MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


 REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Paul HINDEMITH (1895-1963)
Klaviermusik mit Orchester, Op. 29 (1923) [18:00]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World” (1893) [46:08]
Leon Fleisher (piano) (Hindemith)
Curtis Symphony Orchestra/Christoph Eschenbach
rec. 27 April 2008, Verizon Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
ONDINE ODE1141-2 [64:18]
Experience Classicsonline

This has to be one of the most bizarre CD couplings that has come my way. What do the two works have in common? The only thing is that both were performed at the same concert by students and faculty of the Curtis Institute. What would have been more appropriate - and greatly needed - is a new recording of the other work on that concert: Gunther Schuller’s Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee, which to my knowledge has not appeared on a recording since the more than fifty-year old version by Antal Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony on Mercury Living Presence. This is indeed a shame, since most fans of Paul Hindemith, who have eagerly awaited a performance of this recently unearthed piano concerto, do not need or want another recording of the ubiquitous New World. I can quickly dispense with an evaluation of this performance, by saying that it is professional and generally well played. The Largo is quite lovely with a very nice English horn solo, and the quiet moments of the work come off rather well. It is just that when things start increasing in volume, Eschenbach uses the sledge-hammer and bludgeon approach. We do not need another unexceptional New World

No, this disc is recommended mainly for the 18-minute Hindemith to admirers of the composer and to the members of the orchestra who have contributed a world premiere recording. The Klaviermusik mit Orchester was one of a number of works for piano left hand and orchestra that pianist Paul Wittgenstein commissioned after he lost his right arm in the First World War. The most famous work of these, and the only one that has entered the standard repertoire, is the Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand. The story goes that Wittgenstein either disliked or was incapable of performing most of these commissions. To make matters worse, he did not allow anyone else to perform the Hindemith. So, it lay unperformed in his estate until after his wife died. It became accessible only in 2002. The world premiere took place two years later in Berlin by Leon Fleisher and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. Since then Fleisher has performed it numerous times with other orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel. Ever since Fleisher lost the use of his right hand in the 1960s he has championed left-hand works by various composers. Thankfully, he recently regained use of his right hand to the degree that he has performed two-handed pieces by some of the composers with which he was earlier identified, including Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

How does this concerto compare with other Hindemith works of the same period? It was composed in 1923 at the time Hindemith was also writing his Kammermusik concertos. The Klaviermusik fits into this neo-classical, neo-baroque mold, with jazz influences and touches of humour, though it is arguably at a lower level of inspiration than the Kammermusik works. It is in four movements, the first, second and fourth of which are fast, and the third, the longest, is a slow movement. The piano is kept fairly busy throughout the concerto, but gets to relax in the slow movement and dialogue with solo English horn and flute. There is no question that the work belongs to Hindemith of the period and is a substantial contribution to the left-hand piano repertoire, even if it will never equal the Ravel in popularity or the best of Hindemith in quality. Fleisher performs it to the manner born and the orchestra accompany well. It is not the most refined sound, and Eschenbach again could use a lighter touch when the music is loud - especially in the last movement. The recording itself is rather dry and somewhat shallow, something that suits the Hindemith better than the Dvořák.

The bottom line: is this disc worth an 18-minute world premiere? Certainly, if you are an admirer of Hindemith, you will want to hear it. Otherwise, it should primarily appeal to members and fans of the orchestra. Too bad the Schuller wasn’t included, though.

Leslie Wright 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index