Rediscovering Maria Herz’s Piano Music

It wasn't that long ago that I reviewed a Capriccio release of Maria Herz's orchestral music. A recording of all world premiere recordings. And now here's an album of all her numbered piano works -- all world premiere recordings. 

Maria Herz was a virtuoso pianist and composer active in the between-war years. When the Nazis rose to power, her Jewish heritage put an end to her career in Germany. She left the country in 1935 with her children, never to return. 

Herz would eventually rebuild her career as a performer and teacher. But she stopped composing when she left Germany. Herz only wrote around 30 works. Who knows? In time they may all be recorded. 

Pianist Aude St-Pierre makes her recording debut, and it's a great one. Herz was a pianist. Her keyboard music is idiomatic and exploits the possibilities of the instrument. St-Pierre plays with confidence and empathy. These are performances I want to revisit again and again. 

All three works show Herz's creativity. Her Op. 1 is a set of variations on Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 20. This is a core repertoire work. So much so that it simply is. To recast and rework the motives takes real imagination. And Herz delivers. Each variation takes this prelude in a new direction. And there are eleven of them. 

Her second published work, 12 (Valses) Ländler for piano also delivers. These are twelve very short pieces, but each one has its own character. Both these works come from the 1910s when Herz was just starting her career. 

She hit her compositional stride in the early 1930s. Her Piano Sonata in F minor foreshadows her mature efforts. Written in 1922, this is a complex piece in structure and harmony. Herz flirts with the chromaticism of atonality without stepping over the edge. The sonata is a work that's both modern and accessible.

I applaud St. Pierre for her bold programming choices. Most artists stick to the basics for their debuts. This is well-crafted music that indeed deserves rediscovering

Rediscovering Maria Herz
Aude St-Pierre, piano
Genuin Classics GEN 24863