4 RHAPSODIES on NAVONA RECORDS /KRISTINA MARINOVA / Review

4 RHAPSODIES

KRISTINA MARINOVA, Piano

Navona Records NV6371

 

This is an interesting concept disc bringing together disparate piano works titled rhapsodies, which is as heterogeneous as a musical form can possibly get. What constitutes a rhapsody? A work that is not in sonata form, one perhaps in “free form” like a fantasy, or one which plays on popular or folk themes. Or a combination of all of these, as New York-based Bulgarian pianist Kristina Marinova amply demonstrates.

 

The Hungarian pianist-composer Ernö Dohnányi was not so much a nationalist (like his compatriots Bártok or Kodály) but more of an academic strongly influenced by Brahms. His Four Rhapsodies Op.11 (also the album’s title) do carry the German’s imprimatur, and plays like a four-movement sonata. There is a typically dramatic Brahmsian theme that unites the first, second and fourth movements, but it is the third Rhapsody in C major (with its big tune) which is often heard as a stand-alone work or encore. The fourth Rhapsody is premised upon the medieval Dies Irae but it is the reminiscence of earlier themes that provides the glue that holds all four rhapsodies together.  

 

The other three rhapsodies are lighter in spirit, with Astor Piazzolla’s Tango-Rhapsody entitled Adiós Noniño (Farewell Grand-daddy) having a strong sense of an improvisation, its sultrily memorable melodies laced with jazzy harmonies in this concert-worthy arrangement by Laércio de Freitas (uncredited). This ties in well with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, while formally scored in its entirety, was improvised by the composer himself at its 1924 premiere. Marinova plays the standard abridged solo version which has some of the orchestral-accompanied bits excised. No matter, both Piazzolla and Gershwin get the swing and swagger they deserve.   

 

In between the two is Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espagnole, a grand fantasy based on two Spanish melodies – La Folia (Follies of Spain) and Jota Aragonesa – with the Hungarian’s stock-in-trade virtuosity in full flow. Marinova pulls all the stops in this showstopper. Listeners might already have their favourite versions of the Liszt and Gershwin, while the Dohnányi and Piazzolla remain relative rarities. However heard as a 69-minute-long recital, this programme works very well and deserves many listens because for Marinova, the music always comes first.