NEWS

 

NOVEMBER 2011

 

BORTKIEWICZ VOL. 6 BY JOUNI SOMERO

 

 

In November 2011 Jouni Somero released his sixth Bortkiewicz album. There are two more albums to come. Somero will by then be the first pianist to have recorded Bortkiewicz' complete piano solo oeuvre. This time he recorded the prelude op 6 nr. 1, The (first complete reconding) of the Esquisses de Crimée opus 8, the 6 waltzes ‘Im 3/4 Takt’ opus 48, the Lyrica Nova opus 59 and the Quatre Morceaux opus 4 with the famous ‘Gavotte-Caprice’ (nr.  4) and the ‘Primula Veris’ (nr. 4). Please visit the page ‘list of recordings’ on this webside to find more information on this recording.

 

NOVEMBER 2009

 

NADEJDA VLAEVA PLAYS BORTKIEWICZ PIANO SONATA OPUS 60

 

The Bulgarian born pianist Nadejda Vlaeva has recorded Bortkiewicz' piano sonata opus 60. Her splendid interpretation of this masterpiece can be found on her CD ‘A Treasury of Russian Romantic Piano’ (Music & Arts CD-1224)

 

 

JANUARY 2009

 

PREMIERE RECORDINGS OF BORTKIEWICZ' PIANO CONCERTOS NOS 2 & 3

 

 

Now available at the Nederlands Muziek Instituut is a CD which includes the premiere recordings of the second and third piano concertos of the Russian (nowadays Ukrainian)-Austrian composer Sergei Bortkiewicz. Bortkiewicz composed these wonderful concertos between 1922-1927. De CD was released on 6th January 2009 and can be purchased at (the web shop of) the Nederlands Muziek Instituut (www.nederlandsmuziekinstituut.nl/winkel).

 

The first work on the CD is the second piano concerto for the left hand only, opus 28. This concerto was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein (brother of the famous philospher Ludwig Wittgenstein), who lost his right arm in combat during World War I. Wittgenstein commissioned a number of piano concertos from Korngold, Strauss, Ravel and Prokofiev - all of which have become well-known. Now, through this recording, you can enjoy the piano concerto that Wittgenstein requested from Bortkiewicz and performed in 1923 as the first of a series of left-hand piano concertos. Bortkiewicz' concerto was performed on many occaissions by Wittgenstein and remained his favourite concerto until he had to flee from the Nazi's in 1938. This subsequently ended his carreer as a concert pianist and Bortkiewicz' concerto was never performed anymore by him.

 

The Bortkiewicz concerto has not been previously recorded because Wittgenstein stipulated as part of the agreement of the commission, that the full score and orchestral parts were to be exclusively owned by him. Furthermore, he also had exclusive performing rights of the work during his lifetime. Through this stipulation, Wittgenstein refused to allow other pianists to perform the works he had commissioned. This is problably the primary factor why Bortkiewicz' score was never published in print and why it fell into oblivion after the death of Bortkiewicz in 1952 and Wittgenstein in 1961. For years Wittgenstein's widow kept the library of her husband locked in a romm of her house, to which no one was permitted entry. After her death in 2001 the Wittgenstein library was auctioned at Sotheby's, London in 2003. The library was bought by a Chinese entrepreneur. Even today this library, which is situated in Hong Kong and consists of further unpublished works of Bortkiewicz, is not available to researchers or musicians.

 

Thankfully, a copy of the score in manuscript appeared to be in the archive of Boosey & Hawkes, and with the generous support of the Dutch SNS REAAL FOUNDATION, the Nederlands Muziek Instituut was able to record this unique romantic piano concerto for the left-hand only with its haunting themes.

 

The second work on the CD is the first recording of Bortkiewicz' third piano concerto opus 32 Per aspera ad astra (through resistance into light). He wrote this concerto in 1926. This concerto was dedicated to the Russian-Austrian pianist Paul de Conne, who helped Bortkiewicz to obtain Austrian citizenship in 1925. Bortkiewicz knew Paul de Conne already from the time when he studied piano at the Conservatory of music in St. Petersburg with Karel Pieter Hendrik van Ark (1839-1902). Paul de Conne was at that time the personal assistant to Van Ark. The programme of this concerto is presented in the gradual unfolding from a dark and deep C minor to a high and radiant C major at the finale of the work including organ and bells as an affirmation of light over darkness.

 

Both concertos receive a compelling performance by the Romanian pianist Stefan Doniga and the Czech Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the Dutch conductor David Porcelijn.

 

See for more detailed information and a review by Malcolm Henbury Ballan List of recordings on this website.

 

Stefan Doniga

 

David Porcelijn