Eduard Nápravník; Felix Blumenfeld - Works for Piano and Orchestra (Evgeny Soifertis)

Information

Composer: Eduard Nápravník; Felix Blumenfeld

1. Nápravník - Concerto symphonique in A minor, Op. 27
2. Nápravník - Concerto symphonique in A minor, Op. 27: II. Larghetto -
3. Nápravník - Concerto symphonique in A minor, Op. 27: III. Allegro vivace
4. Blumenfeld - Allegro de concert in A major, Op. 7
5. Nápravník - Fantaisie russe in B minor, Op. 39

Evgeny Soifertis, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Titov, conductor

Date: 2005
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67511

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Review

Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto project is, I believe, one of the most significant series of piano recordings ever undertaken. Given the company’s recent defeat in its copyright action case, I would like to be able to give Volume 37 a rave, but sadly it comes as a relative disappointment (despite Hyperion’s usual immaculate standards of production, recording and performance).

Eduard Nápravník (1839-1916) wrote his Concerto symphonique in 1877. It begins promisingly with a gesture reminiscent of the ‘Dies irae’ from Verdi’s Requiem. The snaking second subject, too, is arresting but the writing soon descends into a development of note-twirling vacuity. Unlike the artists in some previous less-than-first-rate works in this series, Soifertis and Titov lack the wherewithal to elevate the three movements into the ‘forgotten gem’ class. Similarly, the 1881 Fantaisie russe runs out of inspiration soon after the opening ‘Volga Boatmen’ though is partly redeemed by its spirited third subject and coda.

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931), remembered as the teacher of Horowitz and Barere and for his iconic Etude for the Left Hand, was more of a melodist, as manifested in the succession of sweeping Russian-Romantic themes of his Allegro de concert of 1889. This brief work (13’54”), with its heroic Lisztian figurations and heartfelt lyricism, is reason enough to buy the disc and sample all three of these world premiere recordings.

-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/July05/napravnik_soifertis_CDA67511.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/jul/08/classicalmusicandopera.shopping
http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/h/hyp67511b.php
http://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=2789
https://www.amazon.com/Concerto-Symphonique-Allegro-Concert-Blumenfeld/dp/B0009QXWZA

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Eduard Nápravník (24 August 1839 – 10 November 1916) was a Czech conductor and composer. Nápravník settled in Russia and is best known for his role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades. He conducted the premieres of many operas by Russian composers, including those by Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Of Nápravník's own four operas the most successful was Dubrovsky (1894, staged 1895) written to a Russian libretto by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky after the story by Alexander Pushkin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduard_N%C3%A1pravn%C3%ADk

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Felix Blumenfeld (19 April 1863 [O.S. 7 April] – 21 January 1931) was a Russian composer, conductor, pianist, and teacher. Blumenfeld studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Fedor Stein. From 1918 to 1922, he was the director of the Music-drama school of Mykola Lysenko in Kiev, where Vladimir Horowitz was a pupil in his masterclasses. Other famous pupils include Simon Barere and Maria Yudina. His compositions showed the influence of Chopin and Tchaikovsky. Blumenfeld's virtuoso pieces for piano are enjoying a renaissance in recent years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Blumenfeld

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Evgeny Soifertis was born in Kiev, where at the age of thirteen he won first prize in the Beethoven Competition. He later continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory before moving to Holland. More recently he has made his home in London. In Europe he has given concerts in Italy, at the Flanders Festival and at many venues in the Netherlands, including the Concertgebouw. In the United Kingdom he has performed at Wigmore Hall and taken part in prestigious festivals all over the country. Soifertis has made numerous television appearances and recordings, which have been enthusiastically received.
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/a.asp?a=A555

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