Volume 25 Issue 7 - April 2020

multi-stranded music. This set of discs shows the pianist at his most
enjoyable, astonishingly fleet-fingered and full of delightful argumentative
intelligence.
Raul da Gama
Bach – Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1
Sir András Schiff
Naxos 2.110653 (naxosdirect.com)
!!
Bach’s renown in his own lifetime was
less as a composer than as a keyboard
player, both at the harpsichord and at the
organ. His great ability was summarized in
his obituary: “All his fingers were equally
skillful; all capable of the most perfect
accuracy in performance.” Today of course
we know better, naturally giving due respect
to the greatness of his compositions. Most
notable among these – considering he was
one of the greatest inventors of keyboard
music – is The Well-Tempered Clavier.
The 24 preludes and fugues work through
the 12 major and 12 minor keys. Unequalled
in the profligacy of their inventiveness, the books were intended
partly as a manual of keyboard playing and composition, partly as
a systematic exploration of harmony and partly as a celebration of a
new development in tuning technique that allowed the instrument to
be played in any key without being retuned.
Sir András Schiff’s performance at the BBC Proms (2017) is authoritative
and eminently satisfying. The fact that it has been well-crafted
as a DVD is cause for additional celebration. Schiff exploits the full
range of the piano’s sonorities: a crisp, hard touch is used for the more
rhythmically motorized preludes, yet there are no qualms about using
the sustain pedal to add colour and warmth. His speeds are slow, in
some of the fugues, but the shape and direction of a piece is never in
any doubt.
Raul da Gama
Mozart – Piano Concertos Nos.22 & 24
Charles Richard-Hamelin; Les Violons du Roy; Jonathan Cohen
Analekta AN 2 9147 (analekta.com)
!!
Mozart’s spirit is (arguably) most evident
in his piano-concerto writing – where vitality
is entwined with gaiety, with brilliance
and lyricism multilayered across. This first
recording collaboration between acclaimed
young pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and
Quebec City’s chamber orchestra Les Violons
du Roy, led by Jonathan Cohen, captured that
essence note by note. Richard-Hamelin’s
fiery mastery is matched with the unwavering elegance of the orchestra’s
responses while Cohen’s artistic vision underlines the most minute
details of expression. Together they created a thrilling gem.
Mozart composed 11 piano concertos between February 1784 and
March 1786, while living in Vienna, his creativity unrivaled by any
other composer that came after him when it comes to piano concerto
writing. The two concertos on this album stand on different sides of
his creative expression. No.22 in E-flat Major, sometimes referred
to as the queen of Mozart’s piano concertos, is stately and noble in
nature, with a prominent wind section throughout. On the other end,
No.24 in C Minor, is uncharacteristically emotional and dark, and is
considered to be one of Mozart’s finest efforts.
I could not get enough of the beauty of Richard-Hamelin’s sound
on this recording – it contains a precious combination of shimmering
lightness, fluent articulation and an array of colours. Most impressive
are the cadenzas he has written for these concertos, a spirited
personal salute to Mozart.
Ivana Popovic
Beethoven – Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5
Kristian Bezuidenhout, Freiburger Barockorchester; Pablo
Heras-Casados
Harmonia Mundi HMM902411 (harmoniamundi.com)
!!
Kristian Bezuidenhout has recently
turned his attention to a trilogy of Beethoven
concerto discs. He is known for his inspired,
imaginative and revivifying approach to
fortepiano repertoire, proving time and time
again that communicating brave new things
at the neoclassical keyboard can be attained
through good taste, apt performance practice
and the right dash of courage. This first
of three such recordings embodies all of these celebrated attributes
and, rather triumphantly, establishes new ones.
From the vibrancy of Heras-Casado’s conducting, to the sparkling
lines in winds and brass; from the marvellous sonorities revealed
in Beethoven’s writing when played expertly on period instruments
to the glimmering, pearl-like textures Bezuidenhout attains with
unshakable, inspired finesse, this disc is absolute perfection to behold.
Here is the Beethoven the world needs to know.
Brimming over with jubilant, dazzling sonic palettes, we hear
musical craftsmanship on this record being set alight. The quest for
innovation and (re)discovery is ever present as these gifted, impassioned
artists deliver two of the best-loved piano concertos known
to Western music. Bezuidenhout and Heras-Casado delight us; they
astonish us, drawing us into a glorious, vivid reality from centuries
gone by. In divining treasures from the past, through exceedingly
hard work and a sincere love for what they do, they have set an
18th-century stage resounding with every scale, trill, arpeggio and
cadence now sung afresh for the contemporary ear. Beethoven, surely,
is applauding their achievement from on high.
Adam Sherkin
Chopin – Piano Concertos
Benjamin Grosvenor; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Elim
Chan
Decca Records 4850365 (store.deccaclassics.com)
! ! At 27, Benjamin Grosvenor has dazzled
audiences from the very brink of his extraordinary
career through to what is now his
fifth release on Decca Classics.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
itself presents formidably, with a pared
down ensemble and robust presence,
helmed by the intrepid Elim Chan. Her
command of the players is classically cleanlined,
crisp and no-nonsense in its approach to such familiar music.
Both piano concerti by Chopin are often criticized for their lack of
fulsome orchestra writing. However, Chan seems to disregard any
longstanding notions of inadequacy in the orchestration, declaring
every accompaniment episode and march-like interlude with shining
surety and emphatic musicianship.
As for the solo part, Grosvenor unassumingly guides his piano to
the core of each concerto’s argument, with interpretations that are
commanding and forthright yet never self-indulgent. Abounding
with beautiful melodies and lyrical highpoints, all of this music is
aptly suited to Grosvenor’s zeal for textural clarity and elegant, quicksilver
conceptions of Chopin-esque expressivity. (The first movement
of No.1 and the second of No.2 are examples.) His tone and balance of
phrasing remain exceedingly cultivated with a personal aspect that
seems to exude a deep sense of integrity.
The poise and lucidity of Felix Mendelssohn’s keyboard writing might
be a candidate for influencing Grosvenor’s approach here (and the results
likely closer to Chopin’s original intentions!). No small feat it is today, to
record such well-worn repertoire with fresh ears, hands – and heart.
Adam Sherkin
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