The year-end holiday season is nigh and what better way to herald the festivities than to lounge in Christmas music? Here is an excellent anthology of rarely-heard piano music celebrating the Nativity from German pianist Peter Froundjian, truly befitting the artistic director of the Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum festival in North Germany.
Released in 2017, only one of its 33 tracks is remotely familiar. It is also the longest, most virtuosic and most modern sounding: Ferruccio Busoni’s Fourth Sonatina, with the subtitle “in diem Nativitatis Christi MCMXXVII”. Expect contrapuntal intricacies, quirky harmonies and bell sound, which also occupy its companion piece, Busoni’s somewhat shorter Nuit de Noël.
A true rarity is Polish composer Franciszek Brzezinski’s Noël en Pologne, a prelude and fugue based on a Polish carol. Incidentally, this carol is also quoted in Ignaz Friedman’s Noël. Still in the East, Sergei Lyupunov’s Nuit de Noël is the first piece of his four-movement Fêtes de Noël, which begins simply but threatens to become another of the Russian’s Transcendental Études before thankfully holding back.
There are three World Premiere recordings, all by Romantic Danish composers. J.P.E.Hartmann’s Juletrost (Christmas Consolation), Alfred Toftt’s Jule-Idyl and Gustav Helsted’s Pastorale are just lovely and deserve to be better know. Now these will finally be heard with some regularity. Top Dane Carl Nielsen also gets a look-in. His Drommen om Glade Jul (Dream of Silent Night) is premised on the opening of Franz Gruber’s beloved carol Stille Nacht. Still in the north, Finnish composer Selim Palmgren’s simple and enchanting Snöflingor (Snowflakes) opens the whole recital in a sense of wonderment and fantasy.
French music occupies the final third of the programme. Charles Koechlin’s Pastorales (12 pieces) and Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht’s Pastourelles (7 pieces) are miniatures, most barely a minute long. The formulae is the combination of simple folk-like or hymn-like melodies, sicilienne-rhythmed pastorales and evocations of bell sounds.
Inghelbrecht’s Berceuse du boeuf et de láne (Cradle Song of the Ox and Donkey) and La marche a l’étoile (March of the Stars) also quotes melodies like Il est né, le divin enfant and the Prelude from Bizet’s L’Arlesienne (itself a Provencal tune), and sets them in delightful juxtaposition. Also heard are André Jolivet’s Carillon and a sole English composer, Arnold Bax’s short set of variations O Dame Get Up And Bake Your Pies.
Peter Froundjian performs all of these with loving care and delicacy, a vivid advocacy without overplaying their value as lovely baubles and trinkets of the vast piano repertoire. Accompanying the totally enjoyable 82-minute programme are excellent well-researched programme notes, penned by Froundjian himself, and some classic illustrations.
Other Christmas listening on piano:
CHRISTMAS PIANO MUSIC
ETERI ANDJAPARIDZE, Piano
Naxos 8.553461
Here is a more traditional programme which includes the whole of Franz Liszt’s Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree) suite and all four pieces of Lyapunov’s Fêtes de Noël. There are some popular favourites like the Bach-Hess Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Bach’s Shepherd’s Pastorale from Christmas Oratorio (transcriber uncredited), Tchaikovsky’s December from The Seasons and Leroy Anderson’s own transcription of his Sleigh Ride.
TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker
STEWART GOODYEAR,
Piano & Transcriber
Steinway & Sons 30040
Canadian virtuoso Stewart Goodyear has transcribed the entire ballet for piano, but in order to cram all the music into the space of a single disc, there is a lot of fast playing throughout. However, the key dances (Dance of the Flowers, Sugar Plum Fairy, Trepak etc.) and sequences (Pas de deux, Andante maestoso and finale) get their due. While not as outwardly virtuosic as Mikhail Pletnev’s transcriptions (which takes many liberties), Goodyear is more faithful to the source and the whole spiel hangs very well in one uninterrupted listen. In his capable hands, one simply does not miss the orchestra.
I’m back in Husum, Germany for the second year in
succession. After spending three nights at the 2015, I have been totally
hooked, like some cocaine junkie. All thanks to the Japanese
professor-critic-musicologist Satoru Takaku, who has himself become a regular
fixture in these parts of Schleswig-Holstein.
This year, I was determined to
experience the full monty, which spans nine days in total with 12 recitals and
other fringe events thrown in. It will be piano music flowing into both ears,
and oozing out through the pores by the time I return to Singapore. As I had written in an
article for the Singapore Medical
Association News, “Muslims go to Mecca, Roman Catholics go to Lourdes, Pianophiles go to
Husum”. Just wondering, am I the only Singaporean who has done this piano
pilgrimage?
