Georgios Axiotis - Orchestral Works (Byron Fidetzis)

Information

Composer: Georgios Axiotis

1. Sunset (ed. Fidetzis)
2. Prelude and Fugue (ed. Fidetzis)
3. A Love Trilogy: I. On the Mountain
4. A Love Trilogy: II. On the Plain
5. A Love Trilogy: III. At the Ball
6. Remembrance From a Ball (ed. Fidetzis)
7. Lyrical Intermezzo (ed. Fidetzis)
8. Like a Game (ed. Fidetzis)

New Festival Opera-Symphony Orchestra Sofia

Byron Fidetzis, conductor

Date: 2022

Label: Naxos

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Review

My introduction to the music of Georgios Axiotis came in the form of a plush boxed set that was a product of the 2004 Greek Cultural Olympiad (the Hellenic Culture Organisation). This impressively over-engineered and superbly annotated 12-CD set came in the form of a very large over-size case-box of works by largely uncelebrated Greek composers down the centuries. There on CD1 resides the Prelude and Fugue by Georgios Axiotis.

Here now is a whole CD of Axiotis’s works largely in editions by the conductor Byron Fidetzis who also wrote the indispensable liner-note in English and Greek. Fidetzis is a determined champion of neglected Greek music. He has previously recorded Kalomiris, Kalafati, Petridis and, generally a much tougher listen than Axiotis, Skalkottas (BIS). Axiotis proclaims himself as an unabashed late-romantic. He was born in Mariupol in the Ukraine but moved with his parents to Athens and then pursued music studies in Naples. He made his career in Athens where he died early in life.

Fidetzis - who draws brooding playing from the New Festival Opera-Symphony Orchestra Sofia - recounts that Axiotis “was a leading and historically significant Greek composer …” The words “leading and historically significant” do not necessarily mean that listeners will want to hear this music more than once. As it turns out you are in for a warmly saturated, romantic slow-burn. Axiotis beckons and welcomes you in but does not shake you to the core.

Sunset drips the exudate of romance while avoiding dense over-orchestration. It is quite Franckian. You expect the Prelude and Fugue to quite academic. It isn’t. Instead, rather like Sunset, it is a grand, romantic paragraph and rather grandiloquent, although ultimately the music is not quite memorable.

Love Trilogy (Symphonic Impressions) is in three movements (I. ‘On the Mountain’; II. ‘On the Plain’; III. ‘At the Ball’) and spans 35 minutes. ‘On the Mountain’ has its plunging, soaring yet measured peaks but overall is evocative of the high hills in a more distant emotional way. ‘On the Plain’ is a tender movement to which the overall title is clearly related. The tenderness carries over into the final Impression (‘At the Ball’) but soon gives way to the sort of lively dance to be found in Skalkottas’ Greek Dances (Bis Lyra), though Axiotis does such moments without quite the paprika which Skalkottas brings to the dance floor. It’s very pleasing though. Remembrance from a Ball has a title redolent of Karlowicz but Axiotis is lighter on his feet and has a more transparent touch. His mood is not intense and leans towards the lighter early works of Delius. Lyrical Intermezzo is operatic and has its intense romantic moments. Like a Game is a gentle thing which shows some backbone but is not especially striking.

— Rob Barnett

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Georgios Axiotis (1875–1924) was a Greek composer. Born in Mariupol, he began his musical education in Athens before continuing studies in Naples. After graduating in 1901, he returned to Greece and played an active role in its cultural life, co-founding a journal and directing the Piraeus Conservatory. Axiotis strongly criticized the German-influenced Greek music education system, advocating instead for a style rooted in Greek folk traditions and Italian verismo. Later, he lived in Mykonos. His works were performed shortly before his death, after which many were lost but partially rediscovered decades later.

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Byron Fidetzis (born 1945 in Thessaloniki) is a Greek cellist and conductor. He studied cello and music theory in Thessaloniki before continuing his education in Vienna, where he earned diplomas in both cello performance and orchestral conducting. Fidetzis has held prominent roles with major ensembles, including the Athens State Orchestra and Greek National Opera, and has led the Athens Philharmonia Orchestra since 2016. He is also known for recordings of Greek composers with Naxos. His achievements have been recognized with major awards and an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens.

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