Wilhelm Stenhammar - Piano Concertos (Seta Tanyel)

Information

Composer: Wilhelm Stenhammar

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 1
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 23

Seta Tanyel, piano

Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra

Andrew Manze, conductor

Date: 2008

Label: Hyperion

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Review

After the comparatively damp squibs (musically speaking) of Volumes 47 and 48, Hyperion’s 49th is a real humdinger. Where the Jadassohn/Draeseke (Vol 47, 5/09) lacked distinctive personalities and memorable themes, and the Benedict/Macfarren (Vol 48, 10/09) barely merited the “Romantic” epithet, Stenhammar’s concertos make up for these deficiencies in spades.

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927), Sweden’s most significant musical figure in the early part of the 20th century, was the soloist for the premiere of his First Piano Concerto in March 1893. He subsequently played it under Nikisch, Weingartner, Muck, Richard Strauss and Hans Richter. Andrew Manze, in the informative booklet, points up the work’s indebtedness to Brahms (structure, key sequence, keyboard style) with the elfin touch of Saint-Saëns in the Scherzo. Stenhammar, though, is very much his own man, not least in the folk-style finale in which, halfway through, he changes direction and quotes his own song “Lutad mot gärdet” before bravely ending his 46-minute work on a pianissimo chord.

The Second Concerto (1904 07) also has four movements with the Scherzo placed second, though these are played without pause, resulting in a “novel, some have said ‘improvised’, structure” (Manze). Few will be able to resist the tumultuous finale. Manze was a shrewd choice of conductor, as was Seta Tanyel as soloist, a pianist whose lyrical grace is matched by a no-holds-barred bravura and an innate sparkle that makes her the preferred choice over the excellent Mats Widlund in the First Concerto (Chandos, 10/92). The recorded sound (John H West and Sean Lewis) is of Hyperion’s usual high standard.

— Jeremy Nicholas

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Wilhelm Stenhammar (February 7, 1871 – November 20, 1927) was a Swedish composer, conductor and pianist. Born in Stockholm, he studied music in Berlin and was initially influenced by German Romanticism. Afterwards, he sought a more Nordic voice, drawing inspiration from Carl Nielsen and  Jean Sibelius. Stenhammar composed two completed symphonies, six published string quartets, two piano concertos, four piano sonatas, a violin sonata, as well as many songs and choral works. He was Artistic Director of the Gothenburg Symphony from 1906 to 1922, and was also considered the finest Swedish pianist of his time.

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Seta Tanyel (born 1947) is a Turkish-born Armenian pianist. Born in Istanbul, she studied in Vienna under Dieter Weber and Bruno Seidlhofer, and later with Louis Kentner in London. Tanyel gained international recognition after winning prizes at the 1975 Queen Elisabeth and the 1974 Arthur Rubinstein Competitions. Since then she has performed in Europe, the Middle and Far East, and the Americas, performing with orchestras such as the London Symphony, Philharmonia, Vienna Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. Her discography on Chandos, Collins Classics and Hyperion labels has received critical acclaim.

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