Violin Concerto Op. 52; Sympho

Felix Weingartner (1863-1942) was of course primarily known as a very fine conductor -- his recording of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony was my first, way back in the 1940s, and I still love it immeasurably Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 "Eroica" & 4 -- but he was also a fine composer whose music has languished mostly unheard for decades. The enterprising cpo label has unearthed and recorded several of his orchestral works to almost universal praise: e.g., Felix Weingartner: Symphony No. 5 [Hybrid SACD], Felix Weingartner: Symphony No. 1; König Lear [Hybrid SACD]. Now comes his violin concerto, a work I'd never even heard of. It was premiered in 1912 with Fritz Kreisler as soloist and Weingartner conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. Apparently it was played a few more times by Kreisler but not taken up by others although its premiere got a rave review in the Viennese Neue Freie Presse by a critic often dismissive of Weingartner's music, Julius Korngold (doyen of Viennese critics and father of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold). The concerto is in the usual three movements and is written in a lushly romantic vein whose harmonies are an interesting mix of Brahms and Wagner. The first movement is lyrical, rapt, pastoral. The second is a fine set of variations that ranges far afield harmonically. The third is based on folkdance rhythms and tunes of the French Alps. Indeed its subtitle is 'Caprice savoyard.' The violin part is virtuosic but not in the most showy fashion. Aside from the cadenzas and some of the flashy passagework in the long first movement, the violinist is primarily taken up with long melodic lines that are meltingly memorable. The soloist here is Laurent Albrecht Breuninger, a violinist of whom I'd never heard but who is clearly a very fine player, and the SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern is conducted by Alun Francis. This ensemble and conductor have appeared on some of the other cpo releases, always creditably.

The other find here is Weingartner's orchestration of Schubert's sketches for what has come to considered his Symphony No. 7 in E Major, D 729. Schubert sketched but never finished it in 1821. The structure of the work is complete but much of it is a single line, or a melodic line with counterpoint or bass line indicated. Weingartner completed it in 1934 and although it was played at the time, as far as I know it has never been recorded. There is, however, at least one other completion by Brian Newbould which has been recorded twice, most prominently by Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, which is included in their box set of all the Schubert symphonies (which also includes Newbould's completion of the 'Unfinished' Symphony and the so-called Tenth Symphony) Schubert: The 10 Symphonies. Weingartner's completion sounds almost but not quite like Schubert. His orchestration and harmonic filling-out sound a bit more late 19th-century to me. The whole thing is very nicely played but I must admit I like Newbould's version better. Still, it's good to hear this arrangement, if only for comparison.

Scott Morrison

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