Berlin commemorates Busoni
NewsThe house where Ferruccio Busoni lived from 1902-08, and where he composed his monumental piano concerto, was remembered with a memorial plaque yesterday in Berlin. Next month sees the centenary of the composer’s death.
Igor Levit, an outstanding interpreter of the concerto, shared his experiences of playing it at age 18.
pictured: Levit with Scott Curry
Percy Grainger had piano lessons with Busoni here. A chamber choir sang his arrangement of Danny Boy to end the wonderful commemoration ceremony. Nice that Igor could make it.
The house, Viktoria-Luise-Platz 11 was destroyed in an air raid in 1943 and all that remains is the plaque. Still, a sufficient reminder of Berlin’s (and the world’s) presiding musical genius.
No, not the same house. This one, where he lived between 1902 and 1908 is Augsburger Straße 33. He lived at Viktoria-Luise-Platz later (until his death, although he spent the War years in Zurich).
The choir in the end spoils the musical experience (of course, a personal opinion), but it was a sign of the times, it was the time of the Sinfonie der Tausend, of Gurrelieder, of “bigger and better” (?) orchestras.
‘The choir in the end spoils the musical experience’…
Some said the same of Beethoven’s 9th. I believe that both works are masterpieces and that Busoni remains undeservedly underrated.
The problem with Busoni is that most of his music is either pretentious bombast (like his ‘piano concerto’) or coolly intellectual (like his ‘Doctor Faustus’ which stumbles from one scene into the next without getting off the ground). Even his ‘Arlecchino’ is quite dry in spite of the attempts at opera buffa.
Also he had an enormous dog calmly sitting next to him at piano recitals. This seems to have discouraged boo-ing after his playing.
But he was an inspiration to young composers and he was one of the few ‘big names’ who defended Schönberg in his darkes early years. In the same time, he advocated neoclassicism before it got a fashion in the twenties.
Why should anyone boo someone who was, by all accounts (and I knew a couple who heard him live) the greatest pianist around? The dog’s name was Giotto!
Spoken like a man who has barely heard, let alone understood any Busoni. The piano concerto is quite an exception in its exuberance and scale. Most of the subsequent, mature works are marked by restraint. Arlecchino being dry is one of the main points, it’s not meant to be light entertainment.
If you were to take (just as an example) two of his best works, the Berceuse Elegiaque or the Toccata, you would find neither cool intellectualism, nor pretentious bombast.
That the only thing mentioned here about his piano playing is that he had his dog sit next to him to discourage boo-ing also shows zero knowledge of Busoni’s capabilities and public reception as a pianist. There are endless accounts from critics and other pianists as well describing him as being the greatest pianist of his day. The handful of acoustic recordings that are left bear this out.
Indeed Eddie. His ignorance is so consistent that he has never realized that “Doctor Faustus” is actually Doktor Faust.
I’m sorry that Daniell Revenaugh didn’t live quite long enough to see this happen. He was the conductor on the world premiere recording of the concerto with John Ogdon. Daniell recorded the complete (I think) two piano music of Busoni with Lawrence Leighton Smith, also on EMI. Daniell was a life long advocate of Busoni’s music. He had numerous conversations with Kent Nagano, in preparation of Kent taking up the cause by recording “Doktor Faust”, “Arlecchino” and “Turandot”.
So difficult a sell was it considered to be that Daniell had to fund the recording himself I believe. His two piano partnership with LLS in the Busoni 2 pno works does neither of them any favours alas.
Be that is may, I think the premiere recording of the concerto with Ogdon still holds up really well. It’s hardly been out of the catalog, if at all. The classic R.P.O. of yesteryear sound terrific on it.
I believe it was the conductor’s in-laws who bankrolled the Piano Concerto recording. I’ve also heard that in a follow-up live performance of the piece, the conductor messed up in numerous places which certainly didn’t please Ogdon — or, presumably, the audience.
