Ernő Dohnányi - Symphony No. 1 (Leon Botstein)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi

• Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 9

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Leon Botstein, conductor

Date: 1998

Label: Telarc

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Review

Leon Botstein places his cards squarely on the table by insisting that ‘this fantastic and compelling piece of music has been unfairly neglected’. He certainly supports his claim with a convincing performance, magnificently recorded, and though I would challenge ‘fantastic’, ‘compelling’ isn’t too far off the mark. The symphony was composed in 1900, a time – as now – when the challenge of balancing the old with the new posited new levels of artistic responsibility. Dohnanyi tended to side with tradition, though his harmonic style is fairly pan-European.

The opening horn theme conjures Bruckner’s symphonic world, and the music soon flares to a heady climax before raindrop pizzicatos lower us to the lyrical second set (2'27''). The scoring borders on the Wagnerian (Dohnanyi makes great play with his horns and lower strings), though I found the first movement’s ‘extensive development’ (annotator Peter Laki’s term) somewhat overcooked. The slow movement occasionally hints at gipsy music, the Scherzo seems vaguely reminiscent of the parallel movement in Dvorak’s Fourth; there’s a very attractive ‘Intermezzo’ that calls on themes from previous movements (the solo viola part is especially appealing), and a powerful theme and variations finale.

Dohnanyi’s penchant for rich colours and unexpected key relations invariably holds one’s interest, though I would hesitate to rate this auspicious First Symphony a masterpiece. Its ultimate shortcoming is that it lacks distinction of the sort that charges Bruckner’s First, Mahler’s First, Rachmaninov’s First and even Reger’s long-winded Sinfonietta with their own unmistakable personalities.'

— 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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Leon Botstein (born December 14, 1946) is a Swiss-born American conductor, educator, musicologist and scholar. Born in Zürich, he graduated from the University of Chicago and Harvard University. Since 1975 he has been the president of Bard College. As director of the American Symphony Orchestra and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Botstein is renowned for reviving and promoting neglected repertoire and composers. He also, in collaboration with institutions abroad, helped launch liberal arts programs to countries in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, South Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

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