Weinberger: Orchestral Works

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Right from the overture, the tone is set and the décor chosen: the chiselled writing mixes joyful folk themes in an able counterpoint, all with a very original orchestration. In a few steps, Jaromír Weinberger shows his consummate mastery of the composer's vocation. And his talent is fully confirmed in what follows! If you don't know it, you should stop whatever you're doing and listen to this music by a man who started his apprenticeship very young (piano at 5, composition at 10 and entry to the Prague Conservatory at 14), before pursuing his career in Leipzig under Max Reger. His opera, Švanda Dudák (Schwanda the bagpiper), first performed in 1927, is hailed as an international success. This thoroughly dark work glories in enchanting and brilliantly-orchestrated folk themes. The Staatsphilharmonie of Rhineland-Pfalz chose to record the orchestral suite and the result is very fine (thanks to the CPO label which also brought out the opera Wallenstein in 2018). We are reminded here of the Stravinsky of Petrushka, the Bartók of Kossuth (for the mastery of counterpoint in particular). Then there are the Bohemian Songs which evoke a more Germanic memory of the Violin Concerto by Brahms when they fully exploit the violin's expressive palette (a melancholic rhapsody and double strings in cadenza style), especially so in the version orchestrated here. These pieces shine a spotlight on the scintillating sounds of the Staatsphilharmonie in the divisions of the strings and the precision of the subtle variations in intensity and character. The album closes with a more picturesque score, The Beloved Voice, which shows Weinberger in a piercing light. Max Brod, friend and confidant of one Franz Kafka: didn't he translate these operas? Such elective affinities say much about the corrosive side of Weinberger's colourful character. © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz