WINTERBERG: Symphony No. 1, “Sinfonia drammatica.” Piano Concerto No. 1. Rhythmophonie / Jonathan Powell, pno; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Johannes Kalitzke, cond / Capriccio C5476
Now that the ban has finally been lifted on performances and recordings of Winterberg’s music, we are finally getting to hear what a fine, diverse composer he was. His First Symphony had already been recorded by conductor Karl List with the Hamburg Philharmonic on the Pieran label, but these are the only recordings I know of the Piano Concerto No. 1 and the very curious Rhythmophonie of 1966-67.
One of the wonderful features of this recording is that the Piano Concerto is played by Jonathan Powell, one of the world’s greatest pianists although not one that is universally well known. I’ve already raved on this blog about his recording of Sorabji’s Sequentia Cyclica Super Dies Irae ex Missa Pro Defunctis (try saying that three times fast!), and that was no small achievement.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, much of Winterberg’s music is amorphous, something like a modern-sounding Mahler. His themes are less easy for the ear to grasp, due in part to the more modern harmonies and in part due to the strange patterns he invented, but like Mahler he constantly juxtaposes tempos and themes. You have to pay attention to him in order to get the most out of his music.
Yet interestingly, the piano concerto has a more defined underlying rhythm than the symphony despite a similar use of rootless chords and an amorphous melodic line. There is something much more cheery in this music; since it was written in 1948, whereas the symphony was written in 1936, it’s possible that Winterberg was celebrating the demise of the Third Reich and all of its evils. Also of interest is that the first movement, which is quite short (just a little over three minutes), ends suddenly and abruptly. In the second movement, Winterberg opens with a long solo for the piano, playing a sequence of ominous-sounding chords in the left hand; when the orchestra enters, the soloist turns to sprinkling little arpeggiated figures over the somber-sounding winds and lower strings. Eventually the pianist turns to running figures on the keyboard as the orchestra builds to, and recedes from, an equally ominous climax; the soloist’s music after this, however, is somewhat lyrical though tied to shifting modes. This movement is more than twice as long as the first. The third uses powerful motor rhythms within its minor-leaning harmony, with the piano playing more typical solo lines.
As it turns out, Rhythmophonie (written in 1966-67) very much lives up to its name. Here, Winterberg played around with rhythm in a manner similar to Stravinsky but with more harmonic movement to go along with it. Moreover, the rhythms (typical of this composer) continually shift and change, as does the tempo, eventually leaving the fast pace of the opening section for music at a slower pace in the first movement, here with different instruments in different rhythms overlaying one another. Halfway through, he has the violas play a rising scalar figure while the rest of the orchestra, including tympani, play contrasting rhythms (and little themes) around it before giving in to the orchestra’s whims.
The second movement, on the other hand, isn’t rhythmic in the least. On the contrary, it floats across the listener’s mind like a cloud, sometimes benevolent, sometimes threatening storms. The third and last movement returns to a more complex rhythmic interplay, but a bit slower and more subtle than in the first movement.
Except for the piano concerto, however, I was oddly unmoved by these performances, to which I place the blame on conductor Kalitzke. Although he gets all the notes and dynamics right, there’s just something cold and clinical about these performances that only Powell’s piano enlivens in the concerto. The rhythms are all there, but most of them have no “bite.” Good and interesting music, then, but except for the concerto, just an OK CD.
—© 2022 Lynn René Bayley
Follow me on Twitter (@Artmusiclounge) or Facebook (as Monique Musique)
THE ART MUSIC LOUNGE 