Friedrich von Flotow: Concertos & Overtures

If you know Friedrich von Flotow (1812-82) it's via his opera Martha. But there is another side, on gloriously revealed here: two wonderful Piano Concertos.

Despite his obviously Germanic name, von Flotow was educated in Paris (where operetta flourished at the time). His two concertos do pos.pobl fo concert organises - their duration (a mere 15 and 17 minutes respectively). Think Glazunov and Ireland concertos, both of which composers' concertos suffer for this reason.

Despite being in C-Minor, the First Concerto (no opus number for Flotow, but 1830) is remarkably sun-facing. Yes, there are clouds, but when the music does become overcast, the clouds are only temporary. he piano wing is obviously difficult, bu of a type that typifies many a piano concerto of this era, while the slow movement is n instrumental aria with decorations which Chopin would surly have been proud:

The finale is utter delight, but not of the.frothy cappuccino sort: it is Allegro giocoso, but is far from mono-dimensional - all held within a mere three and a half minutes. Mathias Kischenreit finds some lovely gradations of tone here:

It's mazing to think that von Flotow was in his late teens when he wrote both of these concertos (18 and 19 respectively). The Second Concerto is in A-Minor, and has more of a Betehovenian shadow over it, even Weber, in its orchestral opening to the Andante ... the piano takes us right back to Chopin, though. There is a lot of variety in this first movement, specially towards the end:

The second concerto is actually in four movements: a light Scherzo follows, before this lovely, oboe-led Adagio. The close is beautifully approached, too:

There is a real sense of a ballroom dance to the final - and how Kirschenreit release in the upward-moving closes to phases, a real off-the-cuff tossing into the ether:The tempos perfectly Chos, too, an Allegretto (not Allegro) scherzando. Still Kirschenreit sparkles; some lovely woodwind solos (particularly characterful bassoon playing!). Suddenly, the world becomes darker (clarinet to the fore) as if the darker side of Weber's Freischütz had walked into the room. Ulf Schirmer is the perfect partner throughout, metalling his Munch forces perfectly:

Thee follows.sequence of overtures, sating with hat to A Winter's Tale by Shakespeare (Wintermärchen), high stings of the Munch Radio Orchestra magnificently together, and with no strain. There's a lovely passage for solo strings, too, plus a real Mendelssohn Midsummer Night's Dream moment, the Munich Radio Orchestra is light as a feather:

No doubting the festive slant to Fockeltanz, a torch dance for.royal occasion. Very definitely an occasional piece, ending in a blaze of glory. It also acts as an interlude between overtures: the next is a one-act operetta of 1859, La veuve Grepin, and how it froths its way along. An alternative Offenbach, perhaps:

The opera Rübezahl was written in 1852 to a libretto by the magnificntly-named Gusav Heinrich Gans zu Putlitz. And what a beautiful cello solo this holds! cpo should have credited the player, surely:

The Overture to the opera Alessandro Stradella (1843/4) concludes, clearly a dramatic opera! (this befits the subject, of course).

Von Flotow is clearly much more than 'just' Martha (an opera that has itself fallen out of favour, sadly). Give this a go!

I talked earlier about the duration of the concertos (in between overture and traditional concerto length). The booklet note applies something of that concept to von Flotow himself, its title "Not.a Minor Master, Not a Genius, but somewhere in between ...."; I is extensive, informative, ad wittily Witten by Eckhardt von den Haagen.

The cover is wonderful: Jean Béraud (1849-1936), famous for his panitings of Paris, his Coaches on the Champs-Elysées. Follow this link and maybe have a look at the gallery - his paintings really seem to tell stories. What's the gentleman doing running alongside the horse-drawn coach in the painting on the cover, for example?

This lovely disc is available at Amazon here; streaming below. It certainly is preference o the previous recording of the concertos (on Sterling).