Friday
(19 August 2016)
The Brahms Museum in Heide, just 20 minutes by train from Husum.
It takes 20 hours to get from Singapore to Husum. Twelve hours
from ChangiAirport to Helsinki, two more hours to HamburgAirport, and thence two further
hours by train from Hamburg's Altona to Husum
itself. Not to mention the waiting times, and a brief stopover to the modest
little BrahmsMuseum in Heide (the home of
his ancestors), which by the way is a Pokemon Go stop of some relevance.
Th large festival banner at the gate of Schloss vor Husum.
Husum in summer is blue skies and bright
sunshine, a far cry from the “grey city by the sea” description by its most
famous native, the German writer-poet Theodor Storm. Its market square is a
hive of activity, with commerce and holiday-makers making the best of the
warmth before autumn inevitably arrives. Pianoraks (a term coined by British
writer-broadcaster-educator and all-round pianophile Jeremy Nicholas) gather at
the 16th century Schloss vor Husum for their annual harvest of
musical manna, and anticipation is thick as Kaiser Wilhelm II’s moustache for
the annual Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum, now in its historic 30th
year. Peter Froundjian is the festival's founder and artistic director, proud
father of a baby that has not only grown up, but become piano esoteria central
of the world.
Concert 1: Jonathan Plowright
& Symanowski Quartet (4.30 pm)
These two piano quintets in the key of C minor are true rarities perhaps until the Hyperion recording by these
performers get released. If there is any justice in the world, both ought to be far better-known, especially the Ludomir Rozycki quintet with its massive
40-minute sprawl. It matches every bit the passion and intensity of favourites
like the Brahms or Franck. There is Brahmsian richness of themes and harmonies
in the 1st movement, but it is the slow movement's lament – with big
tunes by cello and viola – that steals the show. The light-heartedness of the
finale does not quite erase the pathos of the preceding movement.
The quintet by Ignaz Friedman is less
intense, but no less listenable. The charm of old Vienna (think of Kreisler and
Korngold) permeate the opening movement with the second theme reminiscent of
old movie music, and do I hear echoes of Dvorak and Grieg in the slow movement,
which is in the form of Theme and Variations. Similarly, Slavic folk music take
over the dance-like finale, before a welcome return of the melody from the slow
movement. Jonathan Plowright and his Polish partners give the best case
possible of both quintets, which I hope to hear again soon. The best fix: buy
the CD when it comes out next month!
Concert 2: Duo Grau-Schumacher (8 pm)
The piano duo of Andreas Grau and Gotz
Schumacher look like a pair of solicitors and advocates from Stuttgart or
Dortmund, but they are are seriously good musicians. To perform an all-Busoni
programme completely from memory is no joke, and the seriousness of their
intent is stamped from the first note to the last.
Rambling is what one might
described the opening work, Improvisation
on the Bach chorale Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seele (a mouthful in itself),
which is a hotbed of counterpoint, mildly disturbing harmonies and the obligatory
fugues. No argument with the committed and reading. What followed is hyphenated
Mozart, including the Fantasy in F minor (K.608) for mechanical organ
and the Duettino Concertante (a transcription of the finale from the Piano Concerto No.19
in F major). Those performances were on the rough and ready side, which could
have done with a more rehearsals, and somewhat more charm.
The main event was the Fantasia
Contrappuntistica, which for 2 pianos is a quite different beast from the
solo version. This was probably what J.S.Bach might have done for The Art of
the Fugue had he lived into the 20th century. The subject was a
Bach chorale but transformed into a quite unrecognisable behemoth that lasted
the best part of 35 minutes. Bring on its parade of fugues, variations and
chorales, and the duo delivered it with the authority which engenders a new
admiration on the craft of Busoni. You either love him or hate him, and there
can be no middle ground.
That was the best performance of the evening, which
drew two encores. The first was Busoni's transcription of the Magic Flute
Overture, now with far more ebullience than previously and a Bach-Kurtag
chorale transcription. Still that might be all the Busoni one will want to hear
for the rest of the year.
The first evening at Hartmann's Landkuche with Ludwig Madlener, Satoru Takaku & Monsieur Cortot (distant relation of Alfie).
The Wasserreihe in Husum, near the harbour, is where Theodor Storm's house is located.
Husum's quaint little inner harbour with the Marienkirche in the background.
