Search - Rodrigo, Semenoff, Ferras :: Concierto De Estio / Double Concerto

Glad to See These Obscure Works Available

Robert S. Costic | 02/20/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I actually purchased this CD not for the violinist but for the piece by Semenoff. My father has the old LP recording of this album, and as a child I remembered listening to it and really enjoying Semenoff's double concerto. I was pleasantly surprised to see this come out on CD, considering that for years I had assumed that the album had been forgotten by history. The other pieces on the CD are enjoyable as well, and the playing is of course impressive."

Ferras in his prime - playing obscure and enjoyable music

Discophage | France | 08/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Christian Ferras (1933-1982) is probably best remembered by the general classical music-oriented public through the concerto recordings he did in the mid-sixties with Karajan on DG (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, all collected on The Great Violin Concertos). But though his career came to a halt shortly after that (he was plagued by severe depression and alcoholism, and after an attempted and rather successful come back in 1982, he committed suicide shortly after, not yet 50), he did have a concert and recording life before his Karajan years. Most of this is documented, going backwards in time, on Les Introuvables de Christian Ferras (the EMI years, 1957-1964, see my review), Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Brahms: Double Concerto (a Testament reissue of more EMI recordings from 1957 and 1962) and Beethoven: Violin Sonatas; Cello Sonatas (his EMI 1958 complete set of Beethoven's Violin and Piano Sonatas with Barbizet, conveniently coupled in a budget-priced box with the Cello Sonatas by Tortelier and Heidsieck), as well as on Brahms: Violin Concerto; Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 (another Testament reissue of Decca recordings from 1954), French Violin Masterpieces (Decca recordings from 1953) and on the present disc.



It was a nice an imaginative move of Testament to pair Federico Elizalde's Concerto with Rodrigo's and Semenoff's Double Concerto. Thus we get three of the earliest Ferras recordings of Concertos, all made for Decca. In fact, Elizalde's was Ferras' very first recording, made on November 7, 1947; it is incredible to think that he was barely 14!



Federico Elizalde, also known as Fred in his more "popular" activities, was born in 1907 in Navarra, Spain into a family from the Philippines. He studied in Madrid, London and the United States, where he discovered jazz, and was highly influential in the late twenties in his capacity as a bandleader of his ensemble The Quinquaginta Ramblers, in bringing jazz to Great Britain. In the early thirties he resumed his studies of classical music (Falla was one of his teachers) and in the mid-thirties started composing "serious" music, alternating residencies between Spain, Biarritz in France, the Philippines and, after the 2nd World War (which he spent in France), Santa Monica. He was also active during the Spanish Civil War - in the armies of General Franco. He died in Manila in 1979.



With its unabashed lyricism, I find Elizalde's Concerto (written in France in 1943) the less memorable work of the three presented here. I recently reviewed the 2nd Violin Concerto of Darius Milhaud (see ASIN B000KDZ54I or B000TPZISU) and Gian Francesco Malipiero's 1st (ASIN B000N6UGP0), two sunny and lyrical works, both performed by André Gertler, and Elizalde's inhabits the same stylistic world, integral with the Milhaud-like, merry and somewhat fluffy finale. Tully Potter, the disc's annotator, hears a Bloch influence in the Concerto's slow movement - I don't. Of note is the big cadenza at the end of the first movement, the dreamy harmonics at 7:58 into the second movement - and young Ferras' incredible mastery of his instrument.



It may come as a surprise that Joaquin Rodrigo (1901-1999) composed anything other than guitar concertos (Ajanjuez, Andaluz, Gentilhombre). Written in 1944, his "Summer" Concerto is, in accordance with its title, a sunny and endearing work. Again Milhaud can give a pointer to the style of Rodrigo's composition, although the latter has a melodic invention that is not as trite as it often is, I find, with the composer from Aix-en-Provence; Prokofiev and especially Khachaturian may also come to mind: like the famous Violin Concerto of the Armenian composer, Concerto de Estio is tonal, not particularly advanced in its musical language, but very colourful and full of soaring melodies. Ferras gave the French premiere with the Orchestre National de France under Ataulfo Argenta (the recording is frequently aired on the French radio, and this is how I discovered the piece more than twenty years ago) and recorded it shortly after with his teacher and mentor George Enesco. It deserves a much better stronghold on standard repertoire than it has ever attained (there are two modern recordings, one performed by Augustin Leon Ara and the LSO conducted by Enrique Batiz, originally on EMI The Rodrigo Edition (4 CDs): Concertos & Orchestral Works Conducted by Enrique Batiz and now also collected on a cheap set by Brilliant Classics, Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Concertos; Orchestral Works [Box Set] or Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez; Concertos; Orchestral Works [Box Set], the other by Michael Guttman and José Serebrier on ASV in a nice collection with four concertos bearing the four seasons as titles: Four Seasons).



Ivan Semenoff (some internet traces also locate him as Ivan Kogan-Semenoff) was born in 1917. For a composer who left virtually no trace whatsoever in the history of 20th century music (and on the net), I find his 18' "Concerto Double" surprisingly good. It was written in 1952 for Ferras and Barbizet who gave the first performance and recorded it immediately after. It starts with an angrily pounding ostinato-like cadenza for piano reminiscent of Bartok or Martinu, then after 1:45 enters a more lyrically intense violin cadenza. Both instruments join at 3:15, each playing a derivation of their own cadenza material in an intense development sounding a bit like Bartok's Violin and Piano Sonatas (without the rhythmic complexity). At 3:58 starts a bombastic brass chorale, and a further dramatic and intense development is interrupted at 6:15 by a little sardonic march reminiscent of Stravinsky's Petrushka or Dukas Sorcerer's apprentice. OF note is also the big cadenza for violin starting at 14:39. Overall the main stylistic influence I find is Bartok (the Bartok of the 2nd Violin Concerto) with some Enescu melismatas in the middle slow section around 12:00 and some Martinu motorisms in the finale section starting at 13:05, interrupted by a campy waltz section at 13:29. And there perhaps lies the reason why Semenoff didn't leave his mark: too many styles, all enjoyable, but none personal.



Anyway, this is indispensable to anyone with an interest for the art of Christian Ferras, and those interested in some of the obscure by-ways of 20th century music might also find an appeal to it. Good transfers, more than acceptable sound despite some harshness (and some saturation on the piano in Semenoff) and as usual good and informative notes from Tully Potter.

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