Hendrik Andriessen once stated that it is not the 'contemporary' or 'innovative' of a composer, but rather that the 'musical meaning of the composer's personality' determines the quality of his music. This seems like a good guideline for dealing with Dutch composers in general, because the music they wrote is rarely at the forefront of modernity stylistically. The value of Andriessen's comment
… becomes apparent when one focuses on someone like Julius Röntgen (1855-1932). Röntgen wrote about 600 works, which, measured by the time of their creation, can be described as 'old-fashioned', but many of which are still viable, due to the stature of Röntgen's musical personality. All this becomes clear on this CD with three piano concertos, very well performed by pianist Folke Nauta and the Orkest van het Oosten, conducted by Jurjen Hempel. The most extensive work is the "Piano Concerto op.18", written in 1879. It becomes clear after a few measures who was Röntgen's example: Johannes Brahms. Sometimes people think they are listening to a rediscovered "Piano Concerto No. 3" by Brahms, but that does not alter the fact that Röntgen's concert is just a very good piece of music, apparently written 'aus einem Guss'. The same also applies to the other "Zwei Konzerte", a kind of diptych of piano concertos from 1929-30. (JvG) _ The same also applies to the other "Zwei Konzerte", a kind of diptych of piano concertos from 1929-30. (JvG) _ The same also applies to the other "Zwei Konzerte", a kind of diptych of piano concertos from 1929-30. (JvG) _more
