8/1992

Green Guide, Australia

Fascinating Simrock legacy

The world of classical recordings is full of many predictable moves: the traditional repertoire is interpreted yet again; now by an ageing maestro, now by a stylish young brat. We have conventional instruments and original instruments, published and unpublished versions, and so on. When the powers-that-be have tired of that, some go on to launch all sorts of arcavia on an unsuspecting public, purporting it to be the most natural, the most likeable sort of stuff. Little wonder then, that when some useful, tasteful, and innovative disc or series of discs appear, they do tend to stand out from the pack. Two issues from the Swiss Divox Label make a refreshing change from the usual run of classical discs. The first volume in The Simrock Story presents music published by successive scions of the Simrock publishing dynasty. The well-produced accompanying booklet contains an informative essay and a wealth of pictorial information (including a family tree) that confirms the Simrock family's uncanny knack of courting and then publishing many great composers from Beethoven to Dvorak. The piano music chosen to illustrate the Simrock success story works by well-known composers: Beethoven's 13 Variations on a Theme of Dittersdorf, some of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, Brahms's Fantasien op. 116 and two small works by Dvorak. Representing other names in the Simrock stable are a Capriccio by Ferdinand Hiller and two Brahms transcriptions by Theodor Kirchner. Alle works are given excellent performances by Israeli virtuoso Uriel Tsachor and the Divox engineers have given the piano a lively ambience that does not sacrifice clarity of texture. Divox are to be congratulated on this enterprise, which is both pleasurable and fascinating.