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Classical CD Of The Week: Croatian Romantic Discovery

This article is more than 7 years old.

Dora Pejačević, Piano Concerto, Orchestral Songs, Overture op.49, Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt/Oder, Howard Griffith (conductor), cpo

Salome goes to Croatia: That’s the imaginary title for this new CD that came to my mind while listening to these four orchestral songs of the Croatian composer Pejačevič (1885-1923). Although works and composer were hitherto unknown to me, I’m not surprised that Schoenberg, who was shown one of these (“Metamorphosis”, on a poem by Karl Kraus), commented warmly on it: It’s exactly the kind post-romantic, indulgent gorgeousness that Schoenberg had indulged in, even though by 1916, when Schoenberg made the comment, he had moved on into quite different directions himself. Perhaps the Strauss-reference isn’t so strange; the autodidact Pejačevič spent much time in Dresden and Munich, two hotbeds of Strauss-activity. Ingeborg Danz combines effortless beauty, simplicity, with a deft romantic touch to great effect.

The piano concerto is in the general Grieg-Schumann vicinity, which Oliver Triendl (a champion of the unknown, and a regular-ish Pejačevič-interpreter) plays very nicely, indeed. It would fit perfectly into Hyperion’s superb The Romantic Piano Concerto series and is indispensable for the curious mind wishing to explore the really off-the-beaten-path parts of the repertoire. Many of the off-off-repertoire items – and these ones in particular – are far more deserving than you might think, and indelibly enjoyable. Now that I see that there are five more CDs of Pejačevič (chamber music and songs) on cpo, I know what I am putting on my Wish-list. There are those who might wish to make a point of Dora Pejačevič being a composer of the female persuasion, but I would consider that possibly sexist; certainly faux-feminist posturing. She’s simply a good composer from a time where few women ardently pursued that kind of career. The music deserves credit on account of its beauty, not on account of Pejačevič’s chromosome-makeup.

Amazon mp3: $9 | Amazon CD: $15-17 | ArkivMusic: $18 | Qobuz download: £8 | iTunes mp3: $10

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