Ernő Dohnányi - Piano Concertos (Sofja Gülbadamova)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 5
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 42

Sofja Gülbadamova, piano

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz

Ariane Matiakh, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Capriccio

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Review

In looking at Dohnányi’s two piano concertos one is struck by a resemblance to the two piano concertos of Wilhelm Stenhammar. A massive, Brahmsian first concerto is followed by a shorter, more organically concise, second. There the similarities end as Stenhammar’s second concerto was written hardly more than ten years after the first, while Dohnányi’s second was written almost fifty years after his first.

Dohnányi had recently finished his piano studies with Eugen D’Albert and was already known as a phenomenal performer when the first concerto was premiered by the composer and Hans Richter in 1899. In spite of its length and indebtedness to Brahms, the work is frequently genial and even cheery. This is especially true of the second theme of the opening movement, which Dohnányi ably contrasts with an urgent and agitated first theme. Material from the first movement serves as the subject for variations in the second movement, which has a chamber music texture and some more “modern” touches. The third movement is the gentlest of the three but still ends with a full-fledged virtuoso finale.

In the ensuing fifty years Dohnányi was forced to contend with a variety of form of totalitarianism and had ended up in a small Austrian village, preparatory to emigrating he knew not where. Nevertheless, Dohnányi began composition of a second piano concerto, with an extremely difficult solo part, for himself to play as concert dates opened up. As one might expect, the first movement of the concerto is a masterful combination of unease and almost heroic resolution. Although the resolute elements seem to eventually predominate the sense of anxiety and unrest is never far away, while the coda is merely quiet, eschewing extremes. By contrast, the slow movement is totally serene, and to my thinking possesses the most emotional depth of any of the movements in either concerto. In the last movement Dohnányi again demonstrates his great ability to manipulate basic material in new ways, and the concerto looks to end heroically but the music just cuts off abruptly.

Sofja Gülbadamova’s performance of the solo part in both concertos is just what one could ask for. Not only is she up to the technical demands of these two big works but she never loses sight of Dohnányi’s overall conception and seems to have a great understanding of both the composer’s music and personality. Ariane Matiakh’s direction of the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz is a little rough in the first concerto but in the second she is an able partner to Gülbadamova. Recording quality is acceptable if not brilliant. There are competing recordings of the concertos by Howard Shelley and Laszlo Baranyay as well as an earlier recording of the second concerto by Gülbadamova on the Cybele label. In addition, Gülbadamova has recorded a two-disc set of Dohnányi’s piano music. Pride of place for the concertos would probably go the Hyperion disc by Martin Roscoe, who in addition has recorded all of Dohnányi’s solo piano music and just about every one of his chamber pieces involving the piano. But to my thinking Gülbadamova demonstrates an equal affection for and understanding of Dohnányi’s concertos and we are fortunate to have two such discs available.

— William Kreindler

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Ernő Dohnányi (27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. Dohnányi studied in Budapest at the Royal Academy of Music. As a pianist he traveled widely and established a reputation as one of the best performers of his day. In 1948 he left Hungary as a political exile and became a U.S. citizen in 1955. Dohnányi's music, which was chiefly influenced by Johannes Brahms, was late Romantic and conservative in style, and after 1910 he occupied only a minor place among contemporary Hungarian composers. His works include three symphonies, a ballet, three operas, and chamber works.

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Sofja Gülbadamova (born 13 March 1981) is a Russian pianist. Born in Moscow, she studied at the Gnessin State Musical College, the Lübeck Academy of Music, the Conservatoire de Paris, and the École Normale de Musique Alfred-Cortot. Gülbadamova has won several international piano competitions, including the 2008 Concours International pour Piano in Aix-en-Provence and the 6th Concours International Francis-Poulenc. Since 1992, she has performed internationally in piano recitals, chamber music performances, and orchestral appearances in Europe, Russia, South America, and the USA.

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