Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a European artist Johann Nepomuk Hummel, born in Pressburg (now Bratislava, capital of Slovakia) on 14 November 1778, was one of the most famous and respected composers and pianists of his day, but later fell into an unjustified obscurity out of which he is only now gradually re-emerging. He was born into a family of musicians, his father Johannes the first conductor of the Pressburg Theatre, then music director of the new military school in Senec, and later musical director at the Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna – capital of the then Austro-Hungarian Empire. He made rapid progress, particularly at the keyboard, and with a reputation as a child prodigy soon attracted the attention of none other than Mozart. Impressed by the young Hummel’s gifts, Mozart offered to take the boy into his own home to provide him with teaching and advice. The period that followed, from 1786 to 1788, also saw the creation of one of Mozart’s most famous operas, Le nozze di Figaro. For a long time, Mozart was a continuing influence on Hummel’s music, especially on his early piano concertos. Hummel often played his teacher’s works, even transcribing some of the symphonies and concertos for chamber ensembles, and for a number of these he provided cadenzas which are occasionally still played today. Just like Mozart 20 years earlier, Hummel then embarked on a period of touring and travelling, criss-crossing Europe from Germany to the Netherlands, and from Denmark to England and Scotland. After five years of these travels, he returned to Vienna in 1793 for a second spell of apprenticeship, when his teachers were the most prominent musicians in the Habsburg imperial capital. Mozart had been dead for over a year by then, and the 15-year-old Hummel now began to study with Georg Albrechtsberger, Antonio Salieri and, of course, Joseph Haydn (1732–1809). It was thanks to Haydn that Hummel was able to embark on the next stage in his musical life. At that time, the older composer was the most famous and admired musician in Europe, but he was still nominally Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family – who maintained grand musical establishments at their two palaces in Eisenstadt and Esterháza (now Ferto˝d, Hungary), both located within 40 miles of Pressburg. As his own strength was declining, Haydn supported the candidacy of his pupil Hummel for the post of concertmaster in the service of Prince Nikolaus. Hummel held this prestigious post for seven years (from 1804 to 1811), marked by intense activity. His output included sacred music (five grand Masses for the princely family, following on chronologically from Haydn’s six last grand Masses, and a series of shorter works such as the Te Deum in 1806), cantatas, operas and piano music. 2
It seems, however, that Hummel’s frequent visits to Vienna might ultimately have aggravated his employer, and his contract was ended in 1811. The composer then made his home in the Habsburg capital where he pursued a freelance career, dividing his time between composing, teaching and giving concerts in which audiences were dazzled by the incredible virtuosity of his playing. The famous Congress of Vienna in 1815 provided him with the opportunity of appearing as both conductor and pianist in front of the cream of the diplomatic world. Between the negotiations that ultimately led to the map of Europe being re-drawn for the postNapoleonic era, the diplomats were busy attending balls and concerts. This was also the period when Hummel was in regular contact with Beethoven, with whom he had a rather complicated relationship of friendship and rivalry. Supporters of the two composers constantly pitted them against each other, but there were many differences between the two men: without entering into the eternal debate of ‘talent versus genius’, the fact is there was little in common between the sophisticated virtuoso at home society salons and the Promethean titan with his powerful playing style, flashes of brilliance and prickly character. Possibly tiring a little of this lifestyle, Hummel took up the post of Kapellmeister to the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart (1816–1819), where he seems to have been happier, before being offered the equivalent post in Weimar by the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. He remained there from 1819 until his death in 1837, but was able to make numerous triumphant tours of Europe as a virtuoso pianist, these absences from the Grand-Ducal court (three months in every year) having actually been stipulated in his contract. He thus had the opportunity to appear in St Petersburg and Warsaw (where he had a lasting influence on Chopin), and above all in London and