Marco Polo's mammoth project to record all the music of the Strauss family
takes another step forward with this issue of Volume 20 of the works of Josef
Strauss.
Josef initially trained to be an engineer, and spent some time working with
spinning machines, water mains and buildings construction. He even invented
a cleaning machine for the streets of Vienna. It took some years for the
family to persuade him to take over the direction of their orchestra, after
his elder brother, Johann, had collapsed from exhaustion.
Josef's reluctance to commit himself to music stemmed from his lack of expertise
on the violin. When he was finally cajoled into taking the platform he conducted
with a baton instead of in the traditional Viennese fashion, as perpetuated
by Willi Boskovsky, Lorin Maazel and others, of directing with the bow of
the violin and joining in the playing whenever appropriate. Josef's latent
inability was hidden from all by an iron self-discipline, and his music shows
no sign of his deep depressions. His waltzes are full of romantic tenderness
and his polkas have a brilliant rhythmic flair.
These strengths are certainly in evidence in this attractive programme which
features some well known items alongside many others which are less famous.
But all, particularly the lively polkas, are well worth hearing. The selection
opens attractively with the direct appeal of the Liechtenstein March,
whose rhythmic contour is pointed by the percussion, and Christian Pollack's
choice of tempo is just right for emphasising this. Perhaps the best known
of these pieces is the Delirien Waltz, whose main theme is one of
the best tunes conceived by any member of the Strauss family. Pollack shapes
it tastefully, but the performance as a whole doesn't achieve the tonal lustre
of a great orchestra like the Vienna Philharmonic.
The Slovak Philharmonic play well enough, however, and the Marco Polo recording
is atmospheric, if somewhat wanting in richness and impact at climaxes. It
is always possible to hear details within the texture - an important
consideration in this sophisticated music - but the sonorous potential of
the scoring is not realised to the highest standard.
On the whole it is the fast polkas which fare best, and some of them are
terrific, revealing the composer's lively wit: the delightfully named
Vélocipède and the exciting Pêle-mêle
are particularly good examples of Josef's art. Inevitably any composer who
writes literally hundreds of pieces within a relatively restricted idiom
will achieve highs and lows of invention, but Josef Strauss's technique is
top-drawer, while his invention offers many delights. As an example of what
can be found by exploring this repertoire, try the little-known
Flattergeister Waltz, which contains a couple of really wonderful
tunes.
Terry Barfoot
John France has also listened to this disc
As much for my own benefit as for anyone reading this review, let me begin
by sorting out the Strauss family. Unlike one of my colleagues, we can ignore
Richard; he was slightly later, and, although he wrote Der
Rosenkavalier, he was not one of the 'Waltz Kings' of Vienna! Also we
can put to one side Christoph Strauss- he was an organist and Kapellmeister
of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. It is doubtful that he played Champagne
Galops there. So that leaves us with Johann I, Johann II, Eduard and our
man, Josef. Basically Johann I was the father- the rest were sons and therefore
brothers.
Much as I enjoy the music of this talented family, I have never really taken
the trouble to sort out 'who wrote what'. For example, father's best-known
work is the Radetsky March. His catalogue extends to over 250 separate
works. It is the eldest son, Johann II who was the most brilliant of the
family. It was he who wrote most of what is regarded as the best of Viennese
'dance' music. To his credit are such gems as the Blue Danube Waltz, The
Rustle of Spring, Wine, Women & Song and, of course, Roses from
the South. It was this Strauss who gave us the incomparable Die
Fledermaus. Eduard Strauss wrote comparatively little. Yet in many ways
the few waltzes of this the youngest brother are truly miniature masterpieces.
Josef Strauss has a massive catalogue, numbering over 280 works. He was born
in August 1822 in Vienna. Josef was not originally intended to become a composer.
In fact, he studied architecture and furthered this career. However, he conned
music secretly and helped out his brother Johann II in conducting the band.
He is best remembered for works such as Village Swallows from Austria
(1864), The Mysterious Powers of Magnetism (1865) and the Music
of the Spheres (1868). He co-wrote the famous Pizzicato Polka
with Johann II. He died on 22nd July 1870 after sustaining a fall
from the conductor's rostrum.
From the above résumé it is clear that however good and competent
the music of Josef is, nothing that he wrote has really become part of the
recognised Viennese Dance heritage. So what is Marco Polo doing providing
Volume 20 of this relatively unknown composer? I think it must be to do with
the fact that sometimes we all have a desire to own the complete works of
an author or a composer. I have definitely fallen prey to this disease a
number of times in my life (Walton on Chandos for example). Trouble is that
one gets 'good, bad and indifferent' in a 'complete' cycle. Even Ludwig and
Amadeus wrote seriously below average works.
A quick scan at the sleeve of my Marco Polo CD shocks me to the fact that
I do not actually know any of the marches, polkas or quadrilles presented.
A brief maths exercise reveals to me that if JS wrote 283 works and we have
twelve on this CD then there must be another four CDs to be issued in this
series. It is a massive cycle. One can only admire the courage of Marco Polo
in embarking on such an enterprise.
My only major criticism is that there is no 'biography' of the composer in
these notes. Each work has its own paragraph and obviously there is biographical
material in these comments. But what is lacking is an overview. Perhaps it
was given in Volume 1?
On a positive note the cover picture is truly evocative- all the romance
of an old-time promenade along the Prater. Well chosen!
The orchestra under their conductor Christian Pollack take this music very
seriously. There is no sense of parody here. But that is hardly surprising
as Pollack is a musicologist as well as a conductor. He specialises in the
field of Viennese Dance music and in particular the Strauss family. So what
we are getting is the best possible performance of these long forgotten works.
How can I sum up this music? Some of it is very attractive; some of it seems
to be very much written to a 'successful' formula. I must confess that it
does not seem to have the immediate appeal of Johann II, but that is probably
just the fact that I have been brought up knowing the 'famous' pieces. Something
like the 'Legal Action' Waltz or the Velocipede Polka would
be extremely popular if it was well known. There is a slightly melancholic
feel to some of Josef's music. I feel about this as I do about some of Eric
Coates' music.
I am never one to run down this kind of music. I always try to compare 'like
with like,' not confusing genre. It is not fair to evaluate these dances
with the music of say, a Ravel or a Monteverdi. The criterion is quite simply
- is it a good example of its genre? Is it well written? Is it a good waltz,
polka or quadrille? If the answer is 'yes' then it passes my test. It is
unfair, yet a very common mistake to say that, for example, Josef Strauss
is not as good as Berlioz. Both men were craftsmen in their own fields. Both
had totally different agendas.
This is a lovely CD. Whether I would want to listen to the other nineteen
is open to conjecture. Yet just as I long for a complete CD cycle of works
by York Bowen or Lennox Berkeley, there must be many fans of Viennese music
that are delighted with this massive recording project.
What I think Marco Polo needs to do is hit the popular market with a 'dumbed
down' Josef Strauss's 'Greatest Hits.' Then perhaps it would be more liable
to 'on-spec' purchase by the 'punter' as opposed to the cognoscenti.
John France
Slovak State Philharmonic
Orchestra, Kosice/Christian Pollack
