Dohnányi Complete Piano Music, Volume 1
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Ernö Dohnányi
Label: Continuum
Magazine Review Date: 5/1995
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 75
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CCD1064
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (4) Pieces |
Ernö Dohnányi, Composer
Annette Servadei, Piano Ernö Dohnányi, Composer |
| Passacaglia |
Ernö Dohnányi, Composer
Annette Servadei, Piano Ernö Dohnányi, Composer |
| Variations and Fugue on a theme by E. G. |
Ernö Dohnányi, Composer
Annette Servadei, Piano Ernö Dohnányi, Composer |
Author:
All the pieces on this record date from the last years of the nineteenth century, when Dohnanyi was scarcely 20 years old and deeply under the influence of Brahms. This shows in the E. G. Variations, which are not only Brahmsian in atmosphere but use some of the techniques familiar from the Haydn Variations, in the Passacaglia, and in the four short pieces.
If Dohnanyi's own voice has not yet emerged, there is much charm in these agreeable works, written for his own virtuoso fingers and for the pleasure of a friendly audience. The 'E. G. ' of Op. 4 was Emma Gruber, whose salon was a popular meeting place for musicians and artists in the Budapest of the last years of the century: hers is a long work, exploring various piano manners and ending in a substantial fugue. The Variations really need sharper characterization and, especially in the Fugue, a bolder sense of architecture than they receive here, and there is a greater degree of fantasy and wit to be found in the Op. 2 Pieces. But it is amiable and intellectually undemanding music by a very talented musician still flexing his muscles, and could give pleasure. The recording is warm and clear, without too much resonance to confuse the climaxes. R1 '9505090'
If Dohnanyi's own voice has not yet emerged, there is much charm in these agreeable works, written for his own virtuoso fingers and for the pleasure of a friendly audience. The 'E. G. ' of Op. 4 was Emma Gruber, whose salon was a popular meeting place for musicians and artists in the Budapest of the last years of the century: hers is a long work, exploring various piano manners and ending in a substantial fugue. The Variations really need sharper characterization and, especially in the Fugue, a bolder sense of architecture than they receive here, and there is a greater degree of fantasy and wit to be found in the Op. 2 Pieces. But it is amiable and intellectually undemanding music by a very talented musician still flexing his muscles, and could give pleasure. The recording is warm and clear, without too much resonance to confuse the climaxes. R1 '9505090'
Dohnányi Complete Piano Music, Volume 1
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