Ivo Dudler, Howard Griffiths / Camerata Schweiz
Mozart: Horn Concerto No.4 in E♭ major, K.465 (Recording Session)
Recording @ Kirche Oberstrass, Zurich, 2021-03-19
2021-03-27 — Original posting
Der Beginn eines Mozart-Großprojekts der Orpheum-Stiftung, Teil II — Zusammenfassung
Die Orpheum Stiftung zur Förderung junger Solisten steht am Beginn ihres bisher größten CD-Projektes. Das Ziel ist, über einen Zeitraum von 5 Jahren (praktisch) sämtliche Instrumentalkonzerte von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart auf 11 CDs zu bannen. Die 34 Konzerte werden dabei von jungen Solisten und Solistinnen eingespielt, zusammen mit namhaften Orchestern und Dirigenten. Die Stiftung hat mich eingeladen, die Aufnahme-Sessions für die erste CD zu besuchen. Es ha ndelte sich um 8 Aufnahmesitzungen zu 3 Stunden, verteilt über vier Tage. Diese CD umfasst das Violinkonzert Nr.1 in B-dur, KV 207, das Hornkonzert Nr.4 in Es-dur, KV 495, sowie das Klavierkonzert Nr.8 in C-dur, KV 246 (“Lützow”).
Ich sehe diesen Artikel als “Werkstattbericht” von der Nachmittags-Session des zweiten Aufnahmetages an. Beteiligt: der Schweizer Hornist Ivo Dudler als Solist. Er wurde begleitet von der Camerata Schweiz unter der Leitung von Howard Griffiths. Es handelte sich um eine Studio-Aufnahme in der Kirche Oberstrass in Zürich. Man sollte das nicht als Konzertbericht sehen. An diesem Nachmittag kamen nur Ausschnitte des ersten Satzes zur Aufführung, mit zahlreichen Wiederholungen und Unterbrechungen, weitgehend mit Probencharakter. Ein Ausprobieren, bis alles so stimmt, wie es die Musiker haben möchten.
Und natürlich ist dies auch keine CD-Kritik. Weder habe ich das ganze Konzert am Stück gehört, noch weiß ich, wie sich die Musik nach der Aufbereitung durch die Tontechniker schließlich anhören wird. Die Veröffentlichung der ersten CD ist vorgesehen für das Frühjahr 2022. Im Moment nur dies: wenn die Serie das Niveau dieser ersten Aufnahme halten kann und sich meine Eindrücke im Endresultat bestätigen, war dies der Auftakt zu einer Aufnahmeserie, die den Vergleich mit den zahlreichen Aufnahmen mit Top-Solisten auf dem CD-Markt nicht zu scheuen braucht! Der erste Höreindruck weckte Appetit und Neugier auf mehr!
Contents
- General Remarks
- Introduction
- The Context
- The Organizer
- The First CD in the Project “Next Generation Mozart Soloists“
- The Artists in This Recording Session
- The Recording Venue, Setting
- Recording Session Experience
- Conclusions
General Remarks
This is the second instance of a set of “workshop reports“, reports from visits to CD recording sessions: neither media reviews (the music is only just being recorded), nor concert reports: there is no audience, no complete performance, just a rehearsal and a series of takes with at most a full movement in a single “chunk”. See also my posting from 2021-03-18 for more detail.
One should read this as a “teaser” for an ongoing CD recording project. The “end product” will only become available in about a year’s time.
Introduction
| Venue, Date(s) | Kirche Oberstrass, Zurich, 2021-03-19 / 2021-03-20 |
| Series / Title | Orpheum Foundation: Next Generation Mozart Soloists |
| Organizer(s) | Orpheum Foundation for the Support of Young Artists Goldmann Public Relations |
| Related Postings | Reviews of concerts organized by the Orpheum Foundation |
The Context
I’m honored to be invited to attend recording sessions for a newly launched CD project that the Orpheum Foundation for the Support of Young Artists is initiating. The title of the project is “Next Generation Mozart Soloists“. It involves the recording of (essentially) all of the instrumental concerts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791). That project will span a duration of around five years. It involves numerous young soloists that the Orpheum Foundation is currently supporting, or who have received support in the past. The session discussed here was part of the recordings for the first CD.
The Organizer
In the first posting of this short series I have written about the Orpheum Foundation for the Support of Young Artists, the organizer and initiator for this recording project. I want to keep this posting short. Therefore, for detail see my posting from 2021-03-18. In that same posting, I have also given an introduction to the 11-CD Project “Next Generation Mozart Soloists” that I referred to above.
The First CD in the Project “Next Generation Mozart Soloists”
The first of 11 CDs in this project covers three concertos:
- Violin Concerto No.1 in B♭ major, K.207 (1773?), with Stephen Waarts (*1996) as soloist (see separate posting)
- Horn Concerto No.4 in E♭ major, K.495 (1786), with Ivo Dudler (*1994) as soloist (this posting)
- Piano Concerto No.8 in C major, K.246, “Lützow” (1776), with Can Çakmur (*1997) as soloist (see separate posting)
The three concertos above were all performed with the accompaniment of the Camerata Schweiz (see also Wikipedia) under the direction of Howard Griffiths (*1950, see also Wikipedia). Howard Griffiths is also the Artistic Director of the Orpheum Foundation.
The Artists in This Recording Session
For information on the orchestra, the Camerata Schweiz, as well as on its conductor, Howard Griffiths, see again my preceding posting from 2021-03-18. For all concertos in this first CD recording, the orchestra configuration was identical (6 + 5 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses, 2 horns, 2 oboes).
Ivo Dudler, French Horn
The Swiss hornist Ivo Dudler (*1994 in Steinach, Canton St.Gallen) started learning the horn at age 12. His first teacher soon recommended that he took lessons in Zurich, at the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts), where his teacher was Mischa Greull (solo hornist at the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich). 2013, he switched to the Universität der Künste Berlin (University of the Arts, Berlin), where he studied under Christian-Friedrich Dallmann (*1955) and Sebastian Posch (*1978). Currently, Ivo Dudler is continuing his studies with Szabolcs Zempléni (*1981) at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater (University of the Arts) in Hamburg.
Ivo Dudler won various awards (see his Biography), and in 2017 he became solo hornist in the NDR Radiophilharmonie in Hannover, and in 2019 he received a call to join the Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele.
The soloist performed on a modern French horn (a valved double horn in F/B♭).
The Recording Venue, Setting
For some notes about the recording venue see again my preceding posting from 2021-03-18. The setting was essentially identical, with the one exception that the piano for the third set of recording sessions for the first CD had already been delivered to the exact location where it would stay for the associated, last part of the recording sessions.
This report is from the afternoon session of the second recording day. It was one of 2 1/2 sessions devoted to Ivo Dudler and the Horn Concerto No.4 in E♭ major, K.495 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791).
Recording Session Experience
Just as a reminder: this is not a concert critique; I’m merely describing my first, unbiased impressions. The session that I attended was mostly filled with takes for the first movement (Allegro maestoso). The other movements (II: Romance: Andante cantabile, and III: Rondo: Allegro vivace) were recorded in the subsequent sessions.
For the orchestra setup and its sound, articulation, playing style, etc. see again my preceding posting from 2021-03-18.
Solo Part
Ivo Dudler’s modest, natural and calm appearance, his unpretentious, but firm and factual posture in front of the orchestra were deceptive. The performance certainly confirmed his professional track record: careful and diligent in the dynamics, excellent, mellow articulation and phrasing, and an exceptionally smooth and well-balanced tone. Never he let the tone turn “brassy” or resort to spectacular signals / motifs that might stand out: he maintained balance with the sound of the orchestra.
I: Allegro maestoso
The solo horn effortlessly projected through the sound of the orchestra. Naturally, as it was played near the center of the nave. Still, the musicians maintained an excellent balance, also with the two horns in the back of the orchestra (which is of course also owed to Mozart’s diligent composition).
Expectedly, Ivo Dudler had no technical issues with the solo part, also in the virtuosic, fast passages. One should of course not underestimate the challenges in Mozart’s horn part (even though this was a valved horn, as opposed to the natural horns at Mozart’s time): towards the end of the 3-hour session, one could sense the strain that the solo put on Ivo Dudler’s lips / muscles. By the end of the session, the recording of the first movement was not complete (e.g.: I never heard the cadenza at full length). The artists continued on the following day.
At first, I regretted the use of a modern valve horn. However, then, I reminded myself that the orchestra is not set up for “strict” historic instrumentation. And I did indeed enjoy Ivo Dudler’s smooth, well-balanced tone, color and volume across the range. These are impossible to achieve on a natural horn.
Acoustics
Not surprisingly (after the first recording sessions), the acoustics were ideal, very harmonious and natural in the reverberation. This was particularly true for the horn solo, which seemed to be in perfect harmony with the venue.
Conclusions
I have little, if anything to add to my conclusions from the first recording day. At least for the parts which I attended (and I’m sure this also applies to the remainder of the composition), the performance of the second concerto on this first CD sounded as promising as the first one. I’m curious to listen to the end result, once it becomes available, in around a year from now.
Related postings
- Day 1, session 2 (afternoon): Mozart, Violin Concerto No.1 in B♭ major, K.207 (Stephen Waarts, violin)
- Day 4, session 1 (morning): Mozart, Piano Concerto No.8 in C major, K.246, “Lützow” (Can Çakmur, piano)
Acknowledgements, Credits
The author would like to express his gratitude to the Orpheum Foundation and Goldmann PR for the invitation to the recording session.
