Clever, dynamic, charming symphonies

Leopold Kozeluch: Symphonies, vol. 3

I keep expecting the Leopold Kozeluch Symphonies series from Marek Stilec on Naxos to run out of steam, but with each new release I'm surprised by how clever, dynamic and absolutely charming the works of this Bohemian composer are. Born between Haydn and Mozart, Kozeluch's works share many of both composers' strengths: strong forward propulsion, clear structures and rich harmonies, but also surprising detours, touches of wit and whimsy, and a strong sense of musical story-telling. "Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine, the life, the soul of reading!" says Laurence Sterne, "Take them out and one cold eternal winter would reign in every page." I believe the same thing can be said for music, and Kozeluch's B-flat Major Symphony, "Irrésolu" is a perfect example. Like Haydn's Symphony no. 60, "Il distrato", this work includes extra-musical content, but as a characteristic symphony rather than a programmatic one.  Again like Haydn, Kozeluch has no need for extra-anything; his abstract orchestral music is so dynamic and vital on its own. But a connection to literature and the stage never hurts, and adds further charm to this already charming music. Kozeluch's music, while in the orbit of the two great Austrian composers, has its own character, which once again is so pleasingly brought forward by Stilec and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. The fourth and final release in this project, which comes in 2020, will, I hope, finally help raise Leopold Kozeluch's reputation to something approaching his true worth.

Once again we have a fine cover photo from a great palace of the Austrian Empire: the Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna (photo credit: Ixuskmitl). Inside these buildings artists like Leopold Kozeluch were subtly undermining the old order with modish art that hid modern, sometimes even revolutionary, ideas.

This album will be released on December 13, 2019

Dramatic, vital symphonies from a Czech master

Leopold Kozeluch: Symphonies, vol. 2

According to the fine essay by Allan Badley included in the liner notes of this new Naxos release, Leopold Kozeluch (1747–1818) left 16 surviving symphonies and two symphonies concertantes, so we're probably half-way through this series of discs from the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice under Marek Stilec. I very much enjoyed the first release in the series, back in early 2017, but the question is, will we bump up against the dreaded Law of Diminishing Returns?

On the evidence of this new album, I'm pleased to say that Kozeluch remains the same charming, inventive, solidly musical and tasteful (if I can use one of Mozart's favourite words) composer I judged him back then. The Bohemian composer comes up with a fabulous opening for his F major Symphony, cleverly chosen by Marek Stilec to go first in this program. This is dramatic and vital music that comes awfully close to the orchestral masterworks of Haydn and Mozart. Not every movement is at this level, and I thought at first that Kozeluch was running out of steam, and inspiration, in each symphony, but then I heard the marvellous Menuetto from the G major Symphony, which somehow perfectly represents in musical form an entire world that's conjured up by Ievgenii Tryfonov's photograph of the baroque Augustinian Wing of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, on the front cover of the CD. Bring on more Kozeluch Symphonies, Naxos, and don't forget the Symphonies Concertantes!

Here's a nice bit of the opening movement of the G major Symphony in a Naxos video on YouTube:



This disc will be released on December 7, 2018.

A new Bohemian symphonies series from Naxos

Leopold Koželuch is comfortably in the second rank of composers who look up - a fair way to be sure - to Mozart and Haydn. He rubs shoulders with Gluck, Michael Haydn, Rossetti and Kraus. He wrote a great deal of serious and accessible music, characterized by some melodic charm and honest craftsmanship. Occasionally lightning strikes and Koželuch produces something really memorable. I've been following Kemp English's complete piano music series for Grand Piano, and am more and more impressed as he gets to Koželuch's later sonatas. The composer's forays into Sturm und Drang are fascinating; Koželuch seemed to have his finger on the pulse of musical trends in Europe.

I know Koželuch's symphonies from two recordings: by Concerto Köln from 2001 and The London Mozart Players from 1999. Both came from series that presented music by Haydn and Mozart's contemporaries: Leopold Mozart, Josef Myslivecek, Anton Salieri, William Herschel, Carl Stamitz and the like. Both of these series are absolutely superb. From them I learned so much about 18th century music - and incidentally about Haydn and Mozart themselves.

This is volume one of a projected series of complete symphonies. It also carries the subtitle Czech Masters in Vienna, which I hope will point to more music by other Czech composers at work during Mozart and Haydn's lifetimes. The symphonies chosen here show the Bohemian composer veering between Haydn-like fun and Mozartian theatricality. The G minor Symphony is really outstanding; this is the closest Koželuch comes to Wolfgang Amadeus. The London Mozart Players version is hard to beat:

Indeed, the new version is pitched at a lower dramatic temperature from the beginning. Marek Stilec leaves something in reserve for later in the movement. Alas, Koželuch is no Mozart, but the soft passage just before the end of the movement is very affecting and effective, and the new recording shines at that point.

So now we have the beginnings of two very promising symphonic series from the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice and Marek Stilec, of Michael Haydn and Leopold Koželuch. I'm really looking forward to future releases in both.