Emilie Mayer: Piano Concerto - Symphony No. 1 - Overtures (Symphonic Works, Vol. 1)

Mrs Beethoven. It was her contemporaries who bestowed this name upon Emilie Mayer, such was the impressiveness of her skill and her Œuvre. Her success was truly remarkable for a woman in the male-dominated 19th century. It is also remarkable that the first albums featuring her works were not published until more than 130 years after her death. The most recent of these is Emilie Mayer: Piano Concerto, Symphony No. 1, Overtures (Symphonic Works, Vol. 1), recorded by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under the baton of their concertmaster Bernhard Forck, with their long-standing accompanist Alexander Melnikov on piano.

Emilie Luisa Frederika Mayer was born on 14 May 1812 in Friedland, Mecklenburg, the fourth child of the town apothecary August Friedrich Mayer and his second wife, Henrietta Caronia Louisa. Her father recognised his daughter’s talent, and as early as the age of five she was receiving piano lessons from the Friedland cantor and organist Carl Driver.

In her mid-20s, Mayer was a pupil of the Stettin organist and composer Carl Loewe and wrote her first compositions. Loewe was very impressed by his pupil’s work and performed her first symphonies. He also put her in touch with the composers Adolf Bernhard Marx and Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht in Berlin, where Mayer received further tuition.

Alongside her lessons, Mayer undertook her own concert tours and wrote further works. At the age of 38, she organised her first concert in Berlin, which the Vossische Zeitung announced with a comment typical of the time, yet rather curious:

‘A concert programme of this kind, brought to life entirely by a woman’s hand, is, to the best of our experience and knowledge, a unique occurrence in the history of music to date’

Mayer was shrewd, including when it came to self-promotion. In order to be allowed to perform her symphonies at the Royal Theatre, the keen amateur baker sent the Queen a bread bowl in the Pompeian style, baked from white bread dough. The consequences were far-reaching: in addition to a gold medal, Mayer also received the royal approval to perform in the royal concert halls.

When Mayer died in Berlin in 1883, she was the most famous female composer of her time. And yet, memories of her quickly faded and have only begun to resurface in the last few years. The Akademie für alte Musik Berlin presents her music in the ensemble’s characteristic style – authentically, using instruments from the period or faithful replicas. And the period in question is: Romanticism.

The compositions on Emilie Mayer: Piano Concerto, Symphony No. 1, Overtures (Symphonic Works, Vol. 1) are true children of the Romantic era. Tonal structure, musical conception – even some phrases – seem straight out of a textbook. Yet these are mere snapshots, for Mayer utilises the conventions of the era with confidence and intelligence. She breaks with these conventions, as if she were using quotations to demonstrate her ability, only to then give preference to a gentler expression – which is part of her musical magic and its lightness.

‘Gentle’ is also a fitting keyword for the recording itself. The use of period instruments softens some of the sharp edges of modern violins and creates a consistently more relaxed atmosphere in the soundscape. The power in the lower register meets warm mid-range and a gentler upper register. This is already evident in the Overture in D minor, which opens the album and invites the listener to enjoy the Piano Concerto in B flat minor, the Overture No. 3 in C major and, finally, the Symphony No. 1 in C minor.

The listening experience is further enhanced by the excellent recording. The orchestra, comprising around 30 musicians, is spatially staggered across a wide stage, which creates considerable transparency whilst also offering many musical treats – a prime example being the almost natural-sounding transition of the flutes into the string passages of the first movement of the Piano Concerto. Incidentally, Melnikov plays his grand piano closer to the listening position, which once again underlines the quality of the mix.

Emilie Mayer: Piano Concerto, Symphony No. 1, Overtures (Symphonic Works, Vol. 1) is a stroke of luck in many ways. The compositions are magnificent, the ensemble’s playing is captivating, the pianist is brilliant and the recording is of the highest calibre.

It leaves nothing to be desired.