Next week, the Surrey Mozart Players kick off their season (more on that soon). As the Strauss Romanze is something of an oddity, the orchestra asked if I would write some notes for the program.
Richard Strauss- (1864-1949)
Romanze for Cello and Orchestra in F major, op 13 (1883)
Cellists are often reminded by our violinist and pianist colleagues of just how small our solo repertoire is in comparison to theirs. In our defence, we are often quick to mention that our Dvorak concerto is better than either of theirs, and that we also have the best Schumann concerto.
However, cellists have only themselves to blame for not recognizing the many wonderful pieces that haven’t made it into the repertoire. Such a work is the Strauss Romanze in F major heard this evening. Few composers ever wrote so much and so well in their old age as Strauss- one has only to think of Metamorphosen, the Four Last Songs and the Oboe Concerto (to be heard on the next SMP concert). However, equally few wrote so much and so well in their teens– when the nineteen year-old Richard Strauss set to work on this piece he, already had several masterpieces under his belt, including the Cello and Violin Sonatas and the Horn Concerto no. 1. While the Horn Concerto has become a staple of the repertoire and the two sonatas are at least well known, the Romanze nearly disappeared from the repertoire for over 100 years.
Its earliest champion was the cellist Hans Wihan, who was also the dedicatee of the Dvorak Cello Concerto. Wihan, to whom Strauss dedicated the piece, seemed to understand the key to musical immortality- he championed new music. The piece shows the young Strauss as an inventive melodist and a master-orchestrator. After over 100 years of neglect, this gem of the Romantic era is finally becoming known again
-KW
Before I ever heard the Dvorak Piano Concerto, I could mostly read how awful it is compared to the Violin and Cello Concerto.
Not with me: I *love* his Piano Concerto! It has gorgeous melodies (hey, it’s Dvorak, right?) and I love the drama that the piece has in it.
A real pity people dismiss it so easily…
Hi Zoltan
Thanks so much for the comment
I absolutely agree with you that the piano concerto is a wonderful piece- it is high on my list of concerto’s I’m anxious to perform, and has been since I covered it at the National Symphony a few years back.
There are a few reasons it doesn’t get done.
1- Very few pianists know it- Garrick Ohlsson, who did it in DC is one of the few. It’s very, very tough and most pianists are reluctant to learn a huge piece like that if they’re only going to play it every few years
2- The string writing is extremely difficult. Dvorak’s string writing got more idiomatic as he got older- the New World is the most playable of his symphonies and the latest, of course. It’s not a piece to tackle with less than a first rate band.
3- It’s at least as hard to accompany as the Cello or Violin Concerto (Dvorak must have known some damn good conductors). Garrick told me that, although it was one of his very favorite pieces to play and always went down very well with audiences, he would only do it with a consumate accompanist like Leonard
There’s actually an interesting topic for a blog that I’m not sure I have the nerve to write. Every professional soloist I know has a list, sort of THE LIST, of conductors who can accompany. Interestingly, the list varies little from soloist to soloist, and it’s pretty small. As far as I know, Leonard is one every list I’ve heard so far.
So- tough to play, tough to conduct, not a box-office draw, few soloists know it, not well represented on recordings (left that one off, but it follows from the others). Pity- it’s sublime……
But not quite as good as the Cello Concerto, which might be the best Romantic concerto for any instrument (pace Mr Brahms, although the D minor piano concerto would certainly be close)…..
Cheers
KW