CHRISTMAS PIANO MUSIC from PETER FROUNDJIAN / Review

CHRISTMAS PIANO MUSIC

PETER FROUNDJIAN, Piano

Sony Classical 88985380162

 

The year-end holiday season is nigh and what better way to herald the festivities than to lounge in Christmas music? Here is an excellent anthology of rarely-heard piano music celebrating the Nativity from German pianist Peter Froundjian, truly befitting the artistic director of the Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum festival in North Germany.

 

Released in 2017, only one of its 33 tracks is remotely familiar. It is also the longest, most virtuosic and most modern sounding: Ferruccio Busoni’s Fourth Sonatina, with the subtitle “in diem Nativitatis Christi MCMXXVII”. Expect contrapuntal intricacies, quirky harmonies and bell sound, which also occupy its companion piece, Busoni’s somewhat shorter Nuit de Noël.

 

A true rarity is Polish composer Franciszek Brzezinski’s Noël en Pologne, a prelude and fugue based on a Polish carol. Incidentally, this carol is also quoted in Ignaz Friedman’s Noël. Still in the East, Sergei Lyupunov’s Nuit de Noël is the first piece of his four-movement Fêtes de Noël, which begins simply but threatens to become another of the Russian’s Transcendental Études before thankfully holding back.

 

There are three World Premiere recordings, all by Romantic Danish composers. J.P.E.Hartmann’s Juletrost (Christmas Consolation), Alfred Toftt’s Jule-Idyl and Gustav Helsted’s Pastorale are just lovely and deserve to be better know. Now these will finally be heard with some regularity. Top Dane Carl Nielsen also gets a look-in. His Drommen om Glade Jul (Dream of Silent Night) is premised on the opening of Franz Gruber’s beloved carol Stille Nacht. Still in the north, Finnish composer Selim Palmgren’s simple and enchanting  Snöflingor (Snowflakes) opens the whole recital in a sense of wonderment and fantasy.

 

French music occupies the final third of the programme. Charles Koechlin’s Pastorales (12 pieces) and Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht’s Pastourelles (7 pieces) are miniatures, most barely a minute long. The formulae is the combination of simple folk-like or hymn-like melodies, sicilienne-rhythmed pastorales and evocations of bell sounds. 

Inghelbrecht’s Berceuse du boeuf et de láne (Cradle Song of the Ox and Donkey) and La marche a l’étoile (March of the Stars) also quotes melodies like Il est né, le divin enfant and the Prelude from Bizet’s L’Arlesienne (itself a Provencal tune), and sets them in delightful juxtaposition. Also heard are André Jolivet’s Carillon and a sole English composer, Arnold Bax’s short set of variations O Dame Get Up And Bake Your Pies.

 

Peter Froundjian performs all of these with loving care and delicacy, a vivid advocacy without overplaying their value as lovely baubles and trinkets of the vast piano repertoire. Accompanying the totally enjoyable 82-minute programme are excellent well-researched programme notes, penned by Froundjian himself, and some classic illustrations.

 

Other Christmas listening on piano:

CHRISTMAS PIANO MUSIC

ETERI ANDJAPARIDZE, Piano

Naxos 8.553461

 

Here is a more traditional programme which includes the whole of Franz Liszt’s Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree) suite and all four pieces of Lyapunov’s Fêtes de Noël. There are some popular favourites like the Bach-Hess Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Bach’s Shepherd’s Pastorale from Christmas Oratorio (transcriber uncredited), Tchaikovsky’s December from The Seasons and Leroy Anderson’s own transcription of his Sleigh Ride.

 

TCHAIKOVSKY The Nutcracker

STEWART GOODYEAR, 

Piano & Transcriber

Steinway & Sons 30040

 

Canadian virtuoso Stewart Goodyear has transcribed the entire ballet for piano, but in order to cram all the music into the space of a single disc, there is a lot of fast playing throughout. However, the key dances (Dance of the Flowers, Sugar Plum Fairy, Trepak etc.) and sequences (Pas de deux, Andante maestoso and finale) get their due. While not as outwardly virtuosic as Mikhail Pletnev’s transcriptions (which takes many liberties), Goodyear is more faithful to the source and the whole spiel hangs very well in one uninterrupted listen. In his capable hands, one simply does not miss the orchestra.   

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, March 2018)

EILEEN JOYCE

The Complete Studio Recordings

Decca Eloquence 482 6291 (10 CDs) / *****

Eileen Joyce (1908-1991), Britain’s glamour lady of the piano during the 1930s to 1950s, came from humble origins. She was born in Tasmania and spent her childhood years in Perth. She received formal musical studies in Leipzig, and later in London where she made her breakthrough. 

At her prime, she was known to play three or four piano concertos - each in different outfits - within a single concert. She however retired abruptly in 1960 from career burnout. Her studio recordings date from 1933 to 1958, and originally appeared on the Parlophone, Columbia, Decca, HMV and Saga labels. Now reissued by Universal Music Australia, these show her at her brilliant best.

She had a very large concerto repertoire, but recorded only a few, including those by Grieg, Mendelssohn (No.1), Tchaikovsky (No.2), Rachmaninov (No.2, she was the pianist on the sound track for the 1945 movie Brief Encounter), John Ireland and Shostakovich (No.1). The latter two concertos found in her an ardent champion. There is also a curious excursion into harpsichord territory, of which there are several J.S.Bach concertos for multiple keyboards to enjoy.

Joyce will be best remembered for playing short encore-like pieces, a genre where she was peerless. A 78 rpm shellac disc from 1933 which coupled Liszt's La Leggierezza and Paul de Schlozer's finger-twisting Etude in A flat major became an instant bestseller. She then made lots more shorts, all dictated by the four-and-a-half minute time limit per side. 

Forgotten pieces by d'Albert, Bergman, Pick-Mangiagalli, Farjeon, Stavenhagen, Cyril Scott and Friedman all get a deserved hearing. Her mercurial yet sensitive playing harks from a bygone age, and this box-set is a priceless listen.             

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, February 2018)

A BEETHOVEN ODYSSEY VOL.5

JAMES BRAWN, Piano

MSR Classics 1469 / *****

LATE BEETHOVEN

ISHAY SHAER, Piano

Orchid Classics 100076 / *****

The 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven in the recorded medium have been defined by the likes of historical pianists like Artur Schnabel and Wilhelm Kempff, and more recently, Alfred Brendel. A younger generation represented by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Paul Lewis and Igor Levit have carried on quite famously as well. 

But do listen to these latest recordings by British pianist James Brawn (now in his fifth instalment of sonata cycle) and the Israeli Ishay Shaer, who uphold the tradition with pride and vigour.

Brawn explores four sonatas from Beethoven's early period. The trio of Op.10 Sonatas are as varied as one can get. The dramatics of the C minor sonata (No.1) are contrasted with the humour of the F major sonata (No.2), but both are eclipsed by the imposing D major sonata (No.3), the longest of the three and one of his great early essays in the genre. 

Brawn instils an urgency and vitality that is hard to ignore, and follows up with the genial G major sonata (Op.14 No.2).

From Beethoven's later years are the Sonatas in A major (Op.101) and E major (Op.109), as he single-handedly bridged the Classical and Romantic eras. Shaer fully captures the autumnal spirit, which is tempered by defiance and a fond look-back at past traditions. The finales of Op.101 and 109 are a fugue and a theme and variations set respectively. 

Between these giants are 17 Bagatelles (Op.119 and 126), miniatures which resemble shavings from a master's workbench. Trifles some of these may be (Op.119 No.10 lasts just 14 seconds) but would one trifle with gold dust?   

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, January 2018)

PIANO CONCERTOS

ADDINSELL. ROTA. PIAZZOLLA

DONKA ANGATSCHEWA, Piano

Vogtland Philharmonie / Stefan Fraas

Ars Production 38 168 / ****1/2

CINEMA CLASSICS

THE PIANO AT THE MOVIES

SEE SIANG WONG, Piano

Sony Classical 88985353612 (2 Cds) / ****

The ability of the piano to bring out human emotions and feelings accounts for its ubiquitous use in movie music to augment real-time action on the silver screen. These two recordings mine a well-excavated vein that does not look like exhausting soon.

Not all the works in the album by Bulgaria-born pianist Donka Angatscheva was originally conceived for piano, but every bit sounds evocative. Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto (composed for war movie Dangerous Moonlight) is a classic in recycling Rachmaninov's lush Romantic renderings. 

Nino Rota's Concerto Soiree is a concert piece in four short movements, reliving the different styles of his movie music – the pathos-laden, dramatic and comedic. Astor Piazolla's Four Seasons Of Buenos Aires is a celebration of the sultry tango cast as a four-movement piano trio concerto, with hot-blooded passion overflowing.  

Dutch-Chinese pianist See Siang Wong's double-disc of piano solos from the movies leans heavily on the New Age and minimalist groove, which makes for enjoyable lounge music. 

There are tracks by Michael Nyman (The Piano), Dave Grusin (On Golden Pond), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and The Last Emperor), Philip Glass (The Hours and The Truman Show), Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away) and Yiruma (River Flows In You), but not everything such as Pachelbel's Canon or Mahler's Adagietto translates equally well for piano. This is nonetheless easy listening.

CD Review (The Straits Times, January 2018)

SZYMANOWSKI &

KARLOWICZ Violin Concertos

TASMIN LITTLE, Violin

BBC Symphony / EDWARD GARDNER

Chandos 5185 / *****

Some sixteen years separate the two violin concertos of Polish nationalist composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), but when heard one after another, they sound like contiguous movements of a mega-concerto that plays for some 45 minutes. 

The First Violin Concerto (1916) is so ethereally beautiful that its neglect in concert halls is perplexing. The outsized demands for the soloist, both technical and expressive, are likely the reason. Its rhapsodic nature and dynamic shifts from impressionistic dreaminess to boisterous drama makes it an exciting listen. The Second Violin Concerto (1932-33) that follows is more compact, utilising gritty folk music elements in its two movements linked by a cadenza.    

The Violin Concerto in A major (1902) by the short-lived Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909, killed in an avalanche while mountaineering) comes from a different era. Its spirit is closer to the effusive Romanticism of Wieniawski, Bruch and Glazunov with the requisite fireworks to match. 

All three concertos receive gorgeous performances by British violinist Tasmin Little that go to the music's heart, the perfumed decadence of Szymanowski and the showmanship of Karlowicz. Every detail of is captured on demonstration sound by Edward Gardner's excellent BBC Symphony Orchestra. A must listen for violin lovers.

CD Review (The Straits Times, November 2017)

SHOSTAKOVICH Violin Concerto No.1

  NICOLA BENEDETTI, Violin

  Bournemouth Symphony / Kirill Karabits

  Decca 478 8758 / ****1/2

SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concertos

  ALISA WEILERSTEIN, Cello

  Bavarian Radio Symphony /

  Pablo Heras-Casado

  Decca 483 0835 / *****

The string concertos of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) used to be the sacred preserve of venerable Russian soloists with a direct line to the composer himself, men like David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich who are sadly no longer with us. 

A new generation of young and glamourous artists have filled the void, including women like Viktoria Mullova, Midori, Sarah Chang and Hanna Chang. Now add British violinist Nicola Benedetti and American cellist Alisa Weilerstein to the list.  

Benedetti gives a deeply-felt reading of the First Violin Concerto (1947), without smoothing over the opening Nocturne's dark matter, and letting rip in the manic 2nd and 4^th movements. The finale's Burlesque with its wild Klezmer raves also scores with a direct and relentless attack. Her trademark sweetness of tone is reserved mostly for its coupling, Glazunov's Violin Concerto (1904), which comes from an earlier and more effable era of Russian music.

Weilerstein's performances of both cello concertos are high on dry wit and ironic humour. The more familiar First Cello Concerto (1959) also benefits from the excellent orchestral French horn soloist's outlandish interjections and whoops. 

The longer, darker and grimmer Second Cello Concerto (1966) deserves to be better known, and she pulls all the stops for an ultra-coherent performance. Insanity, levity and vulgarity have seldom found a more united front in these superb recordings.     

CD Review (The Straits Times, November 2017)

HAOCHEN ZHANG plays

SCHUMANN. LISZT. JANACEK. BRAHMS

BIS 2238 / *****

Of the many young Chinese pianists professing their art in today's concert halls, Zhang Haochen, now 27, is the most thoughtful of keyboard virtuosos. As ironic as that sounds, he eschews the outlandish showiness of Lang Lang, and the glamour and glitz of Yundi or Yuja Wang. 

His new recital album showcases that most valued of qualities: genuine musicality allied with the innate ability of saying what one means. Forget the fact that he can rip through Stravinsky's Three Movements from Petrushka with seemingly the greatest of ease, it is his view of Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes From Childhood) that moves. Its 13 movements of utmost simplicity are taken at face value and the music is allowed to speak for itself.

His concession to virtuosity takes place in Liszt's Ballade No.2, which builds to a shattering climax in a less commonly-heard version which replaces left hand scales with chords. In Janacek's Sonata I.X.1905, a young worker's death is remembered in anti-virtuoso terms, in which poetry and poignancy comes to the fore in two concentrated movements. 

The youngest-ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition concludes his recital with Brahms' Three Intermezzi Op.117, where song-like qualities and smouldering disquiet come through with an uncommon immediacy. Like holding infinity in the palm of his hand, and eternity in an hour, that is true virtuosity for you. 

CD Review (The Straits Times, August 2017)

AIDA GARIFULLINA

with ORF Radio Sinfonieorchester

Cornelius Meister (Conductor)

Decca 478 8305 / *****

The soprano Aida Garifullina, from Kazan in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, came to prominence after winning Placido Domingo's competition Operalia in 2013 and appearing as coloratura soprano Lily Pons in the 2016 movie Florence Foster Jenkins starring opposite Meryl Streep. 

Her debut recording opens with two coloratura favourites, Gounod's Ah! Je jeux vivre (Romeo et Juliette) and Delibes' Bell Song (Lakmé), which showcases an impressive range and vocal agility for a lyric soprano. The balance of her hour-long programme features Russian songs, including arias from Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko (Song of India), The Golden Cockerel (Hymn to the Sun and Seduction Aria), The Snow Maiden and Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa (Maria's Lullaby).

She is totally at home in her native language, bringing out every ounce of feeling and nuance, The clarity and beauty of her voice are further highlighted in Russian romances by Rachmaninov (Lilacs, How Beautiful It Is Here and the wordless Vocalise) and Tchaikovsky's Serenade. The folksongs Allüki (in the Turkic Tatar language) and Cossack Lullaby are particularly alluring as well. 

In Solovyov-Sedoy's familiar Midnight in Moscow (also known as Moscow Nights), she is accompanied by the vintage 1962 Mercury recording of the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra through a clever process of overdubbing. Past and present become one in this lovely disc.

CD Review (The Straits Times, July 2017)

BROTONS Complete Flute Music Vol.1

ROBERTO ALVAREZ, Flute et al

Centaur 3554 / *****

Salvador Brotons is a well-regarded Catalonian composer who began his musical career as a flautist, playing in various Barcelona orchestras before turning to full-time conducting (he is the Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra) and composition. 

His complete output for the flute will occupy three discs, and the first volume plays like a dream. His two Flute Sonatas (dating from 1979 and 1996), are works for a consummate virtuoso. Although employing dissonance and atonality to a certain extent, these are also very lyrical pieces. The second sonata is also scored as a concerto.

Also equally accessible is Coloured Skies (with harp), Fantasia Concertante (with marimba-vibraphone) and Three Divertimenti (with guitar). The earliest piece El Port De La Selva, written in 1975 as a 16-year-old, is a Catalan dance with a naive charm. 

The Spanish flautist Roberto Alvarez, principal piccolo player of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra is the ideal interpreter, fully attuned to the idiom as well as taking the myriad technical challenges and intricacies in his stride. 

This colourful Spanish production also has vital Singaporean links, with Beatrice Lin (piano), Katryna Tan (harp), Eugene Toh (percussion) and Kevin Loh (guitar) as Alvarez's partners. The recorded sound from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory studio is also excellent.   

CD Review (The Straits Times, June 2017)

BEETHOVEN Symphonies Vol.2

Symphonies Nos.5-8

Copenhagen Phil / LAN SHUI

Orchid Classics 100059 (2 CDs) / *****

Ever wondered what a Beethoven symphony cycle from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra might sound like on compact disc? 

In a crowded world of recorded Beethoven symphonies, SSO Music Director Lan Shui's vision with his Danish orchestra, the Copenhagen Phil (he was Chief Conductor from 2007-2015), stands out. Its spirit of freshness and vitality most resembles that of the 1990s ground-breaking cycle from his mentor David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra (initially released on Arte Nova, but now reissued on Sony Classical).

The timings of the symphonies on both cycles are very similar, although Shui's very brisk view of the popular Fifth Symphony clocks in at just over 30 minutes. This and his account of the Seventh Symphony may be said to be breathtaking at near supersonic speeds. 

Arguably even better is the Sixth Symphony or “Pastoral Symphony”, where finer details come to the fore, notably in the serene Scene At The Brook and a most gripping Storm movement. The Eighth Symphony, with its four movements of clockwork precision pacing, comes across as brilliant rather than hectic or forced. Highly recommended.     

CD Review (The Straits Times, June 2017)

JULIUS KATCHEN

The Complete Decca Recordings

Decca Records (35 CDs) / *****

Whenever music connoisseurs refer to the “lost generation of American pianists”, they mostly refer to William Kapell and Julius Katchen, artists whose lives were cut short long before their time. The Paris-domiciled Katchen (1926-1969), generally better known to local record collectors, succumbed to cancer at the age of 42. This collection of his complete recordings on the British Decca label dates from 1947 (his first recordings were on 78 rpm shellacs) to 1968.     

The discography covers Mozart and Beethoven to 20^th century giants like Rachmaninov, Bartok, Prokofiev and Britten. He also championed the still-living American Ned Rorem's Second Piano Sonata. Most of all, Katchen is remembered for recording Brahms' major piano works, including the Sonatas, Variations, short pieces (all 21 Hungarian Dances too) and both Piano Concertos. Still considered by many as peerless, the playing combines vigour with tenderness, illuminating the gruff German's inner soul.

There are two recordings of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, with the 1955 version partnered by Mantovani and his Orchestra. Pianophiles will cite his electrifying Liszt-playing, an authoritative Mussorgsky Pictures At An Exhibition and two takes on Balakirev's Islamey, both that race through under 8 minutes. An artist who accords the great classics and virtuoso showpieces in equal regard deserves his cult status.

CD Review (The Straits Times, June 2017)

COLOURS OF BRAZIL

XUEFEI YANG, Guitar

Decca 479 8791 / *****

ALMA BRASILEIRA

CRISTINA ORTIZ, Piano

Intrada 016 / *****

There does not seem to be a line demarcating Brazilian classical music from its folk music. In the works of Brazil's most famous composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, choros or “street music” were freely used as his inspirations. Thus the term “crossover” almost becomes meaningless in these all-Brazilian recital discs by Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang and Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz.

Yang's offerings are more pop-oriented, with Villa-Lobos' Valsa-Choro, Scottish-Choro and Mazurka-Choro sitting happily alongside arrangements of Ernesto Nazareth's tango Odeon, Luiz Bonfa's very familiar Manha A Carnaval (from Black Orpheus) and works by Sergio Assad and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Yang's playing is vivaciously infectious, a contrast with Ortiz's more reflective selection. 

Villa-Lobos' A Lenda Do Caboclo (Legend Of The Half-Blood) and Valsa Da Dor (Waltz of Anguish) for piano are both imbued with longing and nostalgic pangs which only Brazilians know as “saudade”. The dances by Mozart Carmago Guarnieri, Brazilian Suites by Oscar Fernandez and short pieces by Fructuoso Vianna are folk-inspired and instantly likable. 

Vianna's tender Schumanniana was dedicated to Ortiz, a discovery she made after the composer's death. One will not get a more touching or personal performances than these.

CD Review (The Straits Times, May 2017)

THE CHAMBER VERSIONS

CHOPIN Piano Concerto No.1        

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4

SEE SIANG WONG, Piano

Gemeaux Quartet et al

RCA Red Seal 88875061442 / ****1/2

There are different ways of listening to piano concertos, either regarding them as orchestral works with virtuoso piano parts integrated within the formal architecture, or as chamber music with solo pianist in the driving seat. This interesting new recording by Dutch-Chinese pianist See Siang Wong seeks the latter viewpoint, with two popular piano concertos sounding like new works in the process.

Richard Hofmann's transcription of Chopin's First Piano Concerto does not significantly alter the solo piano part. However there are surprises when the piano is heard with the string quintet (two violins, viola, cello and double bass) in the tutti sections.

Wong and his chamber partners play a radically different version of Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto which combines Vinzenz Lachner's string reduction of the orchestra with a little-known piano score edited by violinist Franz Possinger, which was first performed at a private concert in 1807. The piano part sounds more improvisatory and virtuosic than the published version that listeners know today.     

The performances here are highly idiomatic and sympathetic, and even if they provide a mild shock to the senses, the departure to parts less trodden is well-worth the time.

CD Review (The Straits Times, May 2017)

MOSZKOWSKI Piano Concerto in B minor

SCHULZ-EVLER Russian Rhapsody

LUDMIL ANGELOV, Piano

BBC Scottish Symphony  
Vladimir Kiradjiev (Conductor)

Hyperion 68109 / ****1/2

For almost 140 years, it was thought that Polish pianist-composer Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) composed only one piano concerto, the popular showpiece in E major. Now it has a companion, the impressive B minor concerto composed in 1874. With four movements and playing for 54 minutes, it was for a time the world's longest piano concerto, outlasting even Brahms' Second Concerto.

Dedicated to Franz Liszt and premiered in 1875 (Berlin), it was rediscovered in 2008 (Paris) and heard again in 2014 (Warsaw).  It opens with strains of seriousness and foreboding, but gradually relents as Moszkowski's penchant for charm and congeniality takes over. For a teenaged composer, there are pages of over-statement but it makes up with confidence, exuberance and scintillating playing.

Bulgarian pianist Ludmil Angelov, who reintroduced the work to modern audiences, gives a totally convincing premiere recording that should win it new friends. He does the same for the Russian Rhapsody by Adolf Schulz-Evler, composer of the notorious finger-buster Arabesques On The Beautiful Blue Danube. For those tired of the umpteenth Rachmaninov piano concerto recording, here are the much needed tonics.   

CD Review (The Straits Times, May 2017)

IVES Orchestral Works Vol.2

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

SIR ANDREW DAVIS

Chandos 5163 / *****

Charles Ives (1874-1954) was a pioneer among American composers. His fiercely individual and independent nature led him away from a predominantly Euro-centric school of composition into new worlds of sonority, paving the way for 20^th century American modernism. This disc houses the major orchestral works outside of his four numbered symphonies.

New England Holidays, sometimes performed as a 4-movement symphony, comprises separate orchestral pieces commemorating red-letter days of the American calendar. Washington's Birthday, Decoration Day, The Fourth Of July, Thanksgiving and Forefather's Day are represented, each showcasing a trademark of his: the use of popular songs and hymns often raucously mixed within general orchestral mayhem. 

The inclusion of unusual instruments such as the Jew's harp and juxtaposition of clashing ensembles, each playing different melodies in different keys, was another hallmark.

The excellent Melbourne Symphony led by Sir Andrew Davis, brilliantly recorded, also serves a treat in Three Places In New England, another three-movement “symphony” with atmospheric and impressionist echoes. 

The two shorter companion “contemplations”, the evocative Central Park In The Dark and the mystery of The Unanswered Question, complete this impressive collection.    

CD Review (The Straits Times, May 2017)

LUCAS DEBARGUE plays

SCARLATTI. CHOPIN. LISZT. RAVEL

  Sony Classical 88875192982 / ****1/2

BACH. BEETHOVEN. MEDTNER

  Sony Classical 88985341762 / *****

Lucas Debargue was the young French pianist at the centre of controversy in the 2015 Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition when he was shunned by the jury for the top prize, garnering only 4th place in the final standings. His cause celebre was rewarded with these two recital recordings, issued by Sony Classical in quick succession. 

A unique talent far removed from the usual mould of child prodigy and conservatory-trained product, he began the piano at a late age, and received formal tutelage just four years before this unexpected “triumph”.

The first disc is an artist's calling card, filled with competition fodder like Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No.1, Ravel's Gaspard De La Nuit and Chopin's Ballade No.4 dispatched with relative ease. More telling is the extraordinary sensitivity displayed in four varied Scarlatti Sonatas and Grieg's Melody (from Lyric Pieces).

The second disc is a personal manifesto, beginning with utter clarity in Bach's Toccata in C minor and the unexpected choice of Beethoven's early Sonata in D major (Op.10 No.3), with each of its vastly disparate four movements bravely etched out in stone. 

The piece de resistance is Medtner's rarely heard Sonata in F minor (Op.5), where dark vistas and contrapuntal sophistication are melded with an irresistible vividness that is totally absorbing. Here is a name to watch for the future.

CD Review (The Straits Times, May 2017)

THE GENIUS OF FILM MUSIC

London Philharmonic / John Mauceri

LPO 0086 (2 CDs) / ****1/2

This is a live recording of a 2013 concert held at London's Royal Festival Hall of concert arrangements by American conductor John Mauceri of film scores under the banner “Hollywood Blockbusters 1960s to 1980s”. 

There cannot be a more familiar prelude than Alfred Newman's 24 second-long 20^th Century Fox Fanfare that opens the concert. Alex North's score for the epic starring Elizabeth Taylor, Cleopatra, is turned into a 2-movement symphony lasting some 26 minutes. Just as atmospheric is the Symphonic Portrait of The Godfather from Nino Rota's iconic music, with the popular melody Speak Softly Love skilfully stitched within a Verdi-like backdrop of Sicilian nostalgia and shady New York underworld dealings.

What can be more recognisable than the slashing strings of Bernard Hermann's score for Psycho, and the mounting tension faced by the anxious Janet Leigh in the movie's opening? Mauceri's Narrative for string orchestra on the Alfred Hitchcock movie encompasses it all. Particularly nostalgic for trekkies will be Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek – The New Enterprise with its iconic celestial strains. 

Two short “encores” close each disc, Franz Waxman's irrepressible Ride Of The Cossacks from Taras Bulba and Maurice Jarre's heroic Lawrence Of Arabia theme. The London Philharmonic performs with requisite passion. Movies are never the same without the music, and that is where the genius lies.      

CD Review (The Straits Times, April 2017)

DEDICATIONS

STEVEN SPOONER, Piano

A Life Of Music Records

(15 CDs + 1 DVD) / ****1/2

American pianist Steven Spooner, professor of piano at the University of Kansas, was largely trained in the Russian School of piano playing. Having studied both in Moscow and Tblisi (Georgia), the repertoire he presents in this handy box-set mirrors those favoured by his pianistic idols, namely Sviatoslav Richter (represented by 8 CDs), Vladimir Horowitz (3 CDs), Emil Gilels and Van Cliburn (who himself was taught by a Russian). 

He does not slavishly copy their styles. Instead he summons their collective spirits, allied with playing informed by his schooling, which emphasises interpretive rigour and solid technique. 

Alongside heavyweight works such as Liszt's Sonata in B minor, Schubert's Sonata in B flat major and song cycle Winterreise (with baritone Chris Thompson), Brahms' Piano Quintet (with the Borromeo Quartet) and Debussy's Préludes Book 1 (3 performances), one will also find rarities and gems. 

His teacher, the Georgian pianist Nodar Gabunia's A Pupil's Diary, Schnittke's rarely-heard Piano Concerto and American Mohammed Fairouz's Second Sonata are well worth several listens, while Arensky's Elegie in G minor is a melody to die for. 

Spooner's own improvisations of gospel hymns and Concert Etudes in the styles of Martha Argerich, Keith Jarrett and Horowitz make perfect encores. In lieu of printed programme notes, he supplies audio commentaries at the end of each disc which are both insightful and personal.  

CD Review (The Straits Times, April 2017)

REVERIE

YU-CHIEN TSENG, Violin

with Rohan de Silva, Piano

Deutsche Grammophon 886 046-9 / *****

In 2015, Taiwanese violinist Tseng Yu-Chien was awarded the 1^st prize at the inaugural Singapore International Violin Competition. Within the same year, he won 2^nd prize at the International Tchaikovsky Violin Competition in Moscow, undoubtedly an even more coveted accolade. 

This debut recital disc issued by Universal Music Taiwan shows the confidence of youth in abundance. Not all of the programme is virtuoso fodder, as he displays a totally musical and more lyrical side in Mozart's Violin Sonata in B flat major (K.454), Chopin's Nocturne (Op.27 No.2) in August Wilhelm's arrangement and Tchaikovsky's Melodie from Souvenir d'un lieu cher.

Even in flexing his Paganinian prowess, there is much nuance in Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata, working from its calm and sanguine opening to an increasingly frenzied conclusion. In the unaccompanied Last Rose Of Summer Variations by Heinrich Ernst, the intricacy, detail and perfect intonation of his playing becomes more apparent, reaching full fruition in Wieniawski's fearsome Variations On An Original Theme. 

The 1732 Guarneri del Gesu violin he plays on, on loan by a Taiwanese foundation, and veteran piano accompanist Rohan de Silva prove worthy partners. Heartily recommended. 

CD Review (The Straits Times, April 2017)

KENNETH HAMILTON

plays RONALD STEVENSON Vol.1