Saturday (20 August 2016)
Recital 3: Florian Noack (4.30 pm)
One new aspect on this 30th
anniversary year is the introduction of the Young Explorers Series, which
highlights younger pianists with the penchant for rarities. The young Belgian
Florian Noack is already fairly well-known for his piano transcriptions of
orchestral works. He did not play any of these, but introduced instead Theodor
Kirchner's Nachtbilder (Night Pictures), comprising some 10
character pieces. The style is along the axis of Schumann and Brahms, but with
a streak of fantasy and tempestuousness beyond their mere titles (which were
just tempo indications). Noack brought a gamut of impulses and moods, but
seemed to over-pedal to make his point.
One way of describing unknown piece of
music is by referencing already well-known works or styles. So to say that
William Sterndale Bennett's Fantasie (dedicated to Schumann) was
Mendelssohnian is not an understatement. The German's manner was so well relived
that one might call the four-movement work derivative. There was a Chopinesque
opening in the 1st movement, but the rest was Mendelssohnian in its
melody, decorative touches and general note-spinning. Pleasant but not
memorable. Noack gave as good an account as he could, and it could be surmised
that he will play Mendelssohn very well too. His final work was Stephen
Heller's Tarantella, which is gentle and nimble, without the
coruscations of Liszt; another pleasant listen. His two encores were of a totally
different ilk, two of Sergei Lyapunov's Transcendental Etudes, the Berceuse
and Dance of the Phantoms, which were very well played.
Recital 4: Simon Callaghan (8 pm)
One thing that can be said of the Briton
was that he brought out the most gorgeous sound from the piano, one which the
earlier pianists had missed out on. There was a warm burnished tone created for
Arnold Bax's May Night in Ukraine, which carried off from the earlier
Lyapunov with its Borodin-like melody but filled with dark hues, and just as
evocative was Bax's Gopak, a folk dance with some delicious
syncopations.
The piece de resistance was surely Roger
Sacheverell Coke's 15 Variations and Finale. Its slow theme in a minor
key was not unlike that in Mendelssohn's Variations Serieuses or Grieg's
Ballade, but the variations were more aligned to Rachmaninov or Medtner
with more dark asides balanced with occasional sentimentality. Definitely more
demanding than Rachmaninov's Corelli Variations, this deserves to be
heard more often, especially with Callaghan's dedicated and most musical
advocacy.
The built-in encores were Stephen Hough's
Rodgers and Hammerstein transcriptions: the Carousel Waltz, My
Favourite Things, Hello Young Lovers and March of the Siamese
Children, all of which I've heard from Hough himself in concert. Callaghan
cannot pretend to be Hough but his performances were still persuasive. Just do
not play The King & I pieces in Bangkok, lest the lese majeste laws
get the poor pianist thrown into the slammer. There were three further encores,
all Preludes by Coke. From Callaghan, who has recorded them, its the
real thing.
Simon Callaghan with his page-turner Satoru Takaku after the recital. Callaghan's piano duo partner Hiroaki Takenouchi looks happy on the banner behind them.
There are many piano festivals that exist
in the world's busy calendar of music events, but they are not equal. Some
boast of a month-long duration, others of the sheer number of pianists invited,
the “brand name” of artists et cetera, but only one prides itself on the
wealth of repertoire on show. Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum
is a connoisseur's festival, one that highlights neglected and fringe works of
the repertoire, forgotten and unknown composers, centering on the cult of
obscurity and rarity.
The market square at Husum with the St Mary's Church (Marienkirche)
Held within an August summer's week in
the relatively remote North German seaside town of Husum in Schleswig-Holstein,
it is a curate's egg. Its isolation makes a trip there seem like a pilgrimage.
For years, I had feasted on the annual highlights CD recording on the Danish
Danacord label, enjoying whatever offerings pianists like Marc-André Hamelin, Daniel Berman, Frederic Meinders and Piers Lane might tickle its
audiences with. The choices of music would always be surprising, fascinating
beyond imagination, but I never imagined actually venturing into the unknown to
North
Friesland.
That was until an e-mail arrived in May,
sent by fellow pianophile the Japanese musicologist and Professor of Aesthetics
Satoru Takaku, who has been a Husum regular since in early noughties. “Come,
I'll arrange tickets for you, book your hotel, and even meet you at Hamburg airport!” was his
enticement, and I was caught hook, line and sinker. A round trip that could
include the BBC Proms in London, the 18th Leeds International Piano
Competition and Husum in late August was a possibility, and soon
I was dreaming.
