I think the first thing
to get over is the fact that none of
these three concerti are ‘heaven-storming.’
They are definitely not ‘romantic’ in
the sense of Liszt or perhaps Rachmaninov.
‘Overblown’ would never be an appropriate
adjective to use. But then these works
were never meant to be. What we have
here are three extremely serviceable
concertos that well deserve to be in
the repertoire. This is in spite of
the fact the Robert Schumann had a positive
dislike for Henri Herz: he felt that
his music was not sufficiently serious.
Actually, the bottom line is that this
music is to be enjoyed, not analysed
as such. It is certainly not to be despised.
A quick look at the
Arkiv database of CDs reveals that poor
old Henri is not well represented on
disc. In fact, apart from the three
concertos on this current disc there
seem to be only two other pieces in
the repertoire. The first is Les
Perles animées - Grande Valse
Op. 211 and the second is Air Suisse
National – both for piano. The Crotchet
database refers only to this present
CD. The programme notes further point
out that only eight of Herz’s works
have been ever recorded – and most of
these seem to have been on vinyl. So
there is not a lot to go on in making
judgements about this composer. Unless
one is to go delving into Grove it follows
that any discussion or review has to
depend on the excellent programme notes
written by Jeremy Nicholas.
Henri Herz wrote for
the public of his day. It would be really
difficult to imagine that he was composing
all these works for posterity. He was
extremely well regarded as a fashionable
teacher and composer by the musically
literate public both in Europe and the
United States. However, he has become
one of many nineteenth century pianist/composers
whose entire catalogue has virtually
disappeared from view. We can think
of such luminaries as Cramer, Moscheles
and Thalberg as analogous examples.
In many ways these composers were once
regarded more highly than Chopin or
Liszt. Yet history tells a different
story. We are more likely to hear performances
of second and third rate Liszt than
the ‘chef d’oeuvres’ of the three gentlemen
named above. We have Hyperion to thank
for bringing some of these composers
alive to us in the twenty-first century.
It is not necessary
to analyse these three concertos. However
a few highlights can be pointed out.
One of my favourite movements is the
Rondo Espagnol from the Seventh
Concerto. I am not convinced that
this is any more Spanish than Herz was;
in fact the music suggests a ‘Polonaise’
rather than a ‘Bolero.’ Perhaps the
triangle is meant to give it an Iberian
feel? But the point is that this is
actually great music and is thoroughly
enjoyable.
If anyone is looking
for deep and reflective slow movements,
forget it! They are invariably short
and straight to the point. Perhaps they
could be likened to an aria by Bellini
– interesting, attractive, well wrought,
but not necessarily profound. If we
are looking for an ‘it sounds like’
composer I suppose John Field, the ‘Irish
Chopin’, springs to mind. But this is
probably unfair to both composers. It
may just be appropriate to say that
these three works owe a lot to Chopin
without being quite as subtle and for
the most part lacking his genius. Yet
all these concerti are full of lovely
tunes, interesting, complex and extremely
demanding passage work and surprisingly
convincing orchestrations.
The only downside is
the relatively short playing time. At
58 minutes it seems to me that Hyperion
could have squeezed something else onto
it - perhaps even another concerto?
If this was too much I am sure there
must be a couple of piano pieces or
a ‘fantasia’ or two that would have
filled the gap. However I am extremely
glad to have these three interesting
works, so no more said.
Howard Shelley takes
this virtuosic music seriously - not
only with his wonderful playing but
also with his conducting. And this seriousness
is this most important thing about this
CD. It would be so easy to take a patronising
view: to smile benevolently perhaps
or even shake one’s head at anyone who
prefers this kind of music to that of
‘The Greats’. But this is definitely
not the case with this production. It
is well recognised that this music was
once ‘Top of the Pops’ and deservedly
so.
John France
Hyperion
Romantic Piano Concerto Series
Howard Shelley (piano and conductor) 
