Joachim Raff - Works for Violin & Piano Vol. 1 (Ingolf Turban; Jascha Nemtsov)

Information

Composer: Joachim Raff

• First Grand Sonata in E minor, Op. 73
• Duo in A major, for violin & piano, Op. 59
• Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 58
• Duo on motifs from Wagner's 'Tannhäuser', Op. 63 No. 2

Ingolf Turban, violin

Jascha Nemtsov, piano

Date: 2000

Label: CPO

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Review

This disc is pure pleasure from first to last (Volume 2 is now also available, CPO999 768-2). Ingolf Turban (who was offered the post of concertmaster with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra by Sergiu Celibidache when only 21 years old) has poured his talent and belief into these wonderfully attractive pieces. No less attractive is the playing of his accompanist, the Russian-Jewish pianist Jascha Nemtsov. The whole disc represents a meeting of equals and affords much pleasure.

It may take you almost as long to read the booklet notes as it does to listen to the music itself. Georg Albrecht Eckle provides well-informed and thorough background to both the composer and his representations here. Even without any of this, though, CPO’s generous 72 minutes worth guarantees much pleasure.

The disc begins with by far the heftiest item, the First Grand Sonata. This is music of very serious intent. Interestingly, despite its full duration of nearly 28 minutes, one expects the first movement to be longer than it actually is: is this a need to hear more from the players, or is it that Raff’s material is so fertile that he does not quite do it justice?. Whatever, the performance has real drive.

It is typical of Raff that the slow movement (with its qualifier, ‘nicht zu langsam’) contains great charm amongst its generally sober intent. The fact that both players are young probably meant that the cheeky end to the ‘sehr rach und fein’ second movement came easily to them. However, it is in the finale that the sparks really fly. There is superb violin playing, and Nemtsov despatches the fiendishly difficult piano part with apparent ease.

The overall trajectory of the works on this disc seems to be from the more ‘serious’ constraints of the sonata towards the salon. Thus, the Duo, Op. 59 and the Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 58 separate the Sonata from a pot-pourri on themes from Tannhäuser. Eckle’s booklet notes make much of the influence of Mendelssohn on Raff, and this is certainly aurally obvious in the charming Duo. This is a fairly extended piece, but the easy flow makes the time fly by. It has to be admitted, though, that some of the linking passages are running low on the inspiration that fuelled the whole of the Grand Sonata.

The two Fantasy Pieces were written for Mendelssohn’s friend Ferdinand David. They contain much lovely playing here, often of a quasi-improvisational nature. Both players, although possibly particularly Nemtsov, revel in the tonally rich sounds available.

Finally, the first chord of the Tannhäuser Duo affirms our musico-geographical whereabouts. This is a flighty, fun recontextualisation of the familiar, which makes Wagner seem completely and utterly harmless. It is a fun way to end a most stimulating and rewarding release. The many difficulties are surmounted with ease by Turban and Nemtsov (try Turban’s excellently-placed high register at around 8’24, for example, immediately following a virtuoso-like passage from the pianist)..

Wholeheartedly recommended. This disc is a box of life-affirming delights waiting to be opened.

— Colin Clarke

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Joachim Raff (27 May 1822 —  24 or 25 June 1882) was a German composer and teacher who was greatly celebrated in his lifetime but nearly forgotten by the late 20th century. Initially a self-taught musician, he was influenced by Mendelssohn and Schumann before aligning with Liszt and Wagner's "New German School". He served as Liszt's assistant in Weimar and later taught piano in Wiesbaden. From 1877, he directed the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. A prolific composer, Raff wrote 11 symphonies, concertos, operas, choral, chamber and piano music. Many of these works are now commercially recorded.

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Ingolf Turban (born 17 March 1964) is a German violinist. His teachers include Gerhart Hetzel, Jens Ellermann and Dorothy DeLay. In 1985, he became first concertmaster of the Munich Philharmonic under Sergiu Celibidache. In 1988, he left the orchestra and began a successful soloist career. In 1995, he became a professors at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart, and, since 2006, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Turban plays the great violin literature "from Bach to Berg", but also many rarely or never before heard works of all styles. As of 2020, he has released over 40 CDs.

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Jascha Nemtsov (born 1963 in Magadan, Siberia) is a pianist and musicologist. He studied at the Saint Petersburg State Conservatory and has lived in Germany since 1992. He has performed internationally and recorded over 40 CDs, many featuring works by persecuted composers. His notable achievements include a German Record Critics' Award (2007) and the OPUS KLASSIK (2018). His recent CD Ukrainian Préludes was nominated for the 2025 International Classical Music Awards. Nemtsov earned a doctorate in 2004 and now holds a professorship in Jewish music history at the Liszt University in Weimar.

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