Search - Busoni, Zolinsky, Potts :: Eye of the Storm

A nice curiosity, including some worthwhile music

G.D. | Norway | 03/15/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a curious but rather interesting programme, featuring composers that belonged to the circle of Busoni when the latter composer was staying in Switzerland during World War I (hence the title). Marek, Jarnach and Schoeck are all represented by miniatures - mostly inconsequential ones (the exception being the small, almost weird dance excerpt from Schoeck's opera Das Wandbild). Among the more ambitious works, Busoni's reworking of Liszt's first Mephisto Waltz is probably the only piece which could conceivably be familiar to the listener, and it receives a more than adequate performance by Andrew Zolinsky (but somewhat undermined by the slightly tinny sound of the piano - a consequence of the recording rather than the piano, one surmises). Hans Jelmoli is represented by a set of variations on a theme by Rameau for violin and piano, a work clearly inspired by Busoni's Bach arrangement but in the end not of the same quality.



The other two major works are more interesting, however. Marcel Sulzberger's (1876-1941) violin sonata is a remarkably forward-looking piece mixing influences from Debussy and Fauré with a musical language that is surprisingly reminiscent of the second Viennese school. It might not be a masterpiece, but it is an interesting work well worth a listen. Even more remarkable, in my eyes, is Emil Frey's Fantasy on O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden for piano (after Bach). It is, perhaps, the most conservative work on the disc, showing clear influences by Liszt, but it is a most remarkable work, hauntingly memorable and profound. Performances are, on the whole, good. Sound quality is decent but a little boxy at times. But for the adventuresome this is an interesting collection."