1492... for orchestra

 

I am not as as enraptured with this music as I was when I heard it in the early 2000s. At that time, I was really into discovery, and as today, the thrill of discovery often blurs the details.

That is why it is really important to live with the music and revisit it after some time has passed. Some music can become new favorites, while others remain within the periphery.

I like the idea of an orchestral suite based on the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World. It is not a new idea, as other composers have done it, but Victor Herbert's old-fashioned, Romantic quality is right up my alley. It is certainly the most convincing of his orchestral music here.

As is the case with these early Naxos American Classics series, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra is spirited if not particularly honed and precise.

A Review from 2021

Naxos’ American Classics Series was a breath of fresh air when it first appeared in the late 90’s, especially since every dusty niche of British literature was being explored by Hyperion and Chandos since the 70’s & 80’s. While I don’t find every American Naxos release a lost gem, a lot of it is hard on the ears, their advocacy for new American music, such as that by Michael Daugherty, as well as respected full surveys of Sousa, Bernstein, and Copland, amongst explorations of a veritable host of unknown composers and compositions, has been interesting at least. Naxos must be nearing 500 entries in the American Series by now, especially considering their acquisition of Gerard Schwarz’s catalog from Delos, leftovers from Marco Polo, and their line of Jewish American music, and it is all quite fun to explore.

Victor Herbert, mainly known for his American operettas, is a composer that prefers tunefulness with lush orchestrations, and so it is here on this program of his more serious concert music. The big draw here is the 27-minute Columbus Suite, a four-movement work exploring the themes surrounding 1492. The inclusion of a pipe organ and the visuals of a water voyage of discovery are well thought out by Herbert for a solidly dramatic piece of orchestral music. The tunes are good too, if not a bit overused in the finale.

The accompanying orchestral selections from his opera Natoma and the Irish Rhapsody verge upon cultural appropriation, but they both exhibit that turn-of-the-century Romanticism which is easy on the ears. Thankfully Herbert’s use of actual Irish tunes aren’t employed vulgarly, but instead are of a rather serious nature, and although the Native American aspect in Natoma is a bit cringy today, it is offset by an entertaining tango and other showy medley-isms, all from Herbert’s own pen. The Auditorium Festival March is pompously led, and the appearance of Auld Lang Syne before its New Years’ association gives the work a decent hook.

The early orchestral releases of Naxos’ American Classics Series tended to feature Eastern-European orchestras, those led by Ted Kuchar, Bill Stromberg, McLaughlin Williams, and so it is here at around Vol. 40 with the Slovak Radio SO under American conductor Keith Brion, a die-hard Sousa nut and wind band expert. Brion doesn’t overblow this music, even when it probably wouldn’t hurt these ultra-Romantic compositions, and his Sousa background is obvious in the opening Chicago-based march. Thankfully, the Slovak ensemble gives precision and attack under Brion much better than the Moscow SO under Stromberg in the Meredith Willson symphonies I heard just before hearing this recording from the same American Naxos series, and the sound is decent too. The Slovak Radio Concert Hall’s well-positioned pipe organ is icing on the cake that affords this performance a little extra zing too.

I can’t say I am bowled over by this concert music by Victor Herbert, it is a bit old-fashioned, but it is very attractive with a fair measure of fun. The performances are good and overall this is a solid entry in the early part of Naxos’ American Classics series from the late 90’s.

Listen on YouTube

Works
Columbus Suite (27.40)
Irish Rhapsody (16.03)
Natoma (15.31)
Auditorium Festival March (7.51)

Ensemble
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Keith Brion, conductor

Label: Naxos
Year: 2000
Total Timing: 67.13

 

 

Not as treasurable as when I first visited it, this collection of Victor Herbert's orchestral music is still rare.

The aspect of exploration ends up being more thrilling than the music. Its old-fashioned style is never individual, but hardly off-putting either.

 

 

 

 

Find more Victor Herbert recordings HERE!