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20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1: Austria & Czechia / Wallisch
Grand Piano

20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 1: Austria & Czechia / Wallisch

$19.99

Details

Composer
VARIOUS
Artist
Gottlieb Wallisch
Format
CD
Label
Grand Piano
Released
Feb 14, 2020
Catalog #
GP813
UPC
747313981328

About

Also available: 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 2 and 20th Century Foxtrots, Vol. 3

 

During the inter-war period, in the cities of the West, a younger generation found ways to enjoy life in the form of dances such as shimmies, foxtrots, tangos and Charlestons: strong rhythms that became a symbol of a carefree and decadent era. The new jazz craze took hold everywhere, and Krenek’s opera Jonny spielt auf became an overnight sensation. The inter-war Zeitgeist in Vienna and the Czech lands is reflected in a programme full of première recordings – many of which were hits in their day – rich with fashionable dynamism, syncopation and joie de vivre. Born in Vienna, Gottlieb Wallisch first appeared on the concert platform when he was seven years old, and at the age of twelve made his debut in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. A concert directed by Yehudi Menuhin in 1996 launched Wallisch’s international career: accompanied by the Sinfonia Varsovia, the seventeen-year-old pianist performed Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. Since then Wallisch has received invitations to the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the NCPA in Beijing, also the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Festivals of Lucerne and Salzburg, December Nights in Moscow, and the Singapore Arts Festival.

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REVIEWS:

 

This new recording is an utterly delightful collection of Austrian and Czech foxtrots and other dance music, performed with panache and great affection. Most of the music was written in the 1920s and 1930s when the composers were prompted by publishers to write popular (and commercial) dance music. You can imagine this inventive, rhythmic, and sensuous music being played in pre-WW II Vienna and Prague dance halls and cabarets.

 

– MusicWeb International



While jazz-inspired music by the likes of Stravinsky and Weill has never been forgotten, the similar efforts of dozens of other composers from the same period have fallen into obscurity. Now some of those experiments are enjoying a fresh hearing. The German pianist Gottlieb Wallisch’s revealing and entertaining new recording is mostly made up of world-premiere recordings of these dance-oriented works, in their piano arrangements.

By grouping these works geographically, he said, he anticipates creating “an encyclopedia of music from this time.” The second volume in the series — devoted to pieces by German composers — is scheduled for release in the fall.

If you’ve heard of the Czech composer Jaromir Weinberger, it’s likely for the Polka from his opera “Schwanda the Bagpiper.” (Herbert von Karajan was a devotee of that orchestral excerpt.) But he also composed an entry in the annals of the jazz-age dance known as the shimmy, garlanding his miniature with streaks of New World suavity.

In a 1925 lecture, the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek asked aloud what the listening public wanted. “The answer,” he continued, “will perhaps be somewhat frightening: none other than dance music.” The arrangement on Mr. Wallisch’s recording was created by the composer Jeno Takacs as part of a potpourri of selections from the opera.

Jaroslav Jezek’s “Bugatti Step” was, when it was written, a calling card for its composer — including with the “jazz orchestra” that he led at the time. Mr. Wallisch’s take on the solo piano arrangement of the piece is a cut above several other contemporary performances. He has plenty of forward motion, but his way of approaching Jezek’s propulsive writing results in a smooth ride. “It’s not a Charleston or a quick-fox,” he said. “I don’t think it needs the fast-as-possible tempo.”

