Album recommendation
Revival. The recording of Hans Koessler ‘s and Emanuel Moór’s works sounds from my laptop, I look out and see lights through the window, Budapest by night. It is the revival of the past, of the near and the far.
The best thing with these authors is that they have not become elementarily grand in me, in us; they have not been taught thousands of times, have not been constantly referred to, have not become referential points and fewer lives were devoted to their study. And maybe they are not so specially and unspeakably grand after all. But the sensual and passing life and age are to be seen in these pieces. Like in the case of a genuinely fine wine, one can taste and take a bite out of their evoked universe. The one that recurs, over and over again.
Revival. Not the final, extraordinary, underlying, unspeakable things revive. Rather the ones that could be seen, felt, tasted or perceived with the organs of sense. Very much so. Maybe because they have not become ethos in our culture - they are miracles called little
craftsmen and perhaps they are really not grand. But I do not care. Like in the spring, in the middle of the racing fragrances carried around by the wind, I only care for the charm of the moment. But that, very much so.
Probably the most trivial and thus the most obvious point of contrast is the two composers’ relation to Hungary: the former arrived here from Germany while Moór departed from here - also the directions in the interpretation of life. Their creative spirit was incredibly varied
and multifold. Here is a man from Kecskemét, who from 1963, starts to study in Szeged, he plays the organ, he conducts, composes and in the meantime he is seriously occupied with architecture and painting. He then leaves Kecskemét, Szeged, Budapest and Hungary behind for concert tours and travels the world. He meets the leading musicians of the world, and
become friends with Pablo Casals who supports the gifted composer and who presents Moór as an important composer and a particularly passionate man in his recollections (Corredor: Beszélgetések Pablo Casalsszal). These great musicians often visited him in Hungary too. Koessler, on the other hand, was legendary rather as a teacher of great Hungarian composers. Few pedagogists have the honour of knowing the great icons of Hungarian and international composition, as Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi, Weiner or Kálmán. He started to teach in the organ and choirmaster majors, then he was given the department of compositional studies as well. He became one of the most significant professors , who later taught the master class of compositional studies. I can only imagine the devoted respect that surrounded them in their days of glory. I imagine Koessler teaching and Moór conducting or simply talking to the prominent characters of European cultural life and wonder, are they little craftsmen or is it our culture which makes them such?
Directions and orientations. We have got accustomed to Péter Szabó recording missing, revelation-like pieces and these ones on the CD belong to them. We owe these composers to listen to and get to like their works. Just that, not more. I am listening to the music, the forms fit closely and the arches are waving smoothly. This musical universe is passionate and elegant without any doubt or uncertainty. They present confidence in the world, it is a true enjoyment to listen to them. They seem light sometimes but never easy. The structures
displaying confidence can be played well. This can also be felt on the performers, the meanings are clear, the interpretation is orderly. Péter Szabó and Zsuzsa Kollár are well adjusted to each other, the musical forms breathe together and the acoustics display more than two instruments, it displays something new and different. We can grasp the essence of the chamber music’s acoustics: the dynamical and articulation basis provides new horizons for the instrument, it is only in the beginning that the we hear two instruments, the result is a different sound which is valid only in a chamber environment.
Lofty elegance. In the instrumental apparatus of the last piece on the album one can immediately feel the all-embracing consideration for chamber music. The ethereal movement of the piano’s part in the blossoming musical surfaces and the perfectly formed arch guarantee that the aforementioned basic theme will continue here –and so it proves. The intensity of sound of the musical space being created almost bursts the framework open. The dynamics and the emotional saturation often overflow and it becomes so overwhelming the performers can barely control it and themselves. The sound, the rhythm and the forms hold the music together. The dynamics and the expression are fleet, the characteristics of the sound and the elegance of formation works together.
It must be nice to play these pieces, I would be enjoying every minute of it. This world becomes revived and attractive. The interpretation sometimes lures, sometimes carries us away. It becomes integral.
Revival. The Hungaroton album marked HCD32331 with the “first recording” label on it still sounds from my laptop and I see lights in the windows.
Koessler, Hans (1853-1926)
Moór, Emanuel (1863-1931)
Trio-Suite for Violin, Viola and Piano (1922)
Quintet in F-Major for two Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano (1913)
Sonata No.2. for Cello and Piano Op. 55
KOESSLER Hans
Trio-Suite for Violin, Viola and Piano (1922) 25’11”
1 I. Adagio.Allegro 10’19”
2 II. Romanze 4’06”
3 III.Gavotte 3’58”
4 IV.Finale 6’41”
MOÓR Emanuel
Sonata No.2. for Cello and Piano Op. 55 22’46”
5 I. Allegro moderato 7’28”
6 II. Scherzo 3’50”
7 III.Adagio 6’20”
8 IV.Finale 4’58”
KOESSLER Hans
Quintet in F-Major for two Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano (1913) 27’26”
9 I. Allegro moderato
10 II.Menuett 4’22”
11 III. Adagio non troppo 8’03”
Domonkos
Source: www.hzo.hu
Translation by Susan Kapás
Hangszer és Zene
March 2006
