BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto
No.3
MOZART Piano Concerto
No.23
YEVGENY SUDBIN, Piano
BIS 1978 / ****1/2
This masterful coupling brings together the two
piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven set in the key of C minor, often
associated with tragedy and high drama. Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin performs
the concertos in chronological order, revealing how Mozart’s 1786 masterpiece
may have influenced Beethoven in his composition completed in 1804. The main
themes in the first movements of both are related to the C minor triad, with
Mozart being the more harmonically adventurous. Ultimately both composers find
a catharsis in their own unique and inimitable ways. While Mozart remains
gloomy to the end, Beethoven unreserved joy caps his only minor key concerto, a
gambit that is later repeated in his Fifth
Symphony.
Being a composer himself, Sudbin crafts his own
cadenzas for the Mozart, which are bold and innovative. Although departing from
the classical sensibilities of the rococo period, Mozart would have heartily
approved. Beethoven’s own cadenza is used for his concerto although one wonders
what Sudbin might have come up with. There is little to be found wanting in
both performances, excellently supported by the Minnesota Orchestra and its
Finnish Music Director Osmo Vänskä, who has since returned after the
orchestra’s period of lockdown. More can be hoped from this successful
partnership.
CATOIRE Piano Trio /
Piano Quartet
Room-Music
Hyperion 67512 / ****1/2
This is not a new disc but one that merits
highlighting because the music of Russian composer Georgy Catoire (1861-1926)
deserves revival, to be heard in concert now and then. He was a contemporary of
Anton Arensky and Alexander Glazunov but studied with the German Karl
Klindworth, a disciple of Wagner. Thus his music is more Germanic and
modern-sounding in character but retaining the typically dark hues of Slavic
melancholy. The Piano Trio in F minor
(1900) in three movements is a good start point as it regularly reminds the
listener of early Rachmaninov but with the chromatic colourings of the
Wagner-influenced Belgian Cesar Franck. A rather enjoyable 27 minutes of late
Romanticism it is.
The Piano
Quartet in A minor (1916) is rather denser in textures and not as readily
approachable. Although slightly shorter than the trio, it does have a number of
memorable moments, including in the paradoxical fairy-tale lightness and irony
of its finale. Repeated listening will be readily repaid in dividends. In
between is a short Elegy in D minor
(1916) for violin and piano, which serves like a welcome interlude. These very
convincing performances come from Room Music, formed by pianist Stephen Coombs,
violist Yoko Inoue and two members of the renowned Chilingirian Quartet. Here
is a much-needed tonic for those who tire of Tchaikovsky and his circle.
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