June 17, 2015

  • World Premiere Recordings of Classic Ballroom Music

     Contemporaries of the Strauss Family, Volume 1
    Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, Paradubice/John Georgiadis
    Marco Polo 8.225365
    Total Time:  75:01
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Latter 19th and early 20th Century dance orchestras are a great source of some of the more popular light classical pieces among which are those by the illustrious Strauss family.  The hundreds of waltzes and polkas that their orchestra used over the course of almost 100 years could fill dozens of recordings.  Indeed, in the early days of Marco Polo, they undertook to record this music in its entirety—a monumental project with mixed results, but still a testament for its time.  Now, John Georgiadis is undertaking a slightly smaller survey of two volumes exploring music by other composers of the period made available by the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain.  The present volume features some sixteen pieces (marches, waltzes, polkas, overtures, and various dance types), some from long forgotten operettas and light operas, from twelve different composers in this already ample collection of music.

    A number of marches pop up including the popular Dornbacher Hetz March by Johann Schrammel (1850-1893).  It is the first of many tuneful pieces on this album.  Joseph Lanner’s music manages to surface more often and there are a couple of fun pieces here including the Tourbillon Galopp and a more substantial Bolera (in an arrangement by Georgiadis).  Music by Philip Fahrbach, Jr. is represented in several pieces here, most notably the Franz Ferdinand March (the same Ferdinand whose assassination started World War I).  Fahrbach and his father are credited with some 800 pieces and there are a couple additional polka works here.  The most interesting title is perhaps the Telephon Polka Mazurka.  A number of equally interesting little dances also fill up the album (by Hellmesberger, Jr.; Millocker, Czibulka, and Ziehrer).  A more contemporary composer, Kurt Schmid, is featured in a piece composed for the society, the Anniversary March, which continues this long tradition.

    The recording includes five “substantial” works that are spread among the lighter, shorter fare.  The first of these is Ivanovici’s Visuri de Aur Waltz filled that sense of melancholy and longing that soon moves into a happier reflection.  This is one of many beautiful finds.  Another is the Uhlenhorster Kinder Waltz of Oscar Fetras (1854-1931), the “Strauss of Hamburg”, whose piece is certainly a nod to the grand Viennese styles of the time with many fun little touches.  Lanner’s Bolero (arranged by Georgiadis) is evidently the composer’s last work making this release even more compelling.  Another is the first “complete” recording of Joseph Gung’l’s popular Casino Dance Waltz with restored orchestration and a full recording of the work.  Based in Berlin, operetta composer Paul Lincke also had his own “Strauss comparisons” his overture for Venus auf Erden closes off this program (the notes hint that another of his overtures will be available for download).

    The Czech orchestra handles all this music very well and the program works as it moves through a variety of composers and pieces, all with musical threads that connect them to the height of Viennese ballrooms and a more glorious fin de siècle era.  The album lists these as “World Premiere Recordings” and that is most likely, at least in the modern era.  With thousands of these sorts of pieces to choose from, it is perhaps great to just have a chance to hear the tip of the tip of an iceberg.  The notes are brief, but provide a good thumbnail sketch for each composer represented in the collection.  This is an infectious set of pieces that bodes well for the forthcoming second volume!    Until then, lovers of this music can track down other Marco Polo back catalog items devoted individually to some of these composers.