RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

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Ludwig THUILLE (1861-1907) Piano Concerto in D major (1882) [37:16] Symphony in F major (1885) [41:27] Oliver Triendl (piano) Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento/Alun Francis rec. Auditorium Konzerthaus J Haydn, Bozen, 3-6 June 2003, 7-9 June 2004. DDD CPO 777 008-2 [78:47]

In 2004 reviewing ASV’s disc of some of Thuille’s chamber music I hoped that this was "not the last we hear of the ardent Thuille". Hopes are here fulfilled and generously too; look at the playing time. That in itself would be no virtue if the music were dull. Well, it’s certainly not dull even if it cannot claim originality. The Piano Concerto is clearly written by a Schumann devotee. Thuille has the manner to a T and although the strings are nowhere near opulent Treindl is kept in constant and exhilaratingly joyous play over a pretty ambitious timescale; much the same goes for the symphony. The Concerto sidles in with a most adroitly lissom theme that twines its affectionate way around the listener’s memory. After a beaming and floral adagio sostenuto comes the rollingly confident and rompingly bright-eyed Allegro vivace finale with some lovely lithe Grieg-like writing for the strings at 1:30. The writing might once or twice to today’s ears seem excessively sentimental but those slightly purple patches are few and far between. The Symphony was premiered by Thuille’s young friend Richard Strauss with the Meiningen Orchestra. There are four movements of which the first is the longest. The idiom is Brahmsian - especially in relation to the first two symphonies. The Largo maestoso has some majestically dour writing for the brass (2:56). The Tempo di Menuetto third movement is pointedly Haydnesque. The finale mixes a quicksilver highday-holiday mood with more pesante writing. CPO’s notes courtesy of Eckhardt van den Hoogen are typically encyclopedic. The two substantial works here are most logically coupled and while they work within a formula they are superbly put together and will give great pleasure. The Symphony would have fit very sensibly within Sterling’s German Romantics series. The Concerto would have been a most fitting feature of the Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos series. As it is CPO have pipped both to the post. Congratulations to all involved for such splendid and enthusiastic performances from the orchestra of Thuille’s birthplace. These unfamiliar works sound not at all stilted. Instead they flow with a pleasing inevitability. If you like the Schumann piano concerto and symphonies and the Brahms symphonies you will find this disc delightful. Rob Barnett WEBLINK Article by Eric Schissel     Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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