Ernst KRENEK (1900-1991)
Complete Piano Concertos Vol. 2
Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 123 (1950)* [23:00]
Concerto for Two Pianos, Op. 127 (1951)* [16:00]
Double Concerto for Violin and Piano, Op. 124 (1950) [20:00]
Little Concerto for Piano and Organ, Op. 88 (1940) [10:00]
Mikhail Korzhev (piano)
Eric Huebner (piano)
Nurit Pacht (violin)
Adrian Partington (organ)
English Symphony Orchestra/Kenneth Woods
rec. 5-7 September 2016, Wyastone Concert Hall, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, UK
*First recording
TOCCATA CLASSICS TOCC0392
[69:00]
Forty years ago, when I first started collecting records, a series such as
this would have been almost unthinkable. In that sense, we’re living in a
golden age of recorded music, where niche repertoire is vigorously promoted
by enterprising indies like Toccata. Not long ago I
reviewed
the latest release in their Ferenc Farkas cycle, just one of many Toccata
projects in progress at this time. But I was particularly impressed with
Volume 1
of the Krenek concertos, featuring pianist Mikhail Korzhev and the English
Symphony under the zealous eye of Kenneth Woods. This conductor was also
the driving force behind Avie’s complete set of symphonies by Hans Gál
(AV2322).
With the exception of the Double and Little Concertos, the works in this Krenek
collection have not been recorded before (see Footnote). And, try as I might, I could not
find a comparative version of Op. 88 anywhere. As Royal Holloway’s Peter
Tregear points out in his liner-notes, a decade may separate the earliest
and latest pieces here, but all are products of the composer’s early years
in the USA. His Fourth Piano Concerto was commissioned by a Los Angeles
businessman whose daughter was a pianist; she and Krenek premiered the
piece in the German city of Cologne in 1951.
It’s a bold work, whose energy, sparkle and unpredictability remind me of
Prokofiev. Korzhev is very much in command of his keyboard, and the
orchestra respond with playing of commendable edge and alacrity. As with
Volume 1, engineer Ben Connellan’s recording is full and forensic, without
fierceness or strange perspectives. There are so many ear-tweaking
sonorities here, not to mention flamboyant – but not facile – writing for
the soloist in the outer movements. But, as Tregear says, what may have
seemed modern to some listeners at the time was probably considered
unadventurous by others. Indeed, even with its dark equivocations the often
wistful Andante harks back to a world that – quite literally – lay
in ruins.
A stimulating opener this, in which all parties confirm their commitment to
this moreish music. The ESO are on top form – characterful woodwinds,
well-blended brass and a terrific side drum – and that’s just what this
unfamiliar rep needs if it’s to find new converts. And anyone on that road
will be further persuaded by Krenek’s lovely, utterly embraceable Concerto
for Two Pianos, commissioned by his friend and passionate supporter Dimitri
Mitropoulos, recently appointed music director of the New York Phil. He,
the NYPO and pianists Jack Warren Lowe and Arthur Whittemore gave the first
performance, at Carnegie Hall, in October 1953.
Korzhev is joined here by Eric Huebner, recitalist and the New York Phil’s
pianist since 2012. Both are easeful and effervescent in this concerto,
which has a controlled virtuosity that I like very much indeed. The
recorded balance is excellent, so the pianos aren’t overbearing and the
finer details of Krenek’s pithy score are never lost. There’s a telling
economy of means and content here, an angular asperity that Woods and his
forces capture so well. As for the ESO’s lower brass, they relish the
‘raspberry moments’ that one associates with the Prokofiev concertos. (For
unrivalled ‘fruitiness’, Michel Béroff’s set, with Kurt Masur and the
DDR-era Leipzig Gewandhaus, is in a class of its own.)
Still not persuaded? Well then, try the Double Concerto, in which
Korzhev teams up with the violinist and pedagogue Nurit Pacht. Krenek seems
to have had a knack for attracting the interest of wealthy men with family
members who were also performers; this concerto was commissioned by George
Avakian, a producer at Columbia Records, whose wife was a violinist and his
sister-in-law a pianist. Both premiered the piece at Donaueschingen in
October 1951, the great Hans Rosbaud conducting.
Once again, I was bowled over by Krenek’s directness, which manifests
itself in clear textures and material that never outstays its welcome.
Indeed, Krenek also had a knack for leaving his listeners wanting more. And
I daresay the concerto’s sinewy sound world would have appealed to that
first audience, long-used to premieres of new music. I suppose this is the
most acerbic piece here, but it’s no acid bath; also, Pacht’s smooth,
ingratiating tone and Korzhev’s nicely scaled, intuitive playing make for
an almost chamber-like intensity that really suits the character of the
piece. A warm, very natural recording, too.
I was especially keen to hear the Little Concerto, written for piano, organ
and reduced orchestra. The work was unveiled at Vassar College in May 1940,
the composer conducting. In six very short movements – none lasts more than
two-and-a-half minutes – this really does have the intimate feel of
a chamber concert. Gloucester Cathedral’s Director of Music, Adrian
Partington, handles the organ part with great sensitivity, the instrument a
gentle partner in this delightfully transparent enterprise. Cosseting as it
may be, there’s animation and point as well, Krenek’s love of dance
rhythms buried deep in the music’s DNA.
As much as I enjoyed the first volume in this series, I have to say the
second is even more to my taste. It seems everyone involved ‘clicks’ with
these scores in a way that can only strengthen Woods’s – and Toccata’s –
belief in this composer’s attractive oeuvre. Once more, Tregear and Korzhev
provide notes from both the music historian’s and pianist’s point of view;
they also find a good balance between biographical detail and musical
analysis. That said, I was a little surprised to see Northern [sic]
and Southern [sic] Carolina in the text. There, that’s how hard I
had to look to find anything out of place in this riveting release.
Another indispensable instalment in this important series; kudos to all
concerned.
Dan Morgan
Footnote
A reader has pointed out that, contrary to
Toccata's notes, the Double Concerto has been recorded before (Koch Schwann
36408).
