Hermann Goetz - Piano Concertos (Davide Cabassi)

Information

Composer: Hermann Goetz

1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major: I. Andante - Allegro
2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major: II. Adagio
3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major: III. Tempo I
4. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 18: I. Mäßig bewegt
5. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 18: II. Mäßig langsam
6. Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 18: III. Langsam - Belebter
7. Spring Overture, Op. 15

Davide Cabassi, piano
Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Kimbo Ishii, conductor

Date: 2016
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573327

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Review

Hermann Goetz (1840 76) enjoyed a tragically brief, Mozartian lifespan. Though his music was quickly forgotten after his death, it also attracted high praise in some quarters, none more extravagant (bafflingly so, as Naxos’s booklet reminds us) than from George Bernard Shaw, who put Goetz above Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann and, in some respects, Mozart and Brahms!

These two piano concertos and the pleasant if slight Spring Overture hardly back up such a claim but are clearly the work of a diligent and gifted German-trained musician of the mid-19th century. The E flat First Piano Concerto is a student work from 1861, never published during Goetz’s lifetime, and cast as a three-in-one single-movement work. In Davide Cabassi’s hands it lasts 19'41". There is plenty to keep him busy: a lightly scored, immediately attractive piece indebted to Schumann and Mendelssohn (though definitely not by them).

The B flat Second Piano Concerto from six years later is altogether more distinguished. I was unduly harsh about it when reviewing Michael Ponti’s recording of it, included in the wonderful Brilliant Classics box set of Romantic Concertos (8/16). It is not in the same class as the best of those from this period (1860s and ’70s) but has many attractive and individual ideas which, I have to admit, grow on you.

The Italian soloist, Magdeburg players and Taiwanese-born conductor give both works full-bodied, characterful readings in a sound picture I marginally prefer to the only other recording of the two concertos, with Volker Barnfield the impressive soloist on the CPO label. The new Naxos disc, moreover, has the bonus of the Spring Overture. Ponti’s B flat Concerto remains the most compelling but is let down by inferior sound and piano tone; Hamish Milne’s is the most carefully observed and beautiful to hear (it’s coupled with Józef Wieniawski’s Piano Concerto – Hyperion, 1/11).

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2016/Oct/Goetz_PCs_8573327.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.573327&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goetz-Concertos-Magdeburg-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B01IC1VUY8

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Hermann Goetz (December 7, 1840 – December 3, 1876) was a German composer. Goetz only spent the last three years of his life composing, after being a critic, pianist and conductor as well. Although Goetz showed active interest in the important artistic trends of his own time (on the one hand Liszt and Wagner, on the other Brahms), his own compositional style was more influenced by Mozart and Mendelssohn, and to a lesser degree by Schumann. For a long time, Goetz was almost forgotten, although Gustav Mahler performed a number of his works; only since the 1990s have his works been regarded once more as of importance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Goetz

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Davide Cabassi (born 25 July, 1976 in Milan) is an Italian pianist. He studied at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan in the class of Edda Ponti, graduating with honors in 1995. During his studying years Cabassi established himself in numerous national and international piano competitions. Cabassi is the top-prize winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2005. Cabassi's repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music, including mainstream works as well as several unusual rarities. In addition to concert activity and record, Cabassi also teaches piano at the Conservatorio di Piacenza.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davide_Cabassi
http://www.davidecabassi.com/

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