Schloss vor Husum is a 16th
century castle built by the Counts of Gottorf on the outskirts just north of
the marketplace of Husum. Its oxide red bricks and single watch-tower built in
the Danish (or is it Dutch?) style dominate the landscape and it even has a own
moat of its own. Although its concerts begin at half-past-seven in the evening,
daylight still filters into the Ritter Saal (Hall of Knights) which seats close
to 200 in a small and intimate space. Ancient portraits and an elaborately
decorated fireplace (this castle has some extraordinary fireplaces and
mantelpieces!) vie for attention, as do the nesting birds and sqawking ducks
which provide a not unwelcome counterpoint to the piano music. Soon the ear
settles for the feast of piano sound, and that captivates like no other.
Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor
Husum is the brainchild of Berlin-born pianist and pedagogue Peter
Froundjian, a soft-spoken mustachioed gentleman in his 60s of Armenian
extraction. In 1985 he received an appointment to head the music school that is
resident in the castle, and he saw the possibilities of such a festival at such
a venue. He was interested in non-mainstream piano repertoire, and could not
understand how a narrow repertoire could have pre-occupied musical and concert
life for ages. He wanted to do something for the unjustly forgotten composers,
such that they could be appreciated by the public like the great masters. There
is much good music to heard, except that these are rarely programmed in
recitals.
He felt that this approach would not work
within the confines of one or two recitals, which would garner little attention
if any. Instead a festival package spanning a week with eight recitals by
different pianists of different tastes might do the trick. Husum is not near a
big city (the closest, Hamburg, is 2 hours away by train), so visitors plan to
stay the entire week. Return visitors and word-of-mouth ensure that all tickets
to concerts are sold-out when the day arrives. Late-comers are to satisfy
themselves by sitting in an adjacent room with a video feed (and another
magnificent fireplace) for a small fee.
The intimate Ritter Saal of Schloss vor Husum sits around 200 for each recital.
The first festival took place in 1987
with attention from the press, periodicals and media, and it was well received.
Pianists including Michael Ponti (a Vox Records legend, a champion of unknown
Romantic repertoire), Daniel Berman, Rainer Klaas, Eckhart Sellheim, a piano
duo and Froundjian himself performed. The year 1989 was a pivotal one, which
saw the participation of Marc-Andre Hamelin and Ronald Smith (in Alkan's Concerto and Symphony for solo piano respectively), Hamish Milne (Reubke's Sonata in B minor), Jean-Marc Luisada,
Idil Biret and Ponti again. That edition sealed Husum's unique position in the
pianistic world, with the focus on repertoire as the guiding light.
What have been some of the more arcane
curiosities that Husum has mid-wifed? Froundjian lists off the palm of his
hand: Cecile Licad performing Florent Schmitt, Marie-Catherine Girod playing a
sonata by Pierre de Breville in the past, and young Russian Yuri Favorin
unearthing Alkan, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev and Szymanowski in this year's line-up.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Virtuosity is a given, but obscurity a
definitive.
Is there a formula by which Froundjian
picks his artists and programmes? There is no fixed formula. Any pianist can
apply to perform just as he can approach a given pianist. There are proposals
for repertoire choices and counter-proposals, based on what has been performed
in past years, and what has not. It is all a very interesting experiment.
The latest Danacord CD recording of Rarities from the 2014 festival.
Thanks to the annual highlights CD, a labour
of love co-produced by Danacord label's owner Jesper Buhl, the “legend of
Husum” has spread far and wide, albeit within the relatively small cosmos of
universal pianophiles. Asian visitors are still a relative rarity, but my
friend Satoru has done much to proselytise Husum's gospel. Through his
introduction, London-based Japanese pianist Hiroaki Takenouchi has performed
twice in Husum in recent years, introducing works by Boris Pasternak (the
author of Doctor Zhivago), Hubert
Parry and others to receptive ears.
The year 2016 marks the 30th
edition of Rarities and who is to perform at this special anniversary?
Froundjian does not reveal the names of pianists yet, but he assures it will be
a combination of long-time friends favourites of the Festival and a late of new
names making their debuts. Given the vast pool of concert pianists who are
widening the performing repertoire every day, the possibilities are endless. As
long as there are terra incognita for intrepid pianists to discover, and an ever-curious
audience to savour these offerings, the cult and spirit of Husum is sure to
endure.
Dr Chang Tou Liang is a Singaporean family physician in private practice. From 2004 to 2008 he was the Artistic Director of the Singapore International Piano Festival. He has also been the classical music reviewer of The Straits Times (Singapore's national daily) since 1997. He is married to Janet, has a son Shan Ming, and keeps a household of four rescued cats.
