RESURRECTING HILLER
Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 03/17/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ferdinand Hiller [1811-1885] is an interesting, diligent, genial rather than ultimately illuminating composer, which is likely the reason time has virtually erased his efforts--- along with a good many of his Romantic Era contemporaries; however, and this is fickle fate for you, he was courted by great composers, respected and befriended. Go figure. At the tender age of fourteen, he was under the watchful tutelage of none other than Hummel--- no mean advantage--- and in 1827, seriocomically, while visiting Beethoven's deathbed, his teacher in tow, cut a lock of the dying maestro's hair to save for posterity. That's moxie! So, obviously, Hiller grew in an environment of musical symbiosis, his piano compositions reflecting a sturdy, creative, sometimes routine, sometimes keenly spirited bent, but nevertheless always worth a listen (since we have so few available to hear). Of his two hundred or so works for piano (as per Groves Dictionary), thirty-two are literally premiered in this invaluable Genesis release.
Hiller's Etudes, Op. 15 [1834] are avidly adventurous and, in many instances, quite remarkable; their thrall will not dispel the recognizable earmarks of Hummel (Op. 125), Henselt (Op. 2), Moszkowski (whose Op. 72 may have actually been influenced by Hiller) or Moscheles (Op. 70), but their seeming eclectic invention is not altogether imitative, either. Despite the warm associations of such as Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Schumann (to name a few of many), Hiller is his own man; and, as in Etudes Nos. 3 (moody and introspective), 7 (lyrically romantic), 9 (especially wistful), 12 (fruitfully fugal), 14 (deliciously "agitated") and 16 (modestly melancholy), he excels on his own compositional terms, hands down. Etudes of lesser "inspiration," though, are never without an attractive synthesis of individuality, melody and enthusiasm. Even the division of the Op. 15 into six Suites is certainly unique in its seeming arbitrariness; but that's what makes the 19th century Romantics entertaining, after all.
By employing a variant hybrid mix of an eerily reminiscent Schubert/Beethoven motif, Hiller toys with us in his Huit Mesures Variees, Op. 57. Appropriately dedicated to Alkan, the variations are colorful, moody, lyrical and demonic in turns, and serve up, alongside the Op. 15, the most memorable of the composer's pieces. The Op. 98 Variations in Db are delightful but are, unlike their precursor in Dm, more constrained and "serious."
The three sonatas [1851-1853] form a rather fantastic improvisational "triptych," underpinned by their forwardly propulsive attached movements--- sans real moments of respite--- but full of invention, churning passagework and passion. Breathless, too, is Hiller's Capriccio, Op. 88, dedicated to Clara Schumann; but don't look for Brahms here. Keep in mind the extrovert Hummel. The Impromptus, Op. 30 [1844] have more the feel of Moscheles than of Chopin and again obvious is the composer's propensity for dazzling swirl.
Pianist Adrian Ruiz exacts this music with aplomb, relishing every facet, turn and twist; but then he has always championed the forgotten Romantics well. The recording, too, is mercifully without ambience, establishing a close, realistic and detailed piano sound. Not one note is lost.
Kudos to Genesis for "raising" such Hiller rarities to light.
[Running time--- CD 1: 60:38 CD 2: 69:59]
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Track Listings (24) - Disc #1