Search - Jan Ladislav Dussek, Concerto Köln, Andreas Staier :: Dussek: Klavierkonzerte [Piano Concertos]

Little heard works from an underappreciated composer

Jonathan J. Casey | the twin cities | 12/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you were lucky enough to find this review, I'd recommend buying this CD right off the bat. Dussek was a true piano virtuoso, and this is a rare and interesting recording. The soloist is Andreas Staier -- one of my favorite keyboard performers -- playing with the vivacious Concerto Koln. The instrument is an 1806 Broadwood. This recording contains two piano concertos and a "tableau," described below. Dussek's piano concertos are (not surprisingly) best understood in comparison to those of Beethoven and Mozart. The B-flat concerto was written in 1793, two years after the death of Mozart, while the impressive G minor concerto is a product of 1801, after Beethoven's first two concertos but before his third (the appealing C minor piano concerto). The B-flat concerto is a fascinating document if for no other reason than the time period from which it emerged. Outside of England, where Haydn, Clementi and Dussek were active, the decade 1790-1800 didn't see too many great works produced (due to the turmoil plaguing Europe at the time) but marks a significant shift between the Classical style and the Romantic. Dussek's concertos were not as revolutionary as his sonatas and other piano works, but these pieces are satisfying in and of themselves. Afficionados of the Classical and Early Romantic piano concerto should definitely investigate. The G minor concerto leads off with a fairly sunny orchestral introduction, interrupted by a stormy piano entrance close to the three minute mark. "Pastoral" might be a fair description of this work, which lends itself to the sort of nature metaphors popular at the time. The second movement feels like a lazy Spring picnic, or an afternoon reclining in a rowboat, with only a brief disruption around five minutes in. The Rondo finale is spritely but ever-shifting: bustling one moment, thoughtful the next. The B-flat concerto is more energetic throughout, from the busy Classical-style writing in the strings to the meandering fingerwork of the soloist. Pizzicato interludes and dance-like elements spruce things up, but overall this is a surprisingly standard work. It resembles Mozart's early Viennese concertos, by this time a decade old. It is clear that Dussek was much less comfortable with orchestral writing than he was with solo piano works (the majority of his compositional output was for piano, though he did write one opera, a mass, and a cantata). He is perhaps better known as a performer than a composer, but his piano sonatas were truly groundbreaking. This concerto is functional and pleasing, certainly, though it will not give the listener a complete picture of Dussek's importance. I highly recommend Staier's recordings of Dussek's sonatas on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (both out of print). Seek those out first, if you can. An odd little creature rounds out the disc. The "Tableau Marie Antoinette" is off-putting in its presentation, to say the least: a solo piano piece which "describes" the last days of the ill-fated queen through dramatic piano gestures and introductory titles read in French. The expository element makes this piece both a fascinating oddity and a near-laughable melodrama. English translations are not provided, but the text is brief (and not too difficult to follow even with my rudimentary understanding of the language). Well regarded by Haydn, Dussek is worth exploring. I'd also recommend John Khouri and Janine Johnson's recording of Dussek's piano duos. They were originally written for piano and harp but work very well in the two piano versions."

Obscured Classics - The Forgotten Art of the Pianoforte

Ladislav | 11/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When classics that seem to reflect less intimations of their age garner a timeless reputation and place with music lovers through the ages, the real barnstormers of music that usher in new horizons on the brink of new styles seem to be consigned to oblivion with the passing of time.



Such can hardly be an overstatement with regards to Dussek's monumental oeuvre for piano and orchestra, the Concerto in G minor, Opus 49.



Only four years junior to Mozart and ten years Beethoven's senior, this master of the pianoforte seemed to have struck at his own chords in his own language, away from the refined Rococo Classicism that pervade Viennese music around the end of the 18th century.



Yet perhaps it was little more than coincidence or out of respect that the introduction to Dussek's Concerto in G minor should sound strikingly familiar to Mozart's Concerto in C minor, with its mysterious question and answer style. Pianistically it expands the technique already set in place by Mozart and C.P.E. Bach to portend the innovations by a composer that has since acquired more fame than Dussek himself - J. N. Hummel.



