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Another lady composer discovery this year besides Florence Price

Posted by Chris from Lafayette (A) on November 29, 2021 at 14:56:07

That would be Mathilde Aloisia Kralik von Meyrswalden, generally known as Mathilde Kralik (1857 - 1944), who seems to have taken on some of the characteristics of Frau Blucher in her old age:



I got access to a recording of a concert presented this past September by the (wait for it!). . . "Female Symphonic Orchestra of Austria", conducted by Silvia Spinnato, at the Linz Brucknerfest this year. The concert consisted of works by "students of Anton Bruckner", who would be in this case Hans Rott (from whose works Mahler helped himself in his "Wunderhorn" symphonies) and Mathilde Kralik. In fact, there were two of Kralik's works presented: the Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings, and the Symphony in F minor, the latter work for some reason unlisted among the references I checked on Wikipedia and the Austria-Forum.



The performance of the Violin Concerto was helped immensely by the participation of babe violinist Francesca Dego as soloist:



The work was composed in 1936-37, and it begins with a very arresting, rhythmically interesting opening theme, but my initial impression is that the remainder of the work loses focus a bit and that the scoring for strings only leaves me wanting the additional tone colors of a full orchestra. Nevertheless, it's a work which I'd still welcome getting to know better, and I'd think it would be a welcome relief as an alternative to such works as the Berg and Schoenberg Violin Concertos. As mentioned, Dego is dynamite in the solo part!

But the real ear opener is Kralik's Symphony in F minor, which takes a little while to take off, but, once it does, all I could think was, "Wow! Just. . . wow! What a great piece!". It just gets stronger and stronger as it goes along, more and more elevated, culminating in a final "Hymn" with Jacquelyn Wagner as soprano soloist and Magdalena Hasibeder on organ. (Yes - it's kind of an "organ symphony"!) The work was written in 1902-03 and revised in 1942 while Vienna (where Kralik lived) was under the control of the Nazis.

So, since Kralik studied with Bruckner, do either of these works sound like his music? I'd say not so much in the Violin Concerto (maybe a passing whiff of Elgar at a couple of points), but the answer is a resounding YES when in comes to the symphony. I was really bowled over by the work, despite the fact that the orchestra sounded too small to convey all of the proper grand (even profound?) effect. Soprano Wagner (hmm. . . how appropriate!) sounded excellent, and at least the performance as a whole was good enough for one to imagine the even deeper effect which the music might be capable of with larger, more tonally opulent forces.

Unfortunately, neither work seems to be available on YouTube or Qobuz right now, nor do they seem to be available on CD either. (I've linked to a listing of the concert I heard on the "World Concert Hall" site, just in case - but I don't have much expectation that it will play.) I hope that commercial recordings will be released soon of both these works, especially the Symphony.

• https://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/rott_and_kralik   (Open in New Window)

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