Paris, the most important European musical centres in the 1830s. In Weimar he became friendly with his celebrated contemporary Goethe, gave (expensive) lessons to a whole young generation of pianists, continued to write in all musical genres (with the exception of the symphony, which he never attempted, and religious music, which he never returned to) and was one of the first figures to engage actively in protecting artists and musicians’ copyright. Although in his later years new pianists, such as Liszt, had begun to eclipse him in popularity, his death prompted numerous tributes. He was married to the singer Elisabeth Stöckel and was survived by his two sons – one of whom, Karl, became a noted painter. © Didier Talpain Translation: Kenneth Chalmers
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Hummel’s music for piano and orchestra Examining Hummel’s artistic development through his work for piano and orchestra is fascinating, both because he wrote such pieces throughout his career and because he composed them for his own use as a virtuoso concert pianist. This body of work comprises ten concertos (two youthful works in A major without opus numbers, the Concertino Op.73, the Double Concerto for Piano and Violin Op.17, and six ‘great’ concertos: in C major Op.34, A minor Op.85, B minor Op.89, E major Op.110, A flat major Op.113 and F major Op.posth.1. In addition to this are four Rondos (Opp. 56, 98, 117 and 127), a Fantasy Op.116 on motifs from Weber’s Oberon, and three sets of Variations (Opp. 6, 97 and 115). Piano Concertino in G Op.73 Orchestration: flute, 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings Hummel’s early compositions display a Mozartian aesthetic, hardly surprising for a young composer in the early 19th century. The Piano Concertino Op.73 shows the influence of the older composer in its form, orchestration and motifs. Published by Steiner in 1816, it is actually an adaptation made by the composer himself of his earlier Mandolin Concerto from 1799, significantly altered to accommodate the rich possibilities presented by the piano. The airy grace, youthful élan and dotted rhythms of the opening Allegro moderato recall Mozart’s concertos in G major K453 and C major K503, while the theme – leading to variations – of the Andante grazioso recalls the slow movements of Haydn’s ‘London’ symphonies. The Rondo finale seems to allude to the last movement of Mozart’s final piano concerto (K595 in B flat major); an inspired homage by the pupil to his master? Piano Concerto in A minor Op.85 Orchestration: flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings The Piano Concerto in A minor Op.85, Hummel’s best-known work in this genre, takes the listener to an entirely different musical world from the Concertino, and is his first concerto to employ a full orchestra. Published by Steiner around 1821, it was probably written in about 1816, and is pervaded by a powerful sense of Romanticism, prefiguring the two piano concertos by Chopin. And even if the Polish maestro went further in the process of transforming pure virtuosity into exquisite poetry, how could the Larghetto (in which Hummel asks the soloist to play cantabile e con gran espressione) not qualify as Chopinesque? Mark Kroll, one of the leading experts on Hummel, has pointed out that there are a great many similarities between the openings of Hummel’s work and Chopin’s E minor Concerto Op.11 (Johann Nepomuk Hummel: A Musician’s Life and World, 4
Scarecrow Press, 2007). Furthermore, the Chopinesque method of elaborating thematic material by inserting ornamentation is integral to Hummel’s Op.85. We know that Chopin was acquainted with Hummel’s concerto before the composers’ first meeting, which took place in Warsaw in 1828 (where Hummel, then on tour, would have had opportunities to perform the work in public). The two musicians met again with equal pleasure in Vienna in 1830–31, Hummel gladly accepting the role of mentor to his junior of 32 years. They established a deep friendship, and Chopin made Hummel’s music one of the cornerstones of his own work at the piano – alongside fugues by Bach, and Clementi’s Gradus ad Parnassum. Through the testimony of students and contemporaries it emerges that he loved, frequently played and gave to his students for reworking the Fantasy Op.18, the Septet Op.74 and the Concertos Opp. 85 and 89. Due to its success across Europe, the work was republished in many editions throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Introduction & Rondo brillant in F minor Op.127 ‘Le retour de Londres’ Orchestration: flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings The Rondo brillant Op.127, subtitled ‘Le retour de Londres’ (or sometimes ‘Le retour à Londres’, which is more logical), brings us