Emil Hartmann – Concertos

Emil Hartmann (1836-1898) experienced great success when he toured Germany and the rest of Europe conducting his own works, and was often compared to the great Romantic masters of the European musical scene. But at home in Denmark the composer was overshadowed throughout his life by his famous father J.P.E. Hartmann, whose centenary we celebrate this year. The writer Hans Christian Andersen actually said of the two Hartmanns that old Hartmann is a born composer, young Hartmann was brought up to it. With this recording of Emil Hartmann’s three concertos – for violin, cello and piano – we can be in no doubt that the fame that young Hartmann enjoyed abroad was more than deserved. Here you can listen to three of the finest Danish soloists today expressing themselves in Emil Hartmann’s full-blooded Romantic concertos with the special Nordic element that gives the music unusual melodic beauty.