Leopold
Antonin Koželuch, generally considered
one of the better composers of the Classical
period, was born in a section of Bohemia
(now Czechoslovakia) about 20 miles
north of Prague. He had at least sixteen
siblings, and his father was a local
cobbler. Although Koželuch began studying
law in Prague, he eventually gave up
his legal pursuits in favor of a career
as a musician. He became famous throughout
Europe for his pianistic abilities as
well as his compositional skills.
Unlike
Mozart, Koželuch had a pleasant
and secure personality, never having
trouble getting musical positions and
commissions; he also was an astute business
man and founded his own publishing firm.
He composed in all the popular forms
of his time, creating approximately
fifty piano
sonatas, eighty piano trios, twenty
concertos, and many symphonies. He also
composed a number of religious works,
all of them now lost except for the
oratorio Moses in Egypt. Further, Koželuch
composed a minimum of six operas, each
of them currently lost to us.
He
tended to write in a Haydnesque manner,
emulating the master. Haydn even performed
many of Koželuch's orchestral works
in London. Given this background, one
might assume that his music has much
to offer, but the assumption is not
quite on target. The fact is that Koželuch's
compositions are many rungs below the
artistry of Franz Joseph Haydn. He was
an imitator of the then-current styles,
providing little harmonic adventure
and even less musical inventiveness.
Frankly, a typical Koželuch theme
is entirely conventional and does not
stick in one's memory.
These impressions are
evident in the three programmed works
on the Novalis disc. The best music
comes from the rousing and exciting
outer movements that significantly mask
the lack of varied emotional themes
and memorable phrases. The slow middle
movements are less engrossing, possessing
neither the poignancy nor desired charm
to offset the lack of inspiration. Particularly
uninviting is the Andantino con variationi
from the Piano Concerto in D major that
has an attractive theme followed by
nine variations which simply are not
sufficiently varied. Any changes are
cosmetic ones involving tempo and dynamics;
the basic melody line is constant and
leads to boredom well before the end
of this nine-minute movement.
In summary, the best
I can give this Koželuch
disc is a mild recommendation. Better
alternatives include a Teldec disc of
four Koželuch symphonies played by the
period instrument group Concerto Köln
that performs with more panache and
sharper phrasing than the Zurich Chamber
Orchestra. Staying
within the Novalis family, there is
an exceptional disc of two piano concertos
from the pen of Franz Xaver Mozart that
I reviewed
recently for MusicWeb International;
these are wonderful concertos that are
much more accomplished and inspired
than the Koželuch D major Piano Concerto.
For those still interested in this Novalis/Koželuch
disc, rest assured that the sound quality
is admirable though hardly of state-of-the-art.
Don Satz
Karl-Andreas Kolly, piano * 
