Madoka Inui - Hummel: At the Opera (2011)

Tracklist:

01. Variations on -Vivat Bachus- from Mozart's -Die entfürung aus dem Serail- for piano in C major, Op. 34-3- Theme- Allegretto ma vivo - Var. 1 - Var. 2 - Var. 3 [0:02:02.29]
02. Variations on -Vivat Bachus- from Mozart's -Die entfürung aus dem Serail- for piano in C major, Op. 34-3- Var. 4 - Var. 5 [0:01:22.20]
03. Variations on -Vivat Bachus- from Mozart's -Die entfürung aus dem Serail- for piano in C major, Op. 34-3- Var. 6 - Var. 7 - Var. 8 [0:02:16.48]
04. Variations on -Vivat Bachus- from Mozart's -Die entfürung aus dem Serail- for piano in C major, Op. 34-3- Var. 9- Doppia- Sostenuto [0:01:46.70]
05. Variations on -Vivat Bachus- from Mozart's -Die entfürung aus dem Serail- for piano in C major, Op. 34-3- Var. 10 - Var. 11 - Var. 12- La gallopade- Prestissimo [0:02:11.34]
06. Variations on a theme from Gluck's -Armide- for piano in F major, Op. 57- Theme- Un poco allegretto - Var. 1 - Var. 2 - Var. 3- Un poso sostenuto - Var. 4- Scherzando [0:03:31.73]
07. Variations on a theme from Gluck's -Armide- for piano in F major, Op. 57- Var. 5 - Var. 6 - Var. 7 - Var. 8 [0:03:45.51]
08. Variations on a theme from Gluck's -Armide- for piano in F major, Op. 57- Var. 9- Adagio espressivo - Var. 10- Allegro moderato [0:03:39.18]
09. Quintor des nègres, for the ballet -Paul et Virginie,- Op. 41 [0:04:20.53]
10. Variations on -Guide mes pas, o Providence- from Cherubini's -Les deux Journées- for piano in E flat major (unverified)- Theme- Allegro moderato - Var. 1 - Var. 2 - Var. 3 [0:03:10.02]
11. Variations on -Guide mes pas, o Providence- from Cherubini's -Les deux Journées- for piano in E flat major (unverified)- Var. 4- Con espressione - Var. 5 [0:02:29.23]
12. Variations on -Guide mes pas, o Providence- from Cherubini's -Les deux Journées- for piano in E flat major (unverified)- Var. 6 - Var. 7 [0:02:54.64]
13. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116- Allegro energico [0:05:20.09]
14. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116- Larghetto [0:03:45.41]
15. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116- Allegro. Tempo di Marcia [0:01:44.28]
16. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116- Allegro (Tempesta di Mare) [0:02:37.68]
17. Oberons Zauberhorn, fantasy for piano & orchestra, Op. 116- Allegretto con moto [0:05:12.28]
18. Variations on a march from Isouard's -Cendrillon- for piano in C major, Op. 40a- Theme- Allegro maestoso - Var. 1 - Var. 2 [0:02:36.28]
19. Variations on a march from Isouard's -Cendrillon- for piano in C major, Op. 40a- Var. 3 - Var. 4 - Var. 5 [0:02:59.65]
20. Variations on a march from Isouard's -Cendrillon- for piano in C major, Op. 40a- Var. 6 - Var. 7- Maggiore [0:03:05.66]
21. Variations on a march from Isouard's -Cendrillon- for piano in C major, Op. 40a- Var. 8- Giga- Prestissimo [0:03:53.18]
22. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Act 1- Entr'acte- Largo [0:01:59.43]
23. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Act 1- Solo (getanzt von Mademsoiselle Gritti)- Un poco allegretto [0:02:26.61]
24. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Zug der Opferpriester zum Tempel Aliboroms, des Goldesels- Andante sostenuto [0:02:07.54]
25. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Act 1- Marsch wie der Goldesel als Schlachtopfer abgeführt wird [0:01:44.11]
26. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Act 3- Spiegelscene- Quasi tempo di Menuetto [0:01:25.69]
27. Potpourri for piano [No. 1] in C minor (with themes from -Die Eselshaut-), Op. 58- Act 1- Bacchanal Tanz- Presto assai [0:01:29.48]

Performers:
Madoka Inui – piano

This fine Naxos release fills a gap between the pure virtuoso tradition of operatic paraphrases and potpourris on one hand, and the more ambitious treatments of preexisting material by Franz Liszt on the other. Although Naxos doesn't claim them as world recording premieres, these pieces by Johann Nepomuk Hummel have surely seen precious few performances since they fell out of fashion in the middle of the 19th century. Hummel was a contemporary and sometimes a rival of Beethoven, and several of these pieces contain something of the way Beethoven had of taking comic material seriously. Consider the opening set of Variations on "Vivat Bacchus" from Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Op. 34/3, where Mozart's comic treatment of the Turkish potentate exposed for the first time to alcohol gives birth to the very Beethovenian variation 9 (track 4). The Variations on a Theme from Gluck's Armide, Op. 57, are similarly substantial, with a chromatic slow movement giving way to a contrapuntal finale. The Grand Fantasia on Oberons Zauberhorn (Oberon's Magic Horn), Op. 116, was Hummel's entry in a growing market of pieces based on Weber's operas; Liszt, who was 18 when it appeared and already experimenting, may well have heard it and been influenced by it. The closest Hummel comes to the pure Romantic potboiler is the Potpourri No. 1 from the Opera Die Eselshaut (The Donkey Skin), Op. 58, but even this is a colorful, attractive set of pictorial pieces. Pianist Madoka Inui delivers fine performances, favoring crisp articulation over volume in music that was still written for fortepiano-like instruments; she handles the considerable technical challenges confidently. Add in good sound from a Viennese studio, and you have a release that effectively recovers a lost corner of the early 19th century.