to Hummel’s final period of creativity. Indeed, it was the last of his compositions to be published during his lifetime. It was composed in 1833 (and published two years later by Haslinger in Vienna) on the occasion of Hummel’s fourth and final visit (following those of 1790–92, 1830 and 1831), aged 55, to London, bringing to an end 45 years of touring. The Rondo, which is not dissimilar to Weber’s Konzertstück for Piano and Orchestra Op.79 (written in 1821 and in the same key of F minor), opens with a sombre, almost tragic introduction, recalling the first bars of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture (1810), also in F minor. This provides the soloist with the opportunity for an early display of virtuosity, climaxing in a cadenza. The Rondo itself then commences with a popular, animated theme instigated by the piano in a sunny F major. The woodwind, prominent throughout the work, offer a second theme in the form of a march, which the soloist appropriates. A third, more dramatic episode leads to a new motif (dolce cantabile), introduced in the form of an affecting chorale by clarinets, bassoons and horns. This is amplified by the strings, allowing us to hear a melody that recurs almost without variation in the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s 1878 Violin Concerto! The soloist is unobtrusive here, but quickly regains his authority by bringing the initial Rondo theme to the fore. The woodwind return with their concise march motif, and the work concludes brilliantly in a profusion of trills and virtuoso arpeggios. © Didier Talpain Translation: Mari Prackauskas 5
Alessandro Commellato A pupil of Carlo Vidusso, Piernarciso Masi, Sergio Fiorentino and Evgeny Malinin, Alessandro Commellato studied at the Conservatory in Milan and has won competitions in Dortmund (Schubert), Cidad de Oporto, Roma (Rendano) and Stresa. He has performed as a soloist with the Teatro alla Scala of Milan, Teatro la Fenice of Venice, Prague Philarmonic, Orchestra of Radio Zagab, Moldavian National Chamber Orchestra, Krasnodar Premiere, Bacau Philarmonia, Orchestra Verdi Milano and Orchestra Sinfonica Toscanini, and toured in the USA, Japan, Australia, Turkey, Lebanon and Morocco. He has premiered contemporary music in Salzburg (Mozarteum), Madrid (Auditorium Nacional), Melbourne, New York (The Americas Society), Milano (Musica nel nostro tempo), Autunno Musicale di Como and the Venice Biennale. Commellato performed in the premiere of Cherì, a ballet by Roland Petit to music by Francis Poulenc, at the Teatro alla Scala, and Autour de Chopin at the Wielky National Theatre in Warsaw. He was also a soloist in Adriano Guarnieri’s Medea, premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. He is regularly invited to play at the festivals of Lausanne, Lugano, Verbier, Innsbruck, Lockenhaus, Bremen, Bratislava, Aix en Provence, Mulhouse, Milano Villa Reale, Florence Accademia del Fortepiano, Urbino Festival, Palermo Amici della Musica and Braga. His projects on old pianos focus on J.C. Bach, Hummel, Clementi, Eberl, Ries, Onslow and Rossini. As a chamber player, he performs with (among others) Sergio Azzolini, Umberto Clerici, Simone Bernardini, Gaetano Nasillo and the Atalanta Fugiens Ensemble. In Cremona he has collaborated with Salvatore Accardo, Bruno Giuranna and Rocco Filippini. He has made recordings for ARK, Ricordi and Amadeus. Commellato is currently professor of piano at the Conservatory in Novara, teaches chamber music performance in Bobbio and Varalla Sesia, and gives fortepiano masterclasses at Varallo Sesia, Bobbio and Piedicavallo. Photo: Andrea Sacchi KS
Didier Talpain After studying flute, analysis and chamber music, Didier Talpain conducted his first concert at the age of 18, and went on to study orchestral conducting first at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, then at the Paris Conservatoire (under Gian Franco Rivoli) and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation (under Pierre Dervaux). He obtained his higher diploma in orchestral conducting, was awarded first mention summa cum laude at the Ecole Normale, was a prizewinner at the Menuhin Foundation and won the Perrenoud Foundation prize at the Fourth International Conducting Competition in Vienna. Talpain’s work is focused on two main areas: period performance of repertoire from 1760–1830 and French operatic music. He is also particularly interested in the music of Bach’s sons and Johann Nepomuk Hummel, whose operas, Masses, cantatas and concertos he has been reviving on disc and in concert. As a conductor, he has recorded 20 CDs for BNL, Dynamic, Brilliant Classics and Glossa. These have included Hummel’s opera Mathilde von Guise for Brilliant Classics (94043), Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle and Don Procopio, J.C. Bach’s Amadis de Gaule, a collection of rare duets from French Romantic operas, also on Brilliant Classics (94321), and Concert Arias by J.C. Bach and Mozart (94116). Talpain’s recordings have received widespread acclaim from listeners and critics; his C.P.E. Bach’s symphonies Wq182 were described by Le Monde de la musique as the ‘best version on disc’. He regularly collaborates with the period instrument ensemble Solamente Naturali, with whom he has performed several times at the Bratislava Music Festival, the Prague State Opera and the Theatre Impérial de Compiègne. Since 2005 he has been guest conductor of the Moldova National Chamber Orchestra, and between 2005 and 2010 he was co-director of the ‘Piano Nights’ festival in Chisinau, which focuses on the great piano and orchestra repertoire – a large part of which, from J.S. Bach to Milhaud, he has already played. In 2011, he conducted Meyerbeer’s opera Robert le diable at the Sofia National Opera and Rossini’s Le comte Ory at Bulgaria’s Opera Varna. Forthcoming projects for 2012 include Massenet’s Le roi de Lahore, Offenbach’s La belle Hélène and Catel’s Les bayadères. Translations: Kenneth Chalmers
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Photo: Frédéric Bonnetain
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Violin I Miloš Valent (leader), Ingrid Janikovicˇová, István Reiter, Peter Michálik (Opp. 85 & 127), Gabriel Szathmáry (Opp. 85 & 127), Zuzana Kovácˇová (Opp. 85 & 127), Petr Zemanec (Op.73), Jana Cˇerná (Op.73), Vladimíra Grénerová (Op.73) Violin II Ľubica Habart, Blanka Pavlovicˇová, Ivan Becˇka, Iveta Blažejová (Opp. 85 & 127), Miroslava Kobzová (Opp. 85 & 127), Bárbara Barros (Opp. 85 & 127), Mária Štrbová (Op.73), Ekaterina Katanova (Op.73) Viola Peter Vrbincˇík, Adriana Vrbincˇíková, Ján Gréner, Karin Kovácˇová (Opp. 85 & 127) Cello Juraj Kovácˇ, Michal Stahel, Pavol Mucha (Opp. 85 & 127), Tomáš Kardoš (Op.73) Double bass Tibor Nagy, Marian Bujnˇák (Opp. 85 & 127), Michal Vavro (Op.73) Flute Brian Berryman (Opp. 85 & 127), Martina Bernášková (Op.73) Oboe Eduard Wesly, Waldemar Bomba (Opp. 85 & 127), Marcel Plavec (Op.73) Clarinet Robert Šebesta, Herbert Faltynek Bassoon Katalin Sebella, László Feriencsik (Opp. 85 & 127) Natural horn Rudolf Linner, Viliam Vojčík Natural trumpet László Preda, Balázs Winkler Timpani János Tóth
Solamente Naturali Under the artistic direction of Miloš Valent since the group’s inception, Solamente Naturali is one of the foremost period instrument ensembles in Slovakia. Its repertoire consists of music from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, and the forces used vary from 2 to 40 players – depending on the concert or recording in question – to give performances of duos, trios, quartets, concertos, symphonies, and large-scale vocal and instrumental works. Working with the leading figures in Baroque music in Europe (including Stephen Stubbs, Andrew Parrott, Noémi Kiss and Marek Sˇtryncl), Solamente Naturali makes regular appearances throughout Europe and in Canada and the USA, often at prestigious festivals such as Vantaa Barock in Helsinki, the Boston Early Music Festival, Larvik Barokk in Norway, the Carinthischer Sommer in Austria and the Handel Festival in Göttingen. The group has made recordings for Slovak television as well as a number of CDs including unpublished concertos by Umstatt, works by C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, Haydn and Hummel, and Mater – a work by the contemporary Slovak composer Vladimir Godar, which has had great international success. Photo: Mathilde Bonne
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A = 430 Fortepianos by Joseph Böhm, Vienna, 1825 (Op.73) and Ignace Pleyel, Paris, 1837 (Opp. 85 & 127) Editions Ian Christiaens (Op.85) for the Hummel project, Allan Badley (Op.127) for Artaria New Zealand/Schott Music and Vlastimil Horak (Op.73)
Recording: 27 November 2009 (Op.73) and 28 August – 1 September 2010 (Opp. 85 & 127), Studio of the Slovak National Radio, Bratislava, Slovakia Recording and editing: Jaroslav Stránˇavský (www.musicmaster.sk) Instrument tuning and maintenance: Rodolfo Ghirardello Cover image: Thomas William Coke (1752–1842) 1st Earl of Leicester (oil on canvas), Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88). 훿 Collection of the Earl of Leicester, Holkham Hall, Norfolk / The Bridgeman Art Library & 훿 2012 Brilliant Classics
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Hummel and friends with Didier Talpain on Brilliant Classics
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Hummel: Mathilde von Guise 94043 (2CD)
Hummel: Te Deum & Missa Solemnis 94115
Hummel: Piano Septets 94041
J.C. Bach & Mozart: Concert Arias 94116 Photo: Jaroslav Stránˇavský