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Ernst WANCZURA: "Symphonie Ukrainienne, Symphonie Russe" - Evstignej FOMIN: "Orchestral Pieces from 'Boeslavich'"
Ensemble Altera Pars
Dir: Pavel Serbin
rec: May 18 - 22, 2025, Cologne, Deutschlandfunk (Kammermusiksaal)
CPO - 555 741-2 (© 2026) (69'22")
Liner-notes: E/D
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Evstignej FOMIN (1761-1800):
Novgorodskij bogatyr’ Boeslavich (ballets and entr'actes);
Ernst WANCZURA (1746-1802):
Symphonie Russe in D (Wz. III/10.2) (second version 1785);
Symphonie Russe sur l'Airs Ukrainiennes in C (Wz. III/9.2) (second version 1790)
Polina Gorshkova, Dorothee Kunst, transverse flute;
Bettina Simon, Shaghayegh Shahrabi Farahani, oboe;
Lisa Shklyaver, Andrei Chernov, clarinet;
Rainer Johannsen, Marita Schaar, bassoon;
Christian Binde, Jörg Schulteß, horn;
Hannes Rux, Almut Ruх, trumpet;
Evgeny Sviridov, Markus Hoffmann, Lilit Tonoyan, Justina Skatulnik, Katja Grütner, Adrian Bleyer, violin;
Angel Muñoz Vella, Anna Kodama, viola;
Pavel Serbin, Felix Stross, cello;
Raivis Misjuns, double bass;
Tobias Liebezeit, timpani
Pavel Serbin, director of the Ensemble Altera Pars, opens the liner-notes in the booklet to the disc under review thus: "One of the most important tasks of historical performance is to bring unknown treasures of musical art from the past back to life." Hear, hear! It cannot be emphasized enough how important it is to look beyond the obvious and explore unknown territory. Over more than forty years of reviewing many recordings of the same repertoire have landed on my desk. Do we really need the 250th recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos or his Goldberg Variations? I don't think so. It is understandable that upcoming artists and ensembles wish to prove their skills by performing and recording music that everyone knows. However, they should consider making their mark in the music scene by focusing on repertoire that established ensembles tend to ignore.
There is a reason that some music has remained under the radar. Often pieces have been preserved incomplete or otherwise in such a way that much work needs to be done to make them available for performance and recording. That also goes for the music performed on the present disc.
The core of the programme is music from an opera by Evstignej Fomin. He was born in St Petersburg; as he lost his father at a young age, he was admitted at the age of five to the Foundling School of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, a charitable institution set up by Catherine II to foster a new generation of Russian artists. Although he was assumed to be trained in architecture, music became his vocation. In order to develop his skills he was given the opportunity to travel to Italy in 1782. In Bologna he studied with Padre Martini, at the time one of the greatest authorities in music, and especially in counterpoint, in Europe. Only three years later he was elected member of the renowed Accademia Filarmonica. The next year he returned to St Petersburg. He wrote an opera on a libretto by Catherine the Great, Novogorodskij bogatyr' Boeslavich (The Novgorod Hero Boeslavich). It was a "comic opera compiled from stories, Russian songs and other sources" in five acts with ballet. Apparently Catherine was not pleased: after the first performance it was never revived, and Fomin was barred from the court stage. Serbin mentions that all his next operas were performed in private theatres. It was only after the death of Catherine, when Paul I had succeeded here, that he was appointed at the court (1797).
"The plot of Boeslavich is based on a Russian 'bylina' epic and tells the story of the rise of a young prince who has to make a decision: to achieve success through wit and wisdom or through the incredible feats." (booklet) The vocal parts have not survived, and the instrumental parts needed to be put together in order to construct a score. What we have here is the complete ballets and entr'actes. Two things are notable. First, in his ballets Fomin makes use of folk songs; in the booklet they are listed. Given that outside Russia these songs are probably not known, it is unlikely any non-Russian listener will recognize them. Second, the dances are not meant as a kind of entertainment in alternation with the dramatic development. They are rather part of it, as indicate the stage directions in the libretto. For instance, 'Ballo. Andantino staccato' (track 11) has the addition "The mayors break open the wide gates and storm into the courtyard".
The ballet music by Fomin has been split into three large sections. These are separated by symphonies by Ernst Wanczura, who was not Russian by birth, but made a career in Russia. In New Grove his name is spelled in different ways: the entry has Arnošt Vančura. He was from Vamberg (now Vamberk) in Bohemia. He first made a career in the Austrian army. The lexicographer Ernst Ludwig Gerber stated that "due to conflicts he got into, thanks to his satirical jokes, he was forced to leave [Austria] and head for St. Petersburg." There he arrived in 1783, where he took part in the reorganization of theatres in St Petersburg. He also made a name for himself as a keyboard player. In 1783 he moved to Moscow where he became musical director of the orphanage. From 1786, after returning to St Petersburg, he was responsible for the inspection of theatre buildings, acting troupes and orchestras, as well as repertoire policy. He also wrote music for the theatre, such as the fairy-tale opera Tsar Akhrideich, on a libretto by Catherine the Great. His fate was the opposite of Fomin's: this opera was performed until the 1820s, but under Paul I he fell out of grace and was removed from public office.
In 1798/99 Wanczura published six symphonies as his Opp. 1 and 2. These were composed considerably earlier, as in 1790 he published keyboard versions of the two symphonies recorded here in his Journal de Musique pour le clavecin dédeé aux Dames, which he had already announced five years earlier. The orchestral edition of 1798 concerns later versions. For this recording of the Symphonie Russe sur l'Airs Ukrainiennes the version of 1790 was reconstructed on the basis of the keyboard adaptation. The first movement is available, as it was used it as the overture to a comic opera by Mikhail Matveyevich Sokolovsky.
The orchestral parts of the Symphony Russe from around 1783 were discovered in the Landesarchiv Thüringen, where it is attributed to another composer. The liner-notes are not entirely clear here, but from what is written - that we get here the version of 1785, based on the keyboard reduction and using the orchestration of the early and later versions - I gather that the parts from the archive in Thüringen are not complete. Otherwise a reconstruction had not been necessary.
What these two symphonies have in common - and also with the ballets by Fomin - is that they include traditional songs (as indicated expresses verbis in the Symphonie Russe sur l'Airs Ukrainiennes), either as sonata themes or rondo refrains.
Stylistially these works by Fomin and Wanczura show the influence of the classical style in vogue in central Europe. Listening to them one is often reminded of Haydn's symphonies. Both symphonies by Wanczura are in three movements, in the usual order, but the first movement of the Symphonie Russe sur l'Airs Ukrainiennes opens with a short section in a moderate tempo, which is not specifically indicated. These works shed an interesting light on musical developments in Russia in the classical period. The influence of the Italian style in music for the theatre is well documented, but this aspect is far lesser known. That in itself makes this disc an important addition to the discography.
The music won't shock the world, but that is in no way a deprecation of their musical value. There is no dull moment here: Fomin's ballets and Wanczura's symphonies are well-written and certainly deserve to be performed and recorded, independent of their historical importance. That is also due to the energetic and stylish performances of the Ensemble Altera Pars. It has recorded some unknown repertoire before, and one can only hope that they will continue to explore unknown treasures from the Russian musical heritage.
Johan van Veen (© 2026)
Relevant links:
Ensemble Altera Pars