Ernő Dohnányi - The Veil of Pierrette (Ariane Matiakh)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi

• The Veil of Pierrette, Op. 18

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra

Ariane Matiakh, conductor

Date: 2020

Label: Capriccio

http://capriccio.at/dohnanyi-der-schleier-der-pierrette-the-veil-of-pierrette-op-18

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Review

What was it with the fin de siècle and sinister pierrots? Schoenberg had his moonstruck clown, Stravinsky his Petrushka; and I was also reminded, reading the synopsis of Dohnányi’s 1909 pantomime Der Schleier der Pierrette (‘The Veil of Pierrette’) of Ethel Smyth’s recently recorded Fête galante (Retrospect Opera, 2/20). Dohnányi’s scenario was written by Arthur Schnitzler, no less, and it’s suitably moody and macabre. Pierrette loves Pierrot but is promised, unwillingly, to Arlecchino. The two lovers devise a suicide pact, supernatural elements come into play and … well, let’s just say that Freud would have had a field day.

Dohnányi – always the most Austrian of Hungarian nationalist composers – sets it as an expansive three-act ballet for large orchestra in rich late-Romantic style, complete with Viennese waltzes. Act 2’s sumptuous Wedding Waltz was once a popular lollipop and has been recorded on numerous occasions (George Weldon comes to mind; there’s also a fine version with Bamert and the BBC Philharmonic). But this is the first recording of the whole score, and the overwhelming mood is of lush, twilit angst lightened by occasional flashes of comedy. Act 1’s miniature funeral march is like Mahler plus paprika; there’s a wonderfully doom-laden atmosphere overall, with a suitably tragic peroration.

Ariane Matiakh conducts a broad, no-nonsense account; she’s particularly impressive in the score’s more sepulchral passages (Capriccio’s recorded sound is weighted towards the bass and tends to blur edges). She builds the dramatic climaxes with considerable power. A lighter touch might have brought out more of the score’s humour; the string sound could be creamier, though the Viennese wind players are woody and characterful in Dohnányi’s flamboyant solos. But I’m not complaining: this is an important and enjoyable addition to the discography of a still-underrated composer.

-- Richard Bratby, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.classicstoday.com/review/dohnanyis-disappointingly-dismal-veil-of-pierrette/

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2020/Apr/Dohnanyi_veil_C5388.htm

https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2020/04/dohnanyi.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Veil-Pierrette-k-Schleier/dp/B081WRC16G

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Ernő Dohnányi (July 27, 1877 – February 9, 1960) was a Hungarian conductor, composer and pianist. He was director of the Budapest Academy of Music from 1934 to 1943. Dohnányi's compositional style was personal, but very conservative; his music largely subscribes to the Neoromantic idiom. Although he used elements of Hungarian folk music, Dohnányi is not considered a nationalist composer. As a conductor, he was among the first to conduct Bartók's more accessible music and make it more popular. As a teacher, his pupils included Géza Anda, Annie Fischer, Georg Solti and Georges Cziffra.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernő Dohnányi

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Ariane Matiakh (born 1980) is a French conductor. She sang in the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Ádám Fischer, and studied conducting at the Musik Hochschule in Vienna. In September 2018, the Staatskapelle Halle announced the appointment of Matiakh as its new Generalmusikdirektorin; this appointment marked her first music directorship. She has recorded commercially with the Staatskapelle Halle for Berlin Classics, before resigning in January 2020. In contemporary music, Matiakh has conducted works by Richard Dubugnon, Bechara El-Khoury and Éric Tanguy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_Matiakh

https://arianematiakh.com/

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