Gramophone (UK)

O Schmidt ‘The Forgotten Legacy’

Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestraᵃ. Double Concerto for Violin and Accordionᵇ.
Echoesᶜ. Toccata No 1ᵈ

ᵃJesper Sivebæk, gtr ᶜRasmus Kjøller, ᵇᶜᵈBjarke Mogensen, accordion ᵇChristina Åstrand, vn Royal Danish Academy of Music Chamber Orchestra / Max Artved /OUR Recordings (9 70858 • 42’)

Ole Schmidt (1928-2010) was best known as a conductor, his recordings often focusing on Danish repertoire (Nielsen’s six symphonies for Unicorn, produced by Robert Simpson, no less, and music by Bentzon, Børresen and others). Most recently, his live 1980 performance of Havergal Brian’s First Symphony, the Gothic, has been issued by Heritage (2/26). Less well known are his own compositions, covering a wide range of orchestral, chamber and instrumental genres, including concertos and the score for Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film Jeanne d’Arc (10/99).

I have had the pleasure of hearing, and reviewing (eg 1/00), a number of Schmidt’s pieces over the years and have always been impressed by their urbane charm and refinement. The present collection – as its title suggests, of works that faded from view almost instantly, provides four fine works emphasizing the diversity mirrored in his repertoire on the podium. Most significant of all is the Guitar Concerto (1976), with its energizing switch to the electric instrument in the concluding Toccata, performed just once until Jesper Sivebæk, the nimble soloist here, edited and revised the solo part in 2024-25. Resonances of Stravinskian neoclassicism (one of Schmidt’s foundational stylistic traits) nestle with hints of Villa-Lobos in the wonderfully haunting slow movement: Iberian guitar music beset by Nordic shadows.

The accordion dominates the remainder of the programme. The Double Concerto is a late, modest piece (2005), more concertino to be frank but not unwelcome. Nor, too, the more unbuttoned Toccata No 1 (1960): with three other recordings available (most notably from Mogens Ellegaard) it is hardly ‘forgotten’ but, rather, a modern accordion classic. Bjarke Mogensen is the fine exponent here, and his partnerships with violinist Christina Åstrand in the Double Concerto and fellow accordionist Rasmus Kjøller in the brief, rather frowning Echoes (1993) are a delight. Splendid sound, all rather fun. Guy Rickards, August issue, July 10

Toccata No 1 – selected comparison:

Ellegaard Point PCD5073

gramophone.co.uk