Dohnányi Orchestral Works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Ernö Dohnányi
Label: Chandos
Magazine Review Date: 12/1996
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CHAN9455
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Symphony No. 2 |
Ernö Dohnányi, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Ernö Dohnányi, Composer Matthias Bamert, Conductor |
| Symphonic Minutes (Szimfonikus percek) |
Ernö Dohnányi, Composer
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Ernö Dohnányi, Composer Matthias Bamert, Conductor |
Author:
Leopold Stokowski’s one-time assistant re-creates ‘his master’s voice’ when, on track 10 of this musically valuable and beautifully recorded disc, he moulds a resplendent, string-band arrangement of Bach’s Komm susser Tod, Komm, sel’ge Ruh!. This imposing episode steals the air near the beginning of a long theme-and-variations finale to Ernst von Dohnanyi’s 50-minute Second Symphony, a most engaging piece redolent of Brahms, Bruckner and especially Reger – the latter in terms of Bachian resonances, some richly expressive modulations and the highly eventful six-minute fugue that crowns the finale. The symphony was conceived in the midst of war, Dohnanyi having been forced to disband the Budapest Philharmonic and flee abroad. It was premiered in London in 1948 (Norman Del Mar conducted the Chelsea Symphony Orchestra), whereas the revised version was given its first performance some nine years later by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under Antal Dorati.
Cast in four movements, Dohnanyi’s Second opens to a jagged, unison theme before a lyrical, somewhat Lisztian second set (2'12'') gives way to an agitated development (brass and side-drum suggest distant battles) and various failed attempts to regain its former serenity. The Adagio has a Brucknerian feeling of spaciousness, although Brahms informs both the texture of the string writing and a rustic duet for clarinets over a tremolando for strings (4'07'') that recalls the great Clarinet Quintet. The raucous Burla scherzo features glissando trombones, meaningfully banal themes and a tonal profile that’s not dissimilar to the more cynical statements of Bartok and, more surprisingly perhaps, Shostakovich. Anyone sold on Strauss, Korngold or the various fin de siecle symphonists currently in vogue (Schmidt or Zemlinsky for example) will likely take this work very much to heart, especially as Bamert’s performance – a world premiere recording – is so warmly convincing.
Dohnanyi’s far lighter Symphonic Minutes (1933) was previously recorded on 78s by, among others, Sir Henry Wood (now available on Beulah, 1/94) and Oswald Kabasta. The first is a brightly lit, Straussian “Capriccio”, the second an aromatic “Rapsodia” reminiscent of early Bartok, the third an off-beat, keenly inflected Scherzo incorporating chorale-style themes, the fourth an atmospheric theme and variations (Dohnanyi’s use of the celesta casts noticeable side-glances at both Strauss and Korngold) and the last a sort of latter-day “Dance of the Comedians”. Again, the performance is excellent and the recording mostly first-rate, save that very occasionally the strings lack presence (for example when they declaim the principal theme of the “Rapsodia”, at 2'16'' into track 2). A most enjoyable disc, with excellent notes by Matthew Rye. One hopes that it might signal something of a Dohnanyi revival.'
Cast in four movements, Dohnanyi’s Second opens to a jagged, unison theme before a lyrical, somewhat Lisztian second set (2'12'') gives way to an agitated development (brass and side-drum suggest distant battles) and various failed attempts to regain its former serenity. The Adagio has a Brucknerian feeling of spaciousness, although Brahms informs both the texture of the string writing and a rustic duet for clarinets over a tremolando for strings (4'07'') that recalls the great Clarinet Quintet. The raucous Burla scherzo features glissando trombones, meaningfully banal themes and a tonal profile that’s not dissimilar to the more cynical statements of Bartok and, more surprisingly perhaps, Shostakovich. Anyone sold on Strauss, Korngold or the various fin de siecle symphonists currently in vogue (Schmidt or Zemlinsky for example) will likely take this work very much to heart, especially as Bamert’s performance – a world premiere recording – is so warmly convincing.
Dohnanyi’s far lighter Symphonic Minutes (1933) was previously recorded on 78s by, among others, Sir Henry Wood (now available on Beulah, 1/94) and Oswald Kabasta. The first is a brightly lit, Straussian “Capriccio”, the second an aromatic “Rapsodia” reminiscent of early Bartok, the third an off-beat, keenly inflected Scherzo incorporating chorale-style themes, the fourth an atmospheric theme and variations (Dohnanyi’s use of the celesta casts noticeable side-glances at both Strauss and Korngold) and the last a sort of latter-day “Dance of the Comedians”. Again, the performance is excellent and the recording mostly first-rate, save that very occasionally the strings lack presence (for example when they declaim the principal theme of the “Rapsodia”, at 2'16'' into track 2). A most enjoyable disc, with excellent notes by Matthew Rye. One hopes that it might signal something of a Dohnanyi revival.'
Dohnányi Orchestral Works
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