CHOPIN+
MARTIN STADTFELD, Piano
Sony Classical 88985369352 / ****
There
are many recordings of Chopin's 24 Études (Op.10 & 25), but young
German pianist Martin Stadtfeld's album has a major difference. Inserted before
ten of Chopin's studies are short original improvisations, which seem to sound
stylistically foreign but segue seamlessly into the Chopin pieces. In certain
cases, a Chopin Étude ends but the sound imperceptibly shifts into a
different musical landscape, often in the same key but eventually modulates to
another tonality for the next Étude to emerge.
This
practice of “preluding” is not new, previously employed by historical pianists
like Wilhelm Backhaus, and more recently in recitals here by Kenneth Hamilton
and Steven Spooner. There is no jazz technique involved, but a playful use of
pre-existing keyboard textures, chords and harmonic progressions. In a way,
Chopin's well-known C minor Prélude (Op.28 No.20) seems like the ideal
“preluding” subject, thus famously exploited by Rachmaninov in his Chopin
Variations.
Stadtfelt's
technical mastery in the 24 Études are as good as most of his
contemporaries, although one might find the E major Étude (Op.10 No.3)
too fast and unsentimental, while the F minor (Op.10 No.9) a tad indolent. This
70 minute recital is otherwise a fascinating listen.
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