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Track(s) taken from CDA67606

Première ballade, Op 117 No 1

composer
also published as No 2 of Deux Ballades Op 117 (with the subtitle L'harmonieuse)

Philip Martin (piano)
Recording details: October 2006
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: January 2008
Total duration: 7 minutes 57 seconds

Cover artwork: The Reluctant Pianist (detail). William A Breakspeare (1855-1914)
Reproduced by courtesy of Fine Art Photographs, London
 

Reviews

‘Philip Martin proves a strong Herz advocate, displaying a genuine affection for the music and all the requisite flair for the abundant trills, roulades, scales … and repeated left-hand jumps’ (International Record Review)

‘Hyperion continues its invaluable exploration of the piano's highways and byways with this richly enjoyable programme from Philip Martin, focusing on the scintillating output of Viennese child prodigy Henri Herz … the salonesque, radiant charms of the La Cenerentola variations … come tripping off the page in this affectionately sparkling performance from Philip Martin, whose warmly engaging style is a constant source of pleasure throughout’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Philip Martin sounds like he is enjoying himself, and his technique is fully up to the tasks at hand’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Herz may not be a great composer, yet his stuff certainly is fun to digest in small doses, especially when you consider Philip Martin's appropriately light and colorful touch, supple finger work, and marvelous sense of dramatic timing … collectors who dote on the rare Romantics need no prodding to acquire this excellently engineered release’ (Classics Today)

‘Martin, fresh from his laudable eight-disc survey of Gottschalk's piano music, tackles these well-programmed works with sensuousness and vitality, capturing the ornately flamboyant allure of the music with great affection’ (Musical Criticism.com)
The Première Ballade Op 117 No 1, in D flat major, owes rather more to a Chopin nocturne than a Chopin ballade. After four introductory measures, Herz introduces a cantabile theme of a type familiar from the preceding Nocturnes, but this time given in octaves. It is sentimental, effective and not too difficult (though the more animated central section in F minor might give some pause), a prime example of the kind of work that made Herz’s music sell in unrivalled quantities in the 1830s and ’40s.

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2008

La Première Ballade, op. 117 no 1, en ré bémol majeur, doit plus au nocturne qu’à la ballade de Chopin. Passé quatre mesures liminaires, Herz introduit un thème cantabile cher aux nocturnes précédents, mais énoncé en octaves, cette fois. Cette pièce sentimentale, efficace et pas trop difficile (même si sa section centrale plus animée, en fa mineur, pourra donner matière à réfléchir) illustre à merveille ces œuvres qui, dans les années 1830 et 1840, assurèrent à la musique de Herz des ventes inégalées.

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Nicholas © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Die Première Ballade op. 117 Nr. 1 in Des-Dur hat eher Ähnlichkeit mit einem Chopin-Nocturne als mit einer Chopin-Ballade. Nach vier einleitenden Takten bringt Herz ein Cantabile-Thema von der Art, wie wir es von den vorausgehenden Nocturnes kennen, aber dieses Mal in Oktaven. Das Stück ist sentimental, wirkungsvoll und nicht zu schwer, auch wenn es im Mittelteil in f-Moll einige technische Probleme zu lösen gilt. Es ist ein hervorragendes Beispiel für die Art von Kompositionen, die Herz’ Musik in den 1830ern und 1840ern zum konkurrenzlosen Verkaufsschlager werden ließen.

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Nicholas © 2008
Deutsch: Ludwig Madlener

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