Karl Goldmark - Symphonic Poems Vol. 1 (Fabrice Bollon)

Information

Composer: Karl Goldmark

1. Sakuntala, Op. 13
2. Scherzo in E minor, Op. 19
3. Penthesilea, Op. 31
4. Sappho, Op. 44
5. Scherzo in A major, Op. 45

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra
Fabrice Bollon, conductor

Date: 2018
Label: cpo
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/karl-goldmark-symphonische-dichtungen/hnum/7971773

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Review

Karl Goldmark seems to be having a bit of a moment right now, and so too – to judge from this disc of Goldmark’s orchestral music, so soon on the heels of his Gramophone Award-nominated account of Goldmark’s opera Die Königin von Saba – does Fabrice Bollon. It’s rare enough to encounter a second-rank 19th-century Austro-German composer who doesn’t on some level resemble watered-down Mendelssohn, Schumann or Liszt. But Goldmark is the real thing, and so are Bollon’s performances.

There are parallels to be drawn, for sure – notably with Liszt’s conception of instrumental storytelling – but the musical language here has a personality that’s strong enough to assert itself, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Start with the final track here, the Scherzo, Op 45 – possibly, suggest the comprehensive booklet notes, a movement from an abandoned symphony. Bollon and his players sweep it forwards with swashbuckling verve: crisp, chattering woodwinds, glowing horns and string-playing of considerable warmth and Schwung.

That same enthusiasm, understanding and collective virtuosity brings the three large-scale overtures vividly to life. Bollon and his players audibly enjoy the languorous love-scene in Penthesilea, the sinuous woodwind melodies of Sakuntala and the headlong denouement of Sappho. If other hands might perhaps have let these large-scale, multi-sectioned works sag, Bollon keeps them as taut as a bowstring. The two scherzos make delicious encores (and would be perfect material for a ‘guess the composer’ quiz).

These are really enjoyable, committed readings of some genuinely attractive and imaginative music; and, encouragingly, the disc is labelled Vol 1 – encouragingly because CPO have captured them in warm, lifelike sound. Go on, try it – you’ll like it.

-- Richard Bratby, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Dec/Goldmark_poems_v1_5551602.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Feb/Goldmark_poems_v1_5551602.htm
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goldmark-Symphonic-Bamberger-Symphoniker-555160-2/dp/B07GW4GYKH

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Karl Goldmark (May 18, 1830 – January 2, 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer. Came from a large Jewish family, he briefly studied at the musical academy of Sopron, Vienna Technische Hochschule and then to the Vienna Conservatory, but was largely self-taught as a composer. Among Goldmark's best known works are the Rustic Wedding Symphony Op. 26, the opera Die Königin von Saba Op. 27, and the Violin Concerto No. 1 Op. 28. Goldmark's chamber music, influenced by Schumann's and Mendelssohn's, although critically well received in his lifetime, is now rarely heard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Goldmark

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Fabrice Bollon (born Paris, 1965) is a French conductor. He studied with Michael Gielen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Paris and at Salzburg’s Mozarteum, before completing his studies with Georges Prêtre and Mauricio Kagel. Bollon worked as musical assistant at Salzburg Festival until 1998, then as chief conductor of the Flanders’ Symphony Orchestra (1996-2000). Since 2009 he has been General Music Diretor/Chief conductor at Germany’s Theater Freiburg, and there the orchestra and the opera division have made an enormous step under his guidance. Fabrice Bollon is also an acclaimed composer.
http://www.fabricebollon.com/fabricebollon/Start.html

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