Emil von Sauer - Etudes de Concert Nos. 21-30; Valses (Oleg Marshev)

Information

Composer: Emil von Sauer

• Etudes de Concert Nos. 21-30
• Les Délices de Vienne
• Le Retour (Caprice) in E major
• Couplet sans Paroles (Style francais)
• Scherzo Valse in E flat major
• Boîte a musique (Spieluhr) in E flat major
• Echo de Vienne (Valse de Concert)

Oleg Marshev, piano

Date: 1998

Label: Danacord

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Review

The first thing to grasp about these thirty etudes is that they are not a unified work. They are not meant to be played one after the other. In fact I would strongly recommend that the best way to approach these pieces is by selection - one or two at a time. Only then will their true worth become apparent. There is danger that the listener becomes sated by the complex pianistic sound. Eventually it could just wash over them in a mass of notes.

There are two types of study in this collection; those designed to express technical competencies in a given aspect and good old-fashioned salon pieces with highly evocative and descriptive names. It is fair to say that the ‘genre’ pieces are no technical pushover. The technical works explore trills, arpeggios, staccato, octaves and figurations. The titles of some of these etudes are quite fascinating; many of them inhabit a world of gentle eroticism. For example we have a charming piece called ‘The Sirens.’ And then there is 'Frisson de Feuilles' and ‘Murmurs of the Winds' and, of course, 'Prelude Erotique'. All evocative titles, which would be out of place in today’s hard-headed world, yet were extremely popular with audiences at the turn of the twentieth century.

There is even one piece that is called ‘The Pines of the Villa Medici,’ – and one wonders if Ottorino Respighi knew this work when he penned his great Pines of Rome Suite in 1924.

It is not possible to give a detailed study of each of these delightful works in this short review. Suffice to say that they are full of charm, technical wizardry and are joy to listen to. It is to be hoped that some of them find their way into the recital programmes of our great contemporary pianists. Yet somehow I feel that they will continue to be ignored; ours is not an age when a piece entitled ‘Storms of April’ will attract anything other than derision – no matter how perfect the work is. We only need to look at how the more ‘poetically’ titled works of Liszt have faired. How often does an orchestra play any of his tone poems? We sometimes need to forget ‘programmes’ or ‘implied programmes’ when listening to much music of this era. Just sit back and enjoy the notes and the skill of the playing!

There are some twenty-one other works on these four CDs. I must confess that they are of variable quality. Some seem me to be potboilers, and some are little gems. All are well played. Who an resist a title such as ‘Echo of Vienna’ or ‘Approche de printemps.’ Each listener will find his or her own favourite pieces amongst this treasure house of fine salon music. However I cannot but repeat that one must listen to these works in small doses. Obviously one can go at either of the two sonatas at a sitting – however pick out some of the lighter pieces and just enjoy!

-- John France, MusicWeb International

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Emil von Sauer (8 October 1862 – 27 April 1942) was a notable German composer, pianist, score editor, and music (piano) teacher. He studied with Nikolai Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatory between 1879 and 1881, then went on to study with Franz Liszt for two years. From 1882, Sauer made frequent and successful tours as a virtuoso pianist; his performing career lasted until 1940. Along with editing the complete piano works of Johannes Brahms and a number of academic works by Pischna, Plaidy and Kullak, Sauer wrote piano concertos, piano sonatas, concert études, piano pieces, and lieder.

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

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Oleg Marshev (born 1961 in Baku, Azerbaijan) is a Soviet and Russian pianist and now a resident of Italy. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Mikhail Voskresensky, graduating in 1988 with a Performance Doctorate. Marshev's first recording project was the complete original works for solo piano by Prokofiev (5 CDs) for Danacord Records. He has since recorded over 30 CDs for the same label, featuring works by Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Rubinstein, Rachmaninov and others. Marshev became the first pianist to perform the entirety of Emil von Sauer’s piano music, making up 6 volumes.

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

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