Update: Read my interview with Peter Ruzicka about Enescu's orchestral music (in English und auf Deutsche)
Just how important is the juvenilia of any creative artist
or composer? The answer, I suppose, depends – to some extent at least – on three
factors. The composer in question; whether the work(s) in question are
substantial examples or not; does that juvenilia represent a significant moment
in the composer’s development.
In the case of George Enescu, his international significance
is beyond doubt. It is known that he thought enough of his own juvenilia to
occasionally perform some of it in later life: he conducted at least one of the
‘school’ symphonies in Bucharest and illustrated other examples of his early
writing from memory at the keyboard during his recorded interviews with the
French music critic and organist Bernard Gavoty.
The two works on this release are the first two movements
from an incomplete Violin Concerto, from 1895, and a single movement Phantasy for Piano and orchestra,
written three years later.
The Violin Concerto could almost be thought of an extended concerto ‘school torso’, a kind of hybrid equivalent between the four ‘school’ symphonies and Enescu’s single movement ‘torso’ violin sonata, written in 1911. The concerto displays obvious debts to a Viennese late Romantic soundscape. You can feel Enescu’s ambition in it: the first movement is over 19 minutes in duration, the second movement approaches 14 minutes. Within the two movements, Enescu demonstrates both his knowledge of form and a surety of touch with the orchestral accompaniment, whether in terms of instrumental colour or the use of textures to add interest along the way. The first movement is constructed from three thematic ideas, all of which possess character. The slower second movement carries an airy ambiance, above which a refined violin line floats beguilingly before finding some gravitas in the writing. The real draw of the work, though, is the writing for the solo violin part, as one would hope for from a young composer whose instrumental talents were also burgeoning in parallel. There is passion, skill and virtuosic flair in the first movement’s primary theme in particular. Of course, mention should be made of the fact that the orchestration is not Enescu’s own, but is an elaboration of the reduced score that he left. Carolin Widmann, who has experience playing Enescu’s later sonatas, proves to be a most sensitive soloist. Her playing holds the attention with its pure tone and intelligent integration alongside the orchestral accompaniment, which, in turn is sensitively and tastefully handled under Peter Ruzicka’s direction. It is to Peter Ruzicka's credit that he, after recordings of Enescu's incomplete late symphonies, he has turned his attention to these early works. That commitment goes beyond his conducting, to being the driving force in collaborating with Pascal Bentoiu and others in realising the orchestral scores. One final thought is unavoidable: with the music fading out in a slow decrescendo what, one wonders, might have constituted a third movement?
The Phantasy for Piano and orchestra demonstrates just how far Enescu matured in three years. I feel that Volker Tarnow gets it exactly right in his excellent liner notes, when he claims “it combines expressivity à la Brahms with pianistic bravura à la Liszt.” This single movement work, without a solo cadenza, is more richly conceived in terms of its orchestration and assured in its structure. The solo part is varied, with a reliance on repeated chords at the start and at times throughout, but it moves to a conversational approach with the orchestra as well as the work proceeds. Bravura moments balance out the delicate introspection, in the end though, spirited writing comes to the fore. Luiza Borac is a pianist whose experience with Enescu’s music is beyond compare. She has strayed beyond the published repertoire too and recorded the unfinished Piano Concerto in D minor, composed by George Enescu in 1897. You can hear that experience bear fruit in the present performance with her assured touch, idiomatic knowledge and sense of flair. Again, you can hear how the orchestra and conductor respond to this by delivering performances that reward with their warmth and quality.
Given the excellent recording quality, I return to where I began.
Juvenilia these works might be, but for anyone with an interest in Enescu’s
music this is a recording worthy of serious attention.
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