 A la différence de son compatriote et contemporain Bartók qui explore des voies nouvelles et forge son propre langage, Ernö von Dohnányi reste profondément attaché au post-romantisme, promenant jusqu'au milieu du vingtième siècle un héritage brahmsien parfaitement assumé. Pianiste, chef d'orchestre et pédagogue renommé (Annie Fischer, Géza Anda, György Cziffra, Georg Solti seront ses élèves), il laisse un catalogue d'une soixantaine d'œuvres dont un bon tiers dédié au piano. Pas de sonate au sein de ce corpus, toutefois les Quatre Rhapsodies (1903) parcourues par un thème récurrent, noble et épique, pourraient bien en constituer une : en effet, ce cycle ambitieux au geste large et au souffle puissant rappelle à bien des égards, notamment par son pianisme et ses dimensions, la Sonate en si de Liszt. Pensée telle une ballade romantique en dépit de sa formelle et rigoureuse organisation, la belle et dense Passacaille (1899) développe de manière habile et inventive trente-six variations tour à tour brillantes, lyriques, éloquentes, techniques ou chantantes. Sombres, burlesques et sarcastiques, les Trois Pièces Singulières (1951) comptent parmi les plus modernes de leur auteur : rythmes percussifs, harmonies instables, chromatismes et dissonances dominent ces courtes pages qui tranchent tardivement avec le reste de sa production. Narratif et inspiré, Daniel Röhm rend bien attrayant ce répertoire hongrois pourtant peu fréquenté. (Alexis Brodsky) Music critics have always found it difficult to assign stylistic and qualitative labels to Ernst von Dohnányi (Hungarian: Ernõ Dohnányi) – so it was in the past, and so it is today. Sometimes they have minimized his significance in the development of Hungarian music, and other times they have named him in the same breath with Bartók and Kodály. In any case, two things are certain: Dohnányi was not a revolutionary innovator, and a magnificent gift for melodic invention always distinguishes his music. After the release of his romantic Violin Concerto No. 1 with Ulf Wallin, we now are pleased to present some of his piano compositions, interpreted by Daniel Röhm, whose debut CD with Franz Schubert’s late piano sonatas was awarded the Supersonic Award. And now Röhm sheds light on a little-known musical field represented by the sound world of this Hungarian composer whose works emerged from the tradition of Liszt and Brahms. Very early Dohnányi was regarded as one of the best pianists of his times, but he was also appreciated as a composer. On 16 February 1900 the Neues Wiener Tageblatt wrote, »His Passacaglia for Clavier is one of the most magnificent variation pieces that we know and, though strict in form, a very modern piece. The composer freely operates within the boundaries he has set for himself, so that not the slightest compulsion is to be observed in his work; he passes through all the schools of counterpoint, and all the while it is as if his imagination were pleasantly strolling along a delightful path".
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