Search - Antonio Salieri, Bela Banfalvi, Budapest Strings :: Salieri: Konzerte [Concertos]

Wonderful music indeed

FrKurt Messick | Bloomington, IN USA | 10/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is unfortunate that Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825) is known now almost exclusively for being the nemesis of Mozart in the Peter Schaffer play and subsequent film 'Amadeus'. Salieri was certainly much more than the thwarted, second-rate composer. Perhaps he was not in Mozart's league so far as composition power goes (although the best of Salieri certainly stands up as worthy in comparison with many of the major composers of his time), but he was a respected composer in his own time, and perhaps more than for his composition, he was respected as a teacher and court musician. Salieri counts among his pupils Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt and even Mozart's second son.



This disc features three different pieces by Salieri, the Concerto for violin, oboe, cello & orchestra in D-major, the Concerto for flute, oboe and orchestra in C-major, and the Symphony in D-major for chamber orchestra 'La Veneziana.'



While these are concerti and symphony, they owe much to the operatic form which was Salieri's first love. There are exchanges between the solo instruments reminiscent of operatic exchanges between singers. According to Ingeborg Allihn, 'One real showpiece in this respect is the allegretto of the C major Concerto for oboe, flue and orchestra. In the form of a question-and-answer dialogue, and with wit and taste, Salieri finds one new variation on the rondo theme after another - and these are presented first by either the solo flute or the solo oboe, then by both instruments together; in the end, even the ensemble cellos take over this duty.' Similarly, the symphony 'La Veneziana' (first performed in Venice, hence the name) is derivative of Salieri's overture to the opera buffa 'La scuola de gelosi'.



These pieces are performed by the Budapest Strings with Karoly Botvay on cello (also serving as artistic director), Bela Banfalvi on violin (also as concert leader), Lajos Lencses on oboe, and Janos Balint on flute. The Budapest Strings is one of the oldest chamber orchestras in Hungary, and has an extensive repertoire of modern and classical music, touring extensively and recording on Delta, Capriccio and LaserLight labels. It is somewhat appropriate that many members are also active teachers in the Franz Liszt High School of Music in Budapest, given that Liszt was (however briefly) one of Salieri's students in Vienna.



There is spirit to these pieces, and deserve to be heard. Salieri is perhaps one of the most underrated composers in history, in part because of the legend of his fight against Mozart, which is more fiction than fact.



This is wonderful music indeed.

"