August Enna - Violin Concerto; etc. (Kathrin Rabus; Hermann Bäumer)

Information

Composer: August Enna

• (01) Overture "Cleopatra"
• (02) Violin Concerto in D major
• (05) Symphonic Fantasy

Kathrin Rabus, violin
NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Hermann Bäumer, conductor

Date: 2014
Label: cpo

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Review

CPO celebrate the orchestral music of a Danish composer who straddled the last century and its predecessor. We have two works from Enna's virile thirties and one from his last decade. They are fruitily recorded in splendidly big sound in a very rewarding acoustic.

The overture is lifted from an opera based on H Rider Haggard's typically exotic novel of the same name. Baumer - whose excellent Foerster symphony cycle on MDG I welcomed in 2008-9 - defies time-serving routine and imbues the score with smoking intensity. The stabbingly passionate strings about two minutes in and the swelling and receding 'waves' at 6:35 illustrate the work of a conductor who is determined that this will not be a token revival. While the NDR Radiophilharmonie's violins could be sweeter toned the music shivers pleasurably. By the way the libretto was written by Einar Christiansen - the same writer who did a similar service for Nielsen's opera Saul and David. If you develop a taste for Enna operas then look out for Heisse Liebe and The Little Match Girl also on CPO.

The brave and accomplished Kathrin Rabus reminds us what an agreeably flowing work is Enna's three movement Violin Concerto. Some of you will know it from the Danacord recording by Kai Laursen. Like the overture this has a low-key Tchaikovskian flavour with some added showiness that veers between Brahms and Mendelssohn. There is a splash or three of Paganini especially in the first movement. It makes a nice companion to sit neatly next to the slightly better exposed Karlowicz and de Boeck concertos.

Then wind forward some thirty years to the Symphonic Fantasy which is his last orchestral work. This half hour piece is in three movements. It's lush and swooning proclivities find an echo in the music of Granville Bantock. It has similarly luxurious and at times delicate tendencies to those observed in Fifine at the Fair and Pierrot of the Minute. The finale feels ungainly with its stops and starts but is never less than cheery; no boiling passions here.

Jens Cornelius's note, in German, English and Danish, is lucid and hits the right notes. It does not fall victim to the CPO liner-note disease of excessive technicality and effete musicological philosophising.

If this disc appeals and you would like to add to your Enna library then go for CPO's recording of the Second Symphony.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2014/Sep14/Enna_VC_7776742.htm
https://www.audaud.com/august-enna-overture-cleopatra-violin-con-in-d-major-symphonic-fantasy-kathrin-rabus-violinndr-radiophilharmoniehermann-baumer-cpo/
https://www.amazon.com/Enna-Concerto-Overture-Cleopatra-Symphonic/dp/B00L6GDHKM

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August Enna (13 May 1859 – 3 August 1939) was a Danish composer, known mainly for his operas. Enna grew up in extremely unsettled circumstances, and only began to receive proper instruction in music when he turned seventeen. His career got under way when he attracted the attention of Niels Gade, at that time the leading figure in Danish music. His first major success was opera The Witch (1892), which was followed by several popular operas, songs, two symphonies, and a violin concerto. Strongly influenced by Wagner's music, he was himself an influence on Danish composers, such as Carl Nielsen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Enna

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Kathrin Rabus studied in Basel with Sandor Zöldy, in Tel Aviv with Pjotr ​​Bondarenko and in New York with famous violin teacher Dorothy DeLay. She also attended masterclasses with Nathan Milstein, Henryk Szeryng and Gidon Kremer. Since 1988 Rabus has been Concertmaster of the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the first woman to hold this position in a German radio symphony orchestra. She is a welcome guest at international festivals and has recorded a number of CDs. Her chamber music partners include musician such as Gidon Kremer. She is also member of the Kandinsky String Trio and the Arte Ensembles.
https://www.ndr.de/orchester_chor/radiophilharmonie/Kathrin-Rabus,kathrinrabus101.html

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Hermann Bäumer (born 28 January 1965 in Bielefeld) is a German conductor. He studied at the University of Music in Detmold, then served with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, as both an orchestral player and at the podium. Since 2004, Bäumer has been General Music Director of the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra and has guest-conducted in Germany and abroad. He has recorded for labels such as cpo and BIS. From 2011/2012 season onwards, Bäumer has been the General Music Director of the State Theatre in Mainz.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_B%C3%A4umer
http://www.hermannbaeumer.com

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