Ernő Dohnányi - Piano Music Vol. 1 (Martin Roscoe)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi

• 4 Rhapsodies, Op. 11
• Winterreigen, 10 Bagatelles, Op. 13
• Pastorale, Hungarian Christmas Song
• 3 Singular Pieces, Op. 44
• Waltz from Delibes' Coppélia

Martin Roscoe, piano

Date: 2012

Label: Hyperion

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Review

The auspices are good even before you press the play button: Hyperion, Potton Hall, Ben Connellan (recording engineer), Jeremy Hayes (producer) – and a master pianist who has thoroughly immersed himself in the composer for years. In fact Martin Roscoe recorded the two piano quintets (5/95) and two of the present works (the Four Rhapsodies and Pastorale – 10/93) for ASV, as well as the two piano concertos for Hyperion (5/94), nearly 20 years ago.

The Four Rhapsodies, while having almost identical timings to Roscoe’s first-rate earlier performances, are now more subtly characterised. The impish humour of No 3, for instance, not only the best known of the set but one of Dohnányi’s best known works, is done with a lighter touch, and I prefer the warmer, more immediate presence of the piano to the chillier St George’s, Brandon Hill. Winterreigen, ‘Ten Bagatelles’, all except the first and last dedicated to friends of Dohnányi in Vienna, begins and ends with Schumannesque quotes and wordplay. The composer’s own 1956 recording, despite its claustrophobic acoustic, is not to be missed but Roscoe’s more objective view and greater clarity bring their own rewards. Pastorale (‘Hungarian Christmas Song’) is charming; the first of the Three Singular Pieces (late works from 1951) has a time signature of 5/4 4/4 3/4 2/4 – the music is a repeated sequence of bars of those durations – while the last is a demanding perpetuum mobile. Rounded off with the Coppélia Waltz transcription (played with more elegance but less panache than Dohnányi in 1929, a full two minutes faster than Roscoe), this is a particularly happy start to the series.

— Gramophone

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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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Martin Roscoe (born 3 August 1952) is an English classical pianist. Born in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire, he studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music with Gordon Green and Marjorie Clementi. Roscoe has played as a soloist under many of the world's leading conductors, and also gives regular recitals at the Wigmore Hall. He has an international reputation and has played in many countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, South America, Australia, USA and France. Roscoe has taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

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