On track: Hummel has his dues at last

By WILLIAM DART

It's not so long ago that the few available recordings of Hummel's music were relegated to budget labels such as Turnabout, with performances that were usually a few degrees short of charismatic.

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), a colleague and contemporary of Beethoven, always deserved better.

The "unaffected simplicity and friendly and caressing manners" praised by one critic may have assured him of popularity in his time, but perhaps these proved to be less-welcome virtues as the years passed.

Things have looked up over the past decade and now a sizeable amount of Hummel's music is available on disc, with some catching the ears of those who give out awards and prizes.

Last October, the first volume of Collegium Musicum 90s Hummel Mass Edition carried off a Gramophone magazine award for best choral recording. The D major Mass, in particular, was a revelation, with its emotional response to the liturgical text.

Throughout, conductor Richard Hickox subtly realised Hummel's dramatic intent (the opening of the Gloria could have slipped from a Gluck opera) and the Chandos recording was top-notch. As a bonus, the superb Susan Gritton sings his Alma Virgo, a work that would easily find a place in hearts which are fond of Mozart's Alleluia exsultate.

Bound for even higher profile is Stephen Hough's new Hyperion disc of three Hummel Sonatas. The British pianist has been championing Hummel since his 1987 award-winning Concertos recording and this latest release is overdue, to say the least.

One warning. Read Jeremy Nicholas' grudging sleeve-notes after hearing the music - let the lovely lyricism of the F sharp minor Largo or the high-stepping frolics of the Sonata's Finale make their initial visceral impact.

Hough is in his element. He has the theatrical flair to catch Hummel the showman, from gleaming scales to trademark thirds, and he so beautifully underlines the poignant fluctuations from major and minor in the D major first movement, a feature that reminds us that Hummel was born just inside the Czech border.

And, when you've bought and enjoyed this recording, why not book your seat for Hough's September performance with the NZSO, where he'll play Saint-Saens' elegant Fourth Concerto.

* Hummel, Masses, performed by Collegium Musicum 90 under Richard Hickox (Chandos 0681); Hummel, Piano Sonatas, played by Stephen Hough (Hyperion CDA 67390). Both available through Ode Records.