While structurally the G minor concerto might have been less cohesive than Beethoven's, the drama inspired is notwithstanding. Perhaps Dussek would have much more in common with his contemporary Hummel in terms of orchestration, when one compares the former's Concerto in G minor to the latter's B minor - the passionate outbursts with interpolating themes of gentle longing and unabashed romanticism perhaps join them in unison with regards to their influence on the Early Romantics, more than Beethoven himself could have ever imagined.



In contrast, the B flat major Concerto is much more conventional, bearing striking similarities with Beethoven's own concerto of the same key that is somewhat contemporaneous. Having said, Dussek's masterpiece begins unconventionally in the minor mode, an innovation that somewhat misleads the listener.



The Marie Antoinette Tableau is notable for its tone painting prior to the Early Romantics, and is a commendable effort at programmatic music. There is even a section that offers a quasi-quotation from Mozart's Non piu andrai, casting the ill-fated Queen in a somewhat heroic light that has been defended by historians of recent.



This disc is a definitive collection for connoisseurs of Classical period pianoforte music as well as similar enthusiasts of piano music contemporaneous to Mozart and Beethoven, no less in the light of masters such as Hummel and Dussek.

"

Virtuoso Fortepiano Concertos from the Time of Beethoven's Y

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 09/20/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760 - 1812): Piano Concertos in G minor, Op. 49, and in B flat major, Op. 22; Tableau "Marie Antoinette", Op. 23. Performed by: Andreas Staier, Broadwood fortepiano 1806; Jean-Michel Forest, voice; Concerto Köln. Recorded in the Broadcasting Room of the German National Radio (Deutschlandfunk) in Cologne, Germany, from 24th to 28th November 1992. A co-production of Deutschlandfunk and Capriccio. Released in 1995 as Capriccio 10 444. Total playing time: 66'35".



Dussek appears to be one of those forgotten "giants" of a byegone age. Born in Bohemia in 1760, he spent most of his life "on the road", travelling throughout Europe giving virtuoso performances on the newly-popular fortepiano, publishing his own compositions and generally making a name for himself which was, in his day, second to (almost) none. Of particular interest is his relationship to the fortepiano manufacturer Broadwood, whom he managed to convince to extend the range of the English-style fortepiano first to five-and-a-half, then to six octaves. The fortepiano used on this recording is an English Broadwood with five-and-a-half octaves from the collection of French specialist Jérome Hantai, made in 1806 and corresponding to Dussek's own specifications.



The front cover of the booklet advertises the CD as "Piano Concertos of the Beethoven Area" [sic!], of course Capriccio meant to write "Era". This subtitle is true, as long as one is aware that Dussek, travel as he might, never seems to have played in Vienna (Hamburg, Paris, London, Berlin and Prague seem to have been his most important points of call). Dussek is still an 18th century composer, and unlike Beethoven he does not seem to have developed his music beyond the limits of what is generally termed "classical". However, the piano concertos played here, although not quite as inspired as Beethoven's, show him to have been a past master of piano technique, a showy virtuoso (he is said to be the first performer who placed the piano sideways on the stage so that the audience could see his hands while playing) who made use of the whole range of the extended keyboard to produce music which is attractive, impressive and very difficult to play. The orchestral accompaniment, again not quite as brilliant as the ones by Beethoven, is equally well-constructed, with the piano weaving filigree patterns between tutti outbreaks. The orchestra is a large one, consisting here of six each of first and second violins, four violas, three cellos, two double basses, two each of flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, horn and trumpet and a set of timpani.



Andreas Staier is probably the ideal interpreter of this music, being both a fortepiano virtuoso and an expert on the music of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Both he and Concerto Köln fulfil every requirement for this music, and the Deutschland-Funk engineers have captured everything clearly, so that I doubt if there will so soon be a rival to this recording. If I give it four stars, instead of five, it is merely to indicate that I still think Beethoven is the greater genius.



The CD comes with a booklet in three languages with essays on Dussek's life, on the music played here, and on the instrument concerned. Andreas Staier adds a note explaining why he has added an introduction to the third movement of Dussek's Op. 22 which, strangely enough, remains entirely in one key, which Staier finds too much of a good thing. Unfortunately, the English translation of the notes is full both of mistranslations and grammar mistakes; if possible, I recommend reading them in the German original."