Recorded Works
Joseph James: Wanderer Fantasy
Wanderer Fantasy after Schubert
Fantasie after Schumann
English Chamber Orchestra; conductor Orlando Jopling
Members of the Schubert Ensemble: Simon Blendis violin; Douglas Paterson viola; Jane Salmon cello; Steve Williams / Peter Buckoke bass
Signum Classics recording SIGCD095
Track listing
Wanderer Fantasy in C after Franz Schubert (D. 760)
1. Allegro con fuoco ma non troppo
2. Adagio
3. Presto
4. Allegro
Fantasie in F after Robert Schumann
(op. 17)
5. Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen
6. Mäßig. Durchaus energisch
7. Langsam getragen. Durchweg leise zu halten
Joseph James’s versions of these two celebrated highlights of the piano repertory are masterly reinterpretations that offer deep insights into the work of the romantic composers.
Although the actual notes never depart from the originals, the two Fantasies nevertheless take on a somewhat different character. The personal, self-referential character of the solo piano music is given a more general significance in the dialogue between the soloists and the main body of musicians, as well as in the lyrical interplay between the individual players.
However, the sense of free improvisation remains: frequently the sound of the soloists matches the characteristic sonorities of the chamber music of both Schubert and Schumann, but the transcriptions, especially when the pianistic passagework is faithfully translated into string arabesques over the body of orchestral sound, also give the works an unmistakably contemporary sound, so that the listener’s sense of familiarity is overlayed with an awareness of hearing extraordinary new music for the first time.
First published: 2007