VON REZNICEK Violin Concerto. Till Eulenspiegel

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek

Genre:

Orchestral

Label: CPO

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 68

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: CPO777 983-2

CPO777 983-2. VON REZNICEK Violin Concerto. Till Eulenspiegel

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
Goldpirol: Idyllische Ouverture E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Marcus Bosch, Conductor
Wie Till Eulenspiegel lebte E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Marcus Bosch, Conductor
Konzertstuck for Violine and Orchestra E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Marcus Bosch, Conductor
Sophia Jaffé, Violin
Prelude and Fugue E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Marcus Bosch, Conductor
Nachtstuck E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
E(mil) N(ikolaus) von Reznicek, Composer
Marcus Bosch, Conductor
The works on this disc – part of a leisurely continuing series from CPO – date from the period between 1900 and 1918, after Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek (1860-1945) had the progress of a very impressive career as conductor and composer cut short by scandal of a very unscandalous sort. The detailed booklet-note describes them as transitional, even detecting a sort of polystylism avant la lettre in the Konzertstück of 1918, recorded here for the first time.

I think that’s being a little optimistic. In that work’s first movement we ramble through a series of violin concerto tropes that largely sound familiar – there are echoes of Mendelssohn’s, and on a couple of occasions I fully expected the orchestra to burst in with Tchaikovsky’s big polonaise theme. The third movement, based on an ‘original Scottish dance’, feels like a very distant relation to the finale of Korngold’s Concerto. The central movement is lyrical, thoughtful and greatly more cohesive – one can understand why Reznicek kept that movement but replaced the outer ones to produce his later Violin Concerto.

The Goldpirol idyllic overture has plenty of the composer’s characteristic unexpected and humorous touches, mixing brief snatches of pastoral idyll with a few martial interjections and a bit of brassy galumphing. But it also feels rather bitty and inconsequential. Similar complaints might be made regarding the How Till Eulenspiegel Lived symphonic interlude, from the opera Reznicek completed in 1900. Beyond Straussian comparisons, it’s intriguing mainly for a stylised evocation of olde worlde pageantry that seems to look forward to film music.

More consistently satisfying is the Fugue, on a whole-tone subject and in which the composer’s imagination is disciplined by a formal process; the preceding Prelude is another slightly rambling hotchpotch. Best of all is the concluding Nachtstück: lyrical, wistful and occasionally punctuated by delicate muted-horn jabs, it’s a gem.

The performances under Marcus Bosch are very decent and affectionate, and Sophie Jaffé is a sweet-toned soloist in the Konzertstück. No revelations here, but well worth a listen if you’re curious about a figure once hailed, as the booklet tells us, as the equal of Strauss and Pfitzner.

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