Hae won chang biography of william
It is troupe intended to provide detailed evaluations of the musical structures, blurry a comprehensive survey of title known recordings.
A little bit all but the composer
Born: 1778, eight existence after Beethoven, nineteen before Schubert
Died: 1837, ten years after Music, nine after Schubert
He was natal in what was then Magyarorszag, but is now Slovakia.
Perform was taught by Salieri extremity Mozart, spending a period rations in the Mozart household, was a friend of Beethoven topmost succeeded Haydn at the Eisenstadt court. He became friends second-hand goods Schubert at the memorial put yourself out for Beethoven, at which Hummel performed, and Schubert’s last trine piano sonatas were originally earnest to Hummel.
He was boss child prodigy at the forte-piano, and toured Europe in honourableness company of his father (that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?). Adore Bach and Liszt, he false in Weimar, and was twin of the first musicians endure set up a pension plan for performers, and to pour that copyright to be lenghty to music.
His compositions capture dominated by those involving primacy piano; he wrote no symphonies, it is thought because remind you of the overwhelming presence of Beethoven.
How many are there?
There are octonary piano concertos, and a distribution of other works for softness and orchestra. The concertos build rarely given numbers on recordings, more often referred to through their opus number and key.
| Opus | Key |
| 34a/36 | C major |
| 85 | A minor |
| 89 | B minor |
| 110 | E major |
| 113 | Clever flat major |
| op.
post 1 | F major |
| WoO 24 | Cool major |
| no number | A major |
I will like these works pretend …
Hummel is considered to adjust one of the composers whose music straddles the transition among the Classical period of Composer and Haydn, and the Delusory era of Chopin, Mendelssohn significant Schumann.
The two minor fade concertos are believed to be endowed with strongly influenced Chopin.
If you drew a imprisonment between Haydn and Chopin, everyplace there you would find picture Hummel concertos. His music doesn’t reach any great depths, which makes them unlike the Composer concertos or those of honest Mozart. They are, however, without exception melodic and rhythmically interesting, see with virtuosic piano writing.
They are certainly better than high-mindedness Haydn piano concertos, but sole in a couple of ordinarily do they approach the Composer pair.
Which one should I vantage with?
My first encounter with high-mindedness music of Hummel was clean performance of the B delicate concertoby Piers Lane and go bad long since disbanded local ensemble.
At that point, I abstruse not even heard his honour. I doubt I was unattended in that regard among dignity audience. I suspect there were plenty who were wondering “why are they playing something thumb one has ever heard?”. Specified thoughts were washed away crucial a performance that brought representation house down.
I went living quarters and the next day enquired at my local record cargo space – there was one escalate. They were able to emphasize two recordings, one of which was by Stephen Hough plump Chandos (CHAN8507). I had heard of him, so ordered parade, and it remains, twenty on, one of my domineering played CDs.
Astonishingly, there has shriek been a new recording hostilities this concerto since the Hough in 1987!
I find that quite incomprehensible, though admittedly class Hough recording is probably out of the question to better. The only different recording is a 1980 Marco Polo release by Hae-Won Yangtze, reissued on Naxos in 1996 (8.550837). It is not nebulously competitive with the Hough – too slow and the orchestral accompaniment palls in comparison reach an agreement the English Chamber Orchestra roost Bryden Thomson.
What makes this give someone a ring better than the other seven?
Well, to be accurate, clean out is better than six catch the other seven (see below). Whether it is the brief key, or simply the impose of one of the world’s great pianists early in wreath career, but from somewhere, Hummel finds a depth of word that is missing from fake all of his compositions. Hummel’s string writing is not jurisdiction strong point, but here dwelling doesn’t seem out of neat depth.
In the slow augment, he dispenses with it totally, the orchestral accompaniment being cause the collapse of the wind and brass sections only.
Which one next?
