Volume 26 Issue 6 - March and April 2021

Louis Lortie Plays Chopin, Volume 6
Louis Lortie
Chandos CHAN 20117 (naxosdirect.com/
search/chan+20117)
! The music of
Chopin is, for Louis
Lortie, a vocational
hallmark
and the making
of his career. Now,
six records deep
into the composer’s
catalogue,
Lortie includes a fantasy, an early set of variations
and assorted Polish national dances on
his latest release. For the dances, an objective,
no-nonsense approach is favoured. His sense
of rhythmic continuity betrays an aspiration
to expose the inherent structures just as they
are, without affectation or personalized dilution.
The results seem born of the first half of
the 20th century – Lortie never handles this
music too preciously, with the essence of the
dance always at the fore.
When considering Chopin, contrast
between dark and light is essential. Lortie
excels at the conveyance of Slavic expression
through the lens of extreme sentiment, often
using fine-tuned pacing, silence and varied
dynamics to admirable effect. Of unexpected
delight is the “Military” Polonaise, Op.40
No 1. Not such a fashionable thing to record
these days, Lortie offers it up with unabashed
affection and aristocratic poise. Arguably
saving best for last, the Fantasy in F Minor,
Op.49 concludes the album, highlighting
the attributes for which Lortie is celebrated.
Lucid and buoyant, it is music sculpted with
chiselled lines and acute structural sense.
At moments on this disc, a seasoned sort
of beauty takes hold of our ears, wherein a
keyboard’s conjuring casts an airy, aural spell.
In the battle of dark and light, Lortie’s own
brand of luminescence wins out every time.
Adam Sherkin
Chopin
Lara Melda
Champs Hill Records CHRCD153
(laramelda.co.uk)
! Chopin – the
poet of the piano!
What more can
be said about this
composer – born
in Żelazowa Wola
to a French father
and a Polish mother
– who embodied
the spirit and soul of Poland, but lived his
all-too-brief life in France? 170 years after
his passing, his music continues to enthrall
connoisseurs and amateurs alike; this disc
on the Champs Hill label, presenting a new
artist in her debut recording, is bound to
be welcome.
Lara Melda was born in England of Turkish
parentage. She studied at the Royal Academy,
winning the BBC Young Musician competition
in 2010 and since then, has continued to
appear in recital throughout Europe and in
other parts of the world.
The thoughtfully chosen program
comprising seven nocturnes and the four
ballades is a delight. Melda approaches the
music with an elegant sensitivity, her warm
tone coupled with just the right degree of
tempo rubato. The technical challenges
inherent in these pieces, particularly the
ballades, are daunting enough for any pianist,
but she conquers them with apparent ease.
There are times when her tempos – such as
in the Nocturnes Op.9 No.3 or Op.48 No.1 –
may seem a little brisk, but this is a minor
issue and certainly doesn’t mar her fine
performance.
Of the 11 tracks, among the highlights is
surely the glorious fourth Ballade Op.52,
considered by many to be one of Chopin’s
greatest compositions, and also one of his
most difficult. Melda does it full justice, from
the lyrical and delicate opening measures to
the frenetic coda which brings the disc to a
satisfying conclusion. If this recording is any
evidence of her musical stature, we can surely
hope to hear from Lara Melda again in the
near future.
Richard Haskell
Rachmaninoff
Sergei Babayan
Deutsche Grammophon
(deutschegrammophon.com/en/artists/
sergei-babayan)
! “The heat of
Rachmaninoff’s
music is like the
heat of dry ice,
it’s so cold that
it burns you.” –
Leon Fleisher
Like the memory
of an enkindled
winter’s kiss, Rachmaninoff can clutch you
by the throat, not to mention the heart. The
music transfixes our soul, engendering lifelong
adoration for such immutable layers
of melody, harmony and ebullient Slavic
passion, penned only as the singular Sergei R
could have.
Who of us, though, can truly know
Rachmaninoff? From the 21st century’s
vantage point – more than 75 years on from
the composer-pianist’s death – his music
is perpetrated the world over, arguably by
far too many interpreters with far too little
to say. Performing Rachmaninoff’s music
has never been an easy feat but rarely does
one encounter a quintessence, a spirit of
truth from his espousers. To appropriate a
quote from the composer himself, “but do
they exalt?”
With so much performance practice
swirling around Sergei (R) and his catalogue,
richly gifted and rare, sympathetic interpreters
such as Sergei (B), tend to twinkle
and gleam atop the pianistic flotsam we hear
all too often from – those self-indulgent,
What we're listening to this month:
thewholenote.com/listening
13 Lunar Meditations:
Summoning the Witches
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
New album by vocalist / composer
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, featuring Jay
Clayton, an improvisers' choir, a
quartet and poetry by women from
around the world.
EL CURRUCHÁ
Eliana Cuevas &
Aquiles Báez (guitar)
A new, intimate collection of
traditional Venezuelan folk songs
that will take you to Latin America.
AVAILABLE NOW on all digital
platforms.
CONCERTO 2000
Jan Järvlepp
Composer Jan Järvlepp presents
CONCERTO 2000. These tonal
works are performed by world
class ensembles the Janáček
Philharmonic, Moravian
Philharmonic, and Zagreb Festival
Orchestras
FLIGHTS OF FANCY
Jan Järvlepp
Fusing European and American
traditions, composer Jan
Järvlepp’s FLIGHTS OF FANCY
pairs the excitement of rock and
jazz rhythms with classical music
forms.
thewholenote.com March and April 2021 | 37