Walter Kaufmann: Piano Concerto No. 3; Symphony No. 3; An Indian Symphony; Six Indian Miniatures (CPO)
★★★★☆
Should you’ve by no means heard of the composer Walter Kaufmann, you aren’t alone. A Czech Jew in Hitler’s Germany, Kaufmann was employed as a composer by an Indian good friend who was founding a movie firm in Bombay. He was quickly promoted to go of music at All India Radio, co-founded (with Meli Mehta) Bombay’s Chamber Music Society and lectured on the College.
As political winds shifted, he migrated in 1946 to London, the place he composed for Arthur Rank Movies. He moved on once more to change into the primary music director in Winnipeg, Canada, and once more in 1957 to show at Bloomington, Indiana, the place he died in 1984. Now you see why you’ve by no means heard of him? None of his music was printed.
You’re questioning what it’s like. Surprisingly participating. These premier recordings by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, performed by David Robert Coleman, pullulate with annoyed energies and flamboyant influences. The concerto (soloist Elisaveta Blumina) owes rather a lot to Krenek, Stravinsky and Gershwin — which is to say, not a uninteresting second.
The third symphony of 1936 and an Indian Symphony of 1943 fluctuate from Haydn sonata-form to Bollywood film matinees, by no means missing attraction and instrumental quirks. Six Indian Miniatures (1965) are musical image postcards, executed with tact and affection.
A good friend of Albert Einstein, conducting assistant to Bruno Walter, and husband of Franz Kafka’s niece, Kaufmann was no talentless hack. He as soon as gave classes to a boy known as Zubin Mehta. If his travels had taken a distinct flip, he might need wound up successful Oscars.
As it’s, we’re left with an array of civilised music that sits simply on the ear for an hour, by no means totally arresting the pinnacle or the center. Pay attention: you gained’t remorse it.
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Norman Lebrecht is without doubt one of the most widely-read commentators on music, tradition and cultural politics. He’s an everyday presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Road Journal, Bloomberg, Standpoint, Sinfini and different publications. His weblog, Slipped Disc, is among the many most generally learn cultural websites on-line, breaking unique tales and campaigning in opposition to human abuse and acts of injustice within the cultural industries.