– New York Times

Tracklist 28 tracks

  1. 1 Shimmy 01:29
    Track
    1
    Title
    Shimmy
    Duration
    01:29
    Composer
    Ernst Krenek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  2. 2 Blues 02:38
    Track
    2
    Title
    Blues
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    Ernst Krenek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  3. 3 Tango 01:31
    Track
    3
    Title
    Tango
    Duration
    01:31
    Composer
    Ernst Krenek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  4. 4 Der Sprung über den Schatten (The Leap Over the Shadow), Op. 17: Foxtrot (arr. G. Blasser for piano) 03:17
    Track
    4
    Title
    Der Sprung über den Schatten (The Leap Over the Shadow), Op. 17: Foxtrot (arr. G. Blasser for piano)
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    Ernst Krenek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  5. 5 Shimmy auf den Namen Bach (Shimmy on the Name Bach) 01:58
    Track
    5
    Title
    Shimmy auf den Namen Bach (Shimmy on the Name Bach)
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Julius Bittner
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  6. 6 Flirt, Slowfox 01:27
    Track
    6
    Title
    Flirt, Slowfox
    Duration
    01:27
    Composer
    Ralph Benatzky
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  7. 7 L'Heure bleue, Boston 03:21
    Track
    7
    Title
    L'Heure bleue, Boston
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Ralph Benatzky
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  8. 8 Tango macabre 03:56
    Track
    8
    Title
    Tango macabre
    Duration
    03:56
    Composer
    Ralph Benatzky
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  9. 9 Foolish Spring, Foxtrot 03:42
    Track
    9
    Title
    Foolish Spring, Foxtrot
    Duration
    03:42
    Composer
    Franz Mittler
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  10. 10 Shimmy 02:51
    Track
    10
    Title
    Shimmy
    Duration
    02:51
    Composer
    Wilhelm Grosz
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  11. 11 Tango 03:19
    Track
    11
    Title
    Tango
    Duration
    03:19
    Composer
    Wilhelm Grosz
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  12. 12 Thannhäuser-Foxtrot, Op. 33, "Lied an den morgenstern" (Song to the Morning Star) 02:11
    Track
    12
    Title
    Thannhäuser-Foxtrot, Op. 33, "Lied an den morgenstern" (Song to the Morning Star)
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Leopold Krauss-Elka
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  13. 13 Shymmy-Tempo 00:59
    Track
    13
    Title
    Shymmy-Tempo
    Duration
    00:59
    Composer
    Hanns Eisler
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  14. 14 Illusion, Foxtrot 03:24
    Track
    14
    Title
    Illusion, Foxtrot
    Duration
    03:24
    Composer
    Felix Petyrek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  15. 15 Arizona-Foxtrot 01:54
    Track
    15
    Title
    Arizona-Foxtrot
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Felix Petyrek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  16. 16 Bugatti-Step 02:58
    Track
    16
    Title
    Bugatti-Step
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Jaroslav Ježek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  17. 17 Ozvěny z music-hallu (Echoes of the Music Hall), Foxtrot 01:59
    Track
    17
    Title
    Ozvěny z music-hallu (Echoes of the Music Hall), Foxtrot
    Duration
    01:59
    Composer
    Jaroslav Ježek
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  18. 18 No. 1. Shimmy-Blues 02:02
    Track
    18
    Title
    No. 1. Shimmy-Blues
    Duration
    02:02
    Composer
    Alois Hába
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  19. 19 No. 2. Blues 03:14
    Track
    19
    Title
    No. 2. Blues
    Duration
    03:14
    Composer
    Alois Hába
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  20. 20 No. 3. Boston 03:01
    Track
    20
    Title
    No. 3. Boston
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Alois Hába
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  21. 21 No. 4. Tango 02:12
    Track
    21
    Title
    No. 4. Tango
    Duration
    02:12
    Composer
    Alois Hába
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  22. 22 Foxtrot, H. 126bis 02:35
    Track
    22
    Title
    Foxtrot, H. 126bis
    Duration
    02:35
    Composer
    Bohuslav Martinů
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  23. 23 One-step, H. 127bis 01:26
    Track
    23
    Title
    One-step, H. 127bis
    Duration
    01:26
    Composer
    Bohuslav Martinů
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  24. 24 Black Bottom, H. 165 00:53
    Track
    24
    Title
    Black Bottom, H. 165
    Duration
    00:53
    Composer
    Bohuslav Martinů
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  25. 25 The Kingdom of Heaven, Slow Foxtrot (Blues) 03:30
    Track
    25
    Title
    The Kingdom of Heaven, Slow Foxtrot (Blues)
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Karel Boleslav Jirák
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  26. 26 Matěj Poctivý: City Shimmy 01:52
    Track
    26
    Title
    Matěj Poctivý: City Shimmy
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Jaromír Weinberger
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  27. 27 No. 1. Valse Boston 03:30
    Track
    27
    Title
    No. 1. Valse Boston
    Duration
    03:30
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch
  28. 28 No. 2. Shimmy-Fox 02:23
    Track
    28
    Title
    No. 2. Shimmy-Fox
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Erwin Schulhoff
    Performer
    Gottlieb Wallisch