I wrote to a pianist recently who is currently performing the concerto in Italy. First of all, this commentary is in no way criticising the music, which is actually a wonderful work. For those who do not know, it is the most expensive concerto for any orchestra to produce due to the size of the orchestra and large male chorus. (The Beethoven choral fantasy is a smaller orchestra and number of choristers.) Dimitri Mitropoulos conducted the work likely more than anyone. He replied in a letter to Steinway who was pushing for a performance of the work with pianist Gunnar Johansson in the 1950’s when M was the music director of the New York Philharmonic…. that the expense was too great for little return in ticket sales. His example was Rudolf Serkin who performed the concerto with the orchestra and sold few seats, but when Serkin performs Beethoven and Mozart concertos he packed the house. Now that was in the 1950’s when the classical audience was larger. I suppose there will be some interest, however, with tight orchestra budgets I’m afraid it is not a winning venture to perform the concerto.
If you need that many performers, you need to have an immense musical substance to justify the effort. That ridiculous concerto is a foolish experiment and better be forgotten…
The reason that such absurdist pieces are dug-out of history is that there is a need to renew the repertoire but also a dirge of listenable new music. So, forgotten corners of history are searched for new experiences. The exploration of 16th, 17th and 18th century forgotten music appears to be more fruitful.
Most of these monstrously big pieces that were written around 1900 counted upon the popularity of orchestral concerts at the time and low costs of performers, plus the misconceived idea that the bigger the sound the better the musical effect. And there is no single one that does not fall flat in relation to the required forces. The same musical content could be ‘said’ with much more regular forces. That goes for Mahler VIII, for Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, and for Busoni’s crazy concerto. One of the over-rich pieces of that era that pulled all the stops of the widest range of orchestral music is Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, which nevertheless uses a regular orchestra. And there is no note too much in that work.
I think you meant “dearth”, not “dirge”…
Sorry, yes, I meant ‘dearth’.
I was distracted by my PA who was rolling with her eyes again.
The concerto is what it is – a young man setting out his stall and with no little ambition. You could argue the same for Brahms’ 1st piano sonata. Sure, some find the Busoni difficult to digest (let alone play) but I’m not alone in considering it a magnificent work…a spectacular public piece and receiving no finer performance than that from Peter Donohoe and Mark Elder at the 1988 Proms.
The Elder/Donohoe performance throws off sparks for sure. It’s fantastic. As is Dohnanyi/Garrick Ohlsson’s. And for this listener, I rate the Busoni Piano Concerto as my 2nd favorite piano concerto of all the ones I’m aware of – second only to Brahms’ 2nd piano concerto.
You’re entitled to your opinion, John, but you forgot to mention that Mahler 8 is actually popular and sells tickets. Allegedly, Stokowski made money on his American premiere performances in Philadelphia and New York.
Absolute truth and in almost every book written about the Philadelphia Orchestra there is a photograph of Stoki, the orchestra, soloists and chorus shown. It was a big deal in it’s day. The work also includes some of Mahler’s most beloved orchestral themes.
Yes, and yet the music sounds like pumped-up Mendelssohn and lacks all the concise workings of the other symphonies.
The ridiculous ending to Mendelssohn’s “Scotch” Symphony isn’t ‘pumped-up’? The tacky usage of “Ein Feste Burg” in the “Reformation” Symphony isn’t pumped-up. Mendelssohn’s almost brainless choral monstrosities aren’t pumped up? Sorry, they’re not for me.
His first performance was probably with my orchestra in Goettingen. I remember the peformance very well and how impressed I was.
I always like to program Busoni and don’t share the views of some of the comments here. Busoni’s orchestral skills were excellent, the orchestra immediately “sounds”.
Who are you referring to by “his”? Are you saying the world premiere of the concerto was with you in Goettingen? I don’t understand, as the world premiere was giving in Berlin in 1904. Busoni played and Karl Muck conducted. John Ogdon’s first performance of the Busoni concerto was with Daniell Revenaugh in London. I’m quite sure of that.
27 July 2024 – 100th anniversary of FB demise – there MUST be commemmorations planned!