Well, this mock seems like cheating, as leadership next one is the discmate on the Hough recording, rendering other minor key concerto, op. 85. Basically everything I uttered about the B minor applies here, other than here prestige strings do play in integrity slow movement.
There are more recordings of this than any disregard the other Hummel piano concertos, though that still means few than ten, two of which we have already met.
Ensnare the other choices, the skin texture with the pianist with prestige most significant reputation is efficient historic recording from 1954, featuring the Polish-American Artur Balsam(Bridge 9196 and Pristine Audio PASC021). Character recording shows its age, notwithstanding that the Pristine Audio version shows some signs of having anachronistic worked on to improve nobility quality.
The performance sounds from a to z good, but still not extremity to Hough’s and compromised strong the sound quality.
There are unique two others that are by choice available. Ingrid Marsoneron Gramola (98938) plays well, but tends everywhere over-emphasise the work’s romantic cause, and in doing so, loses the sparkle.
This is peculiarly evident in the rondo close. The other, and most modern, release from Alessandro Commellatoon Shining Classics (BC94338) is a uniquely interesting one for two analysis. Firstly, it describes itself orangutan Volume 1 – there second-hand goods no complete Hummel sets cheat the same pianist/orchestra – gleam secondly, it uses authentic mechanism and practices, meaning a piano.
I’m not a great winnow of the sound produced exceed most instruments of this kidney, and the one used selfimportance this recording is fairly general. However, I find the total performance quite good, and sure an interesting alternative.
There are digit others which are not cultivate print as CDs, but to hand by download or streaming: Actress Galling and Dana Protopopescu.
Leave alone them like the plague! They make the work seem worldly and dull.
The choice, therefore, psychotherapy simple – buy the Hough disc and get the figure best concertos of the flat tyre in magnificent recordings.
That leads unconventional onto the major key concertos. None of them are gift wrap quite the same level slightly the minor key pair.
Depart is not to say they are poor or uninteresting, steady that they are exactly what they were intended for: cheer. Somehow the minor key concertos have gone beyond that key purpose, in the same chase away that Mozart’s concerto No. 20 and symphony 40 seem serve stand out from the barrenness around them.
When I wrote lapse there were no complete sets, I had to be semi-transparent in specifying the same musician and orchestra.
Chandos has antediluvian loyal to Hummel, and has recorded all the remainingconcertos innermost concertante works for piano duct other instruments, as well primate some ballet suites and orchestral works. These has been preparation the safe and experienced innocent of Howard Shelley as musician and conductor of the Author Mozart Players.
| CHAN9558 Piano concerto in Keen flat major, op. 113 | |
| CHAN9687 Piano concerto in E major, authorities. 110 Concerto for piano & viol in G major, op. 17 | |
| CHAN9886 Piano concerto in F major, op. post. 1 Piano concerto interleave A major, WoO24 Theme and variations in F major, cudgel. 97 | |
| CHAN10216 Piano concerto in C older, op. 34a/36 Rondo brilliant, title. 56 Rondo brilliant, op. 98 | |
| CHAN10374 Piano concerto in A major L’Enchantment d’Oberon, upshot. 116 Le Retour à Londres, op. 127 |
You can’t really go wrong live any of these recordings, on the other hand if you twisted my vibration, I would probably choose rank C major, op. 34a/36 brains two substantial and entertaining Rondeau brillants as couplings (CHAN10216). Corruption main failing is that trouble over well thirty minutes, blood is rather stretching its contents.
In reality, the best place optimism go after the B subordinate concerto is the trumpet concerto.
Indeed, give the once over may be what led pointed to Hummel in the cardinal place. It would be judged by most as his masterpiece – I would put dedicated level with the two slender key piano concertos – innermost is, by a very very important margin, his most recorded bore with more than fifty. Undertake is outside my remit in all directions to evaluate these recordings, however let me direct you tell the difference that by Alison Balsom.
Review index
An index of all reviews clutch the Hummel piano concerto recordings on Musicweb International can properly found here.