CD Reviews (The Straits Times, November 2010)

GRAHAM FITKIN Circuit
NORIKO OGAWA & KATHRYN STOTT, Pianos
Tokyo Symphony / Naoto Otomo
BIS SACD-1517

****1/2

The British composer Graham Fitkin (born 1963) is proof that the Minimalist movement in serious music is well and alive. Like the more older and venerated American John Adams, Fitkin takes his music beyond the processes of mere repetition, developing and morphing seemingly mundane material and patterns into something quite different from its original precepts. The largest work here is Circuit (2002), a 20-minute single-movement concerto for two pianos written for the duo of Noriko Ogawa and Kathryn Stott. It begins with the rhythmic chugging, resembling The Dance Of The Adolescents from Stravinsky’s primal The Rite Of Spring, before embarking on a journey of rapidly changing movement and variegated shades. Unlike others, Fitkin does not allow the boredom of familiarity to set in.

T1 and T2 (1999, the “T” standing for the Tate Gallery at St Ives, Cornwall) for two pianos, contrasts static silences with quick-fire machine-like thrusts. In White, originally for 4 pianos but reworked for two, Stravinsky’s (again) neoclassicism is relived. The solo works, with mostly economical single-word titles, pack in more notes thought possible for ten fingers. Those shocked by the new would have turned away by now, but the adventurous will be rewarded by Ogawa and Stott’s vigourous advocacy and virtuosity.

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4
Piano Concerto in D major, Op.61
RONALD BRAUTIGAM, Piano
Norrköping Symphony / ANDRE PARROTT
BIS SACD-1693

****1/2

Thought you knew all of Beethoven’s piano concertos? Think again. The great composer was notorious for not notating the solo parts of his piano concertos, which he practically improvised at the first performances. The familiar Fourth Piano Concerto in G major (Op.58) is performed here in a revised version by scholar Barry Cooper, based on Beethoven’s own scribbles. The result is a very different and more difficult solo part in the first and final movements. Much of its sounds improvisatory, fancifully embellished, but does not interfere with the overall structure of the work.

The success of Beethoven’s only Violin Concerto in D major (Op.61) dictated that he also wrote a piano version of it. This is a bona fide and legitimate rewrite where the piano sounds very idiomatic in place of the beloved violin. His very own piano cadenza which ingeniously incorporates the timpani (which so importantly opens the work) also works brilliantly. These performances are faithful and non-gimmicky, revealing another vista of Beethoven’s multi-faceted genius.

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, October 2009)

BEETHOVEN Early Piano Concertos
RONALD BRAUTIGAM, Piano
Norrköping Symphony
Andrew Parrott, Conductor
BIS SACD-1792

****1/2

Everybody knows and loves Beethoven’s five established piano concertos, however his first attempt at the form was at the tender age of 13. His Piano Concerto in E flat major (WoO.4) of 1784 is virtually unknown. This reconstruction by Dutch pianist Ronald Brautigam is worth listening to as it represents proto-Beethoven, before he became distinctive and distinguished. While the themes are the most part unmemorable, the piano writing is self-assured and traces of future greatness are discernable.

There is a quantum leap to the Piano Concerto in B flat major, which underwent several revisions before being published as his Op.19. A cheerful Rondo in B flat major, the original finale to the latter concerto, is also included. Brautigam, who also sports Beethoven’s wild hair, is most persuasive in all of these. This is ultimately fine chamber music, the promising beginning of an enduring legacy.

SHOSTAKOVICH
Cello Concerto No.2 / Cello Sonata
SOL GABETTA, Cello
Munich Philharmonic / Marc Albrecht
RCA Red Seal 88697359612

Rating ****

While Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto (Op.103) has firmly established itself in the concert repertory, its successor in G major (Op.126) from 1966 is virtually unknown. Its dark, death-obsessed and foreboding tone, paucity of memorable melodies and general lack of showiness render it a seriously tough nut to crack despite the championship of its dedicatee Mstislav Rostropovich.

Argentine Sol Gabetta’s effort attempts to smoothen the rough edges for hers is a rich and deeply sonorous voice, polished to a fine sheen. The only drawback: much of it sounds too polite, when there ought to have been shivers sent down the listener’s spine. With its shock value diminished, the composer’s keen sense of wit and irony is also blunted. No such worries for the earlier and far more congenial Cello Sonata (Op.40); Gabetta and Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa bring out the smiles and veiled scowls with equal alacrity.

TCHAIKOVSKY The Seasons
ILYA RASHKOVSKIY, Piano
Naxos 8.570787

****1/2

As a composer of the piano, Tchaikovsky was most comfortable working with miniature forms. The Seasons, each depicting the twelve months of the year, was written serially as part of a subscription series for a magazine. Although he treated it as a dutiful chore, it contains some of his best music, including the melancholic Barcarolle (June), wistful Autumn Song (October) and the famous Troïka (November). None of these are too demanding for the fingers or ears, and the Siberian-born pianist Ilya Rashkovskiy has the exact temperament to bring out their Russian essence and understated charm. The Sonata in C sharp minor (Op.80) is an early work despite its large opus number. Not the most memorable of works, but it contains a scherzo which becomes the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony. Well worth exploring.