Joseph Jongen - Cello Concerto; Impressions d'Ardennes; Fantaisie (Marie Hallynck; Roman Kofman)

Information

Composer: Joseph Jongen

1. Impressions d'Ardennes, Op. 44
2. Cello Concerto, Op. 18: 1. Large - Modérément animé
3. Cello Concerto, Op. 18: 2. Assez lent
4. Cello Concerto, Op. 18: 3. Modéré - Décidé
5. Fantaisie sur deux Noëls populaires wallons, Op. 24

Marie Hallynck, cello

Orchestre National de Belgique

Roman Kofman, conductor

Date: 2002

Label: Cypres

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

There’s a fascinating issue in the aesthetics of the romantic period: the degree to which composers “choke” when dealing with first-movement form in their concertos. Brahms, of course, made this challenge one of his particular strengths, and Dvorák’s three concertos solve the problem in three very different but imaginative ways. But very few other composers emerge unscathed from their battle with sonata form, concerto-style, and Joseph Jongen doesn’t quite manage it here. To his credit, though, he comes very close. His Cello Concerto opens with a wonderful orchestral build-up launching the entrance of the soloist, and only a certain lack of melodic distinction prevents the movement from being a total success. Clearer differentiations between the first and second subject groups would have provided greater formal definition, but either way the music is quite attractive.

Jongen has no problem at all once that first movement is out of the way. The slow movement is gorgeous, with a particularly delightful middle section in quicker tempo, while the finale (another place that many composers come to grief) really does provide an ideal combination of nobility and liveliness to what in the final analysis is a very serious statement. Soloist Marie Hallynck plays very well, as does the orchestra, and Roman Kofman conducts with seeming confidence. I only say “seeming” because it may be that the first movement would have made a better impression at a marginally swifter tempo, but with no comparisons ready to hand in this music it’s impossible to be sure. In any event, the two shorter works are wholly captivating, something of a cross between d’Indy and Debussy, and full of color. Here Kofman deserves full credit for leading shapely, sensitive readings before an orchestra that sounds well at home in the music. Excellent sonics too. Very pretty indeed.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:

MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Apr03/jongen1.htm

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/jongen-cello-concerto-impressions-d-ardennes-op-44

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Jongen-Impressions-dArdennes-Fantaisie/dp/B00008GQU1

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Joseph Jongen (14 December 1873 – 12 July 1953) was a Belgian organist, composer, and music educator. From his teens to his seventies Jongen composed a great deal, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music and songs. In 1897, he won the Belgian Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel to Italy, Germany and France. His list of opus numbers eventually reached 241, but he destroyed a good many pieces. His monumental Symphonie Concertante of 1926 is considered by many to be among the greatest works ever written for organ and orchestra, being championed and recorded by numerous eminent organists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Jongen

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Marie Hallynck (born 1973 in Tournai, Belgium) is a Belgian cellist. She studied with Reine Flachot in Paris, Edmond Baert at the Brussels Conservatory, Janos Starker in the United States and Natalia Gutman at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart. Hallynck has won many first prizes at national and international competitions in Brussels, Ghent, Paris and Eindhoven. As a soloist, Hallynck has played with about 40 Belgian and foreign orchestras. Alongside her concert appearances, she teaches at the Brussels Conservatory since the age of 18. Hallynck plays a Matteo Goffriller cello from 1717.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Hallynck

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Roman Kofman (born 15 June 1936 in Kiev) is a Ukrainian conductor. Kofman studied at the National Academy of Music of Ukraine with Michael Kanerschtin, and in 1963 became concertmaster of the Kiev Chamber Orchestra. Since 1990 he is the artistic director and chief conductor of Kiev Chamber Orchestra. In the years 2003 to 2008 he worked as General Music Director at Beethoven Orchester Bonn. From June 2012 Roman Kofman is the Principal Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. He has conducted 70 orchestras worldwide in Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Kofman

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