Philip Martin - Henri Herz: Piano Music (2008)

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Philip Martin - Henri Herz: Piano Music (2008)

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As the piano came into its own in the mid-19th century, the Vienna-born/French-based Henri Herz (1803-1888) all but dominated the scene as a brilliant virtuoso, popular teacher, and best-selling composer. Listening to this first CD entirely devoted to his solo piano works, you can understand Herz’s one-time appeal, as well as why his music predeceased him. As the Op. 81 variations, the nocturnes, and the ballades demonstrate, Herz was a charming yet unmemorable melodist, whose intricate yet harmonically bland keyboard textures go in one ear and out the other. Flashy devices such as tremolos and repeated notes (Herz adored repeated notes) tend to wear out their welcome long after they’ve made their virtuosic point. You sense this in long stretches of the Fantasie dramatique (based upon “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”) and in Op. 158’s “Yankee Doodle” section. And Le mouvement perpetual owes its existence to Weber’s earlier and far more concise rondo finale from the Piano Sonata No. 1.

Herz may not be a great composer, yet his stuff certainly is fun to digest in small doses, especially when you consider Philip Martin’s appropriately light and colorful touch, supple finger work, and marvelous sense of dramatic timing. Jeremy Nicholas’ fair-minded and informative notes discuss each work in the context of its time. Collectors who dote on the rare Romantics need no prodding to acquire this excellently engineered release.

Review by Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

For listeners who enjoyed Hyperion's two discs of Henri Herz's piano concertos in its Great Romantic Piano Concertos series, here is a single disc entirely devoted to his works for solo piano. The same empty sentimentalities and super virtuoso superficialities that distinguished the Parisian née Viennese early Romantic composer's concertos are equally in evidence here. Performed by Philip Martin – the concerto discs had featured Howard Shelley – Herz's music is granted all conceivable aid and assistance. Martin dashes through the thorniest double octave in contrary motion with the greatest clarity and races over the gnarliest 10-fingered chords with the utmost dexterity, but more importantly, he never condescends to the material even when the material just about begs for it. Yet, as it had for Shelley, Herz's music resists Martin's best efforts to make it enjoyable. Try the last work on the disc, the Fantaisie et Variations sur des Airs nationaux américains variés, and see if you last through almost 11 minutes of Herz noodling around with Yankee Doodle even in Martin's sparkling rendition. If yes, the rest of this the disc will delight you. If no, it's probably safer to stay away. Recorded in All Saints Church in East Finchley, London, in 2006, Hyperion's digital sound is perhaps a bit too close, but nevertheless clean, full, and colorful.

Review by James Leonard, Allmusic.com

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Philip Martin - Henri Herz: Piano Music (2008)

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Philip Martin - Henri Herz: Piano Music (2008)

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Philip Martin - Henri Herz: Piano Music (2008)

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