JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL (1778–1837)

Oberon’s Magic Horn (fantasy)

 

Le retour de Londres - Grand Rondeau brillant, Op. 127

Variations and Finale in B flat major, Op. 115

Oberons Zauberhorn, Op. 116

Variations in F major, Op. 97

 

Christopher Hinterhuber (piano)

Gävle Symphony Orchestra / Uwe Grodd

 

Hummel’s long career as one of Europe’s most celebrated virtuosi owed as much to his resourcefulness as a composer as it did to his exceptional technique as a pianist. The four works on this recording illustrate the vitality of Hummel’s musical imagination at the height of his career.

 

Oberons Zauberhorn (Oberon’s Magic Horn) is a strikingly original fantasy based loosely on Weber’s opera Oberon. Le retour de Londres, a large-scale rondo composed in 1833, opens with a slow introduction remarkable for its beauty and expressive power which leads into the inventive and brilliantly virtuosic Rondeau.

 

“Christopher Hinterhuber is an established artist with an exceptionally well-stocked toolbox that allows him to confront the technical and expressive difficulties of Ries's concertos and come out a winner. His digital dexterity is first-rate and his ability to extract the brilliance as well as the emotion from Ries's scores is equally impressive. Uwe Grodd may well be one of the most underrated conductors active today. He has distinguished himself in numerous Naxos releases, and this is no exception.” Fanfare on Ries: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 (8557638)

 

Naxos 8557845