Hans Pfitzner Accompanies & Conducts
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Hans (Erich) Pfitzner
Label: Preiser
Magazine Review Date: 7/1991
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 60
Mastering:
Mono
ADD
Catalogue Number: 90029
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (5) Lieder, Movement: Hast du von den Fischerkindern (wds Müller von Kter) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (3) Lieder, Movement: Zum Abschied meiner Tochter (wds Eichendorff) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: Der Gärtner |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: Die Einsame |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (4) Lieder, Movement: Abbitte (wds Hölderlin) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: In Danzig (wds Eichendorff) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: Nachts (wds Eichendorff) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (2) Lieder, Movement: Michaelskirchplatz |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (4) Lieder, Movement: Hussens Kerker |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (4) Lieder, Movement: Säerspruch |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (6) Lieder, Movement: Herbstgefühl (wds anon) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| (6) Lieder, Movement: Leuchtende Tage (wds Jakobowski) |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Gerhard Hüsch, Baritone Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Piano |
| Duo for Violin, Cello and Small Orchestra |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Berlin State Opera Orchestra Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Conductor Ludwig Hoelscher, Cello Max Strub, Violin |
| Symphony |
Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Hans (Erich) Pfitzner, Composer Hans Pfitzner, Conductor |
Author: Robert Layton
The 12 songs here were available on Preiser in a good LP transfer, while the Symphony was also briefly in circulation on a Heliodor LP: the charming Duo, however, is more of a rarity. Pfitzner recorded relatively little of his own music—the three Preludes to Palestrina, the Christ-Elflein Overture and an excerpt from his opera, Das Herz—though there are some Beethoven and Schumann symphonies conducted by him. Most of the songs were recorded to mark the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 1939 and it is difficult to imagine them sung with greater authority and sympathy than by Gerhard Husch, then at the height of his powers. (This was, of course, the period in which he recorded Papageno in the Beecham Die Zauberflote—EMI, 3/90.) These songs (and for that matter the two orchestral works) evoke the world of Wilhelmine Germany and some have a touching simplicity that makes a stronger impression on each hearing.
The C major Symphony, Op. 46 (not to be confused with his earlier essay, Op. 36 in this genre, a transcription of a string quartet) is a short piece, not dissimilar in formal layout to Schumann's Fourth and more backward-looking in style than, say, his contemporary Franz Schmidt. German recording techniques were much admired during the time these works were made—and rightly so; the balance is expertly judged, the tonal blend excellent and one soon forgets that the sound is half-a-century old! Documentation, however, is scanty: none of the texts of the poems is reproduced (nor, for that matter, were they available with the LP), nor is there any mention of the discographical information listed above. Not that German-speaking collectors would need texts: Gerhard Husch delivers every word with his inimitable clarity.
Pfitzner himself is very much the composer-pianist rather than the expert accompanist, though he plays with warmth and finesse. The transfers are excellent and my only regret is that the opportunity was not taken to add the Palestrina Preludes, for which there is room on the disc. Recommended.'
The C major Symphony, Op. 46 (not to be confused with his earlier essay, Op. 36 in this genre, a transcription of a string quartet) is a short piece, not dissimilar in formal layout to Schumann's Fourth and more backward-looking in style than, say, his contemporary Franz Schmidt. German recording techniques were much admired during the time these works were made—and rightly so; the balance is expertly judged, the tonal blend excellent and one soon forgets that the sound is half-a-century old! Documentation, however, is scanty: none of the texts of the poems is reproduced (nor, for that matter, were they available with the LP), nor is there any mention of the discographical information listed above. Not that German-speaking collectors would need texts: Gerhard Husch delivers every word with his inimitable clarity.
Pfitzner himself is very much the composer-pianist rather than the expert accompanist, though he plays with warmth and finesse. The transfers are excellent and my only regret is that the opportunity was not taken to add the Palestrina Preludes, for which there is room on the disc. Recommended.'
Hans Pfitzner Accompanies & Conducts
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