Franz Danzi : Ouverture, Cello Concerto, Piano Concerto

Album review

Danzi was a productive composer, and even though his main musical interests lay in German-language opera, he also composed in all the genres that were common at the time, among which his concertos are particularly noteworthy. In his works for solo instruments and orchestra, Danzi’s focussed on just a few instruments : four concertos for the flute, five for bassoon, three for cello, two for horn, and just a single concerto for piano. This Piano Concerto in E-flat major was probably composed in 1799 for the wedding of his niece, the pianist Sophie Dulcken, to whom the work is also dedicated. We surely do not offend the memory of Danzi if we note that Mozart’s piano concertos were clearly his model in both the design and realisation of his own. By contrast, the Cello Concerto in e minor, written in 1809 for the famous cellist Philipp Moralt, engages far more freely with classical models, with abrupt, unexpected harmonic shifts, unusual thematic constellations and highly original instrumental ideas. 

Pianist Nareh Arghamanyan, born in Armenia in 1989, studied at the Tchaikovsky Music School for Talented Children in Yerevan and became the youngest student to be admitted to the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She is a laureate of many international piano competitions including first prize winner at the 2008 Montréal International Music Competition. Highly acclaimed for her unique style, colourful tone and dazzling virtuosity, Arghamanyan has given debut concerts with orchestras such as Vienna Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo. French cellist Aurélien Pascal was awarded all the first prizes at the 2014 Emanuel Feuermann Competition. Already, at the age of 11, Aurélien was named winner of the first Rostropovitch Junior Competition. In 2015, he made his début in the Zurich Tonhalle together the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Fedoseyev, followed by highly acclaimed concerts in Tokyo and Osaka where he performed the Dvorák Concerto. He also performed at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Russian Chamber Music Festival in Hamburg, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and gave his debut recital at the prestigious Berlin Konzerthaus.

© SM/Qobuz