feeling here is it really isn't necessary as conductor Zubin Mehta and the Vienna Philharmonic convey the full measure of this work and the warm, early '70s analog recording is exemplary." After hearing this fine Gramophone Award-winning release from Franz Welser-Möst and the London Philharmonic, my feelings remain unchanged as I don't think there's much to choose between the two, other than perhaps the couplings. I see the Mehta is also available coupled with his acclaimed recording of the Mahler Resurrection Symphony.

Welser-Möst/LPO certainly deserve a great deal of credit for their dedicated and committed performance here. Even though their timings come in considerably faster than Mehta/VPO, the overall impression is hardly one of speed and haste; the extended lines are held expressively taut throughout with fine ensemble and dynamic balance. If the Mehta perhaps offers up a bit more bittersweet languor and lush playing, Welser-Möst and the LPO still invest the work with that necessary tinge of heavyhearted optimism to underlie the tragedy - in my opinion, so important to a successful performance of this lengthy, unbroken expression. Both recordings are thoroughly recommendable.

As to the fill-up here, Variations on a Hussar's Song is a mostly delightful and contrasting multi-part makeweight in a somewhat similar idiom; it's probably worth hearing for the dedicated initiate into the music of Schmidt.
"I think the problem with technology is that people use it because it's around.  That is disgusting and stupid!  Please quote me."
- Steve Reich

J.Z. Herrenberg

Thanks, moldyoldie, for that review. I have lived with the Mehta for more than 20 years and recently acquired the Welser-Möst. I have listened to the Variations on a Hussar's Song - which is excellently done -, but have postponed listening to the Fourth, because it's a work for which you have to be in the right mood.

Watch this space, as they say...
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Rabbity Baxter

One small pieces by Schmidt that some members may not be aware of is a Romanza for solo piano, dating from the 1920s. It was written as a present for his English teacher, who was also best man at his wedding. It is not technically demanding, and is the only piece I know of by Schmidt originally conceived for 2 hands. It also contains many of the salient elements of Schmidt's mature style. I played it in Vienna last year, and critics seemed amazed that it existed and was unknown there. People also liked it in the UK and Russia when they heard it. It's actually published by Doeblinger, in Vienna, and is pretty cheap (or at least was, when the pound was worth something). It really is an excellent piece, and one I recommend. It's a pity that we don't have much piano music by the leading composers of this style (Mahler, Schmidt, Schreker). But then we do have Marx, Kornauth, Petyrek, Grosz etc, all of whom wrote quite a bit for the piano. Try Kolja Lessing's series of CDs 'From Schreker's Masterclass' or something along those lines) for some of this repertoire.

J.Z. Herrenberg

#47
Very interesting, Rabbity Baxter! Regarding those 'salient elements of Schmidt's mature style' - his highly individual harmony is what most appeals to me in Franz Schmidt. Is that there too, in that rather unpretentious sounding piece? And - how long is it?
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Rabbity Baxter

Quote from: Jezetha on February 19, 2009, 05:32:03 AM
Very interesting, Rabbity Baxter! Regarding those 'salient elements of Schmidt's mature style' - his highly individual harmony is what most appeals to me in Franz Schmidt. Is that there too, in that rather unpretentiously-sounding piece? And - how long is it?

Yes, I agree about the harmony being the most obvious indicator of this style. Sounding quite conventional then suddenly a most unexpected turn of events, but still in keeping with the overall style. But this has that great ease of relaxed melody which is prevalent in the 3rd Symphony and, like that piece, has a pretty unpretentious feel to it, as you suggest. It's about 3 or so minutes long (4 pages, relatively slow tempo).

J.Z. Herrenberg

You said you played the Romanza in public - what other composers do you regularly perform? And are you Austrian yourself?!
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Rabbity Baxter

Quote from: Jezetha on February 19, 2009, 05:48:23 AM
You said you played the Romanza in public - what other composers do you regularly perform? And are you Austrian yourself?!

I'm not Austrian, but in fact English. I have only played in Austria once, but will do again this summer. I had a good time there!

I play lots of late 19th and early 20th C repertoire (some well-known like Ives, Rachmaninoff etc, others more obscure), then some earlier (a couple of Schubert sonatas of late) and some more recent, but mostly in the middle. In Vienna I played Petyrek, a Strauss opera transcription, Marx, Schmidt and a contemporary Austrian piece by Johannes Maria Staud.

J.Z. Herrenberg

I wonder - do you know Harold Truscott's study of Schmidt (Toccata Press, 1984). It's only the first volume of a series that unfortunately never materialised*, dealing with the orchestral music. But Truscott gives us a fine analysis of what makes Schmidt's music tick in general.

* I met Martin Anderson, the publisher, in the 'eighties, and he showed me several of Truscott's still unpublished typoscripts (one about Schubert, iirc). They erred a bit, he admitted, on the side of hyperbole and would have to be toned down somewhat. I wonder what has happened to them and if they will still be published.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Keemun

The discussion of Schmidt's 4th Symphony recordings has me interested in comparing those that I have:  Mehta/VPO, Welser-Möst/LPO and Jarvi/Detroit.  I'm listening to them now, I'll let you know my thoughts later.
Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. - Ludwig van Beethoven

Daverz

Quote from: Keemun on February 19, 2009, 11:17:20 AM
The discussion of Schmidt's 4th Symphony recordings has me interested in comparing those that I have:  Mehta/VPO, Welser-Möst/LPO and Jarvi/Detroit.  I'm listening to them now, I'll let you know my thoughts later.

I only have the Mehta, which is a beautiful recording.  The one I'd really like to hear is with the Bruckner Linz Orchestra.

snyprrr

i was listening to the string quartet No.2 in G (1929).

i remember someone saying that romantic music after wagner was going to the graveyard for inspiration (in the poe sense). and i'm talking about the "decadence" in berlin at the time, and i haven't heard the eisler or weill quartets, or the PFITZNER No.2 or No3, but this quartet by schmidt seems to be the most perfect realization of the arc of chromatic playing (busoni, wolf, , reger, schoenberg, berg op.3).

the judgement between beauty and chromatic creepyness (always off camera)...as melodys melt and resurface...everything slightly plastic-y...

can i get a witness? baudelaire?

i have the fr. schubert qrt. on nimbus, and i do believe there has to be a more devoted performance out there. i can just picture a performance of real rubato depth that this qrt just seems to miss, though this disc is a great thing. i think there are two other recordings of this piece.

i do like the qrts more than the two very individual quintets, fine as they are.

Guido

Quote from: Rabbity Baxter on February 19, 2009, 06:05:34 AM
I'm not Austrian, but in fact English. I have only played in Austria once, but will do again this summer. I had a good time there!

I play lots of late 19th and early 20th C repertoire (some well-known like Ives, Rachmaninoff etc, others more obscure), then some earlier (a couple of Schubert sonatas of late) and some more recent, but mostly in the middle. In Vienna I played Petyrek, a Strauss opera transcription, Marx, Schmidt and a contemporary Austrian piece by Johannes Maria Staud.

What pieces by Ives do you play?
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: snyprrr on February 22, 2009, 05:45:58 PM
i was listening to the string quartet No.2 in G (1929). ...i have the fr. schubert qrt. on nimbus, and i do believe there has to be a more devoted performance out there.

I rather doubt it. It's had very few recordings. Gramophone dismisses the old Wiener Konzerthausquartett version on Preiser. That leaves the Moyzes Quartet on Opus but it's OOP and expensive if you can locate a used copy. Do they do a better job than the Franz Schubert? I don't know. I've never heard it, and I can't find a review.

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"

Rabbity Baxter

Quote from: Guido on February 22, 2009, 06:08:45 PM
What pieces by Ives do you play?

Concord Sonata, The Celestial Railroad and a few shorter pieces like The Anti-Abolitionist Riots. Not the First Sonata. Perhaps I'll get round to that one at some point. I think it's harder than the Concord, somehow.

MishaK

Hi there,

The Grant Park Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Carlos Kalmar just announced its Summer 2011 season at Millennium Park in Chicago. This year's daring and inventive programming (which might as well have been themed "Apocalypses'R'Us"), includes two performances of Schmidt's Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln, on August 12 & 13. I firstly wanted to let you know, so you can mark your calendars and come to Chicago, if that's on your way, as these concerts are ***free*** (and the sound system at Millennium Park is excellent). Kalmar is a very capable, no-nonsense conductor (music director of the Oregon Symphony and the orchestra of the RTVE in Spain.

Secondly, I wanted to ask for recording recommendations for this work. I am familiar with Schmidt's fine symphonies from Järvi's complete Detroit/Chicago set which I picked up for a mere $5 at a flea market in NY a few years ago.  ;D I have never heard "the Book", though I understand it's one of Schmidt's best works. It looks like these are the options in modern sound:

The very inexpensive FWM:

[asin]B0001RVQLO[/asin]

the new *Kristjan* Järvi on SACD (coincidentally with Kalmar's old orchestra, the Tonkünstler Vienna):

[asin]B0013JZ494[/asin]

an impossibly out of print Harnoncourt (is there anything this guy *hasn't* conducted?):

[asin]B000050KFN[/asin]

...and the hard-to-get-stateside Luisi:

[asin]B0002XUW30[/asin]

I've seen your comments on the FWM recording in this thread, and I will probably go with that based on price and availability alone. But I would love to hear your thoughts on the other recordings, especially Luisi, whose work in other repertoire I greatly admire. Thanks in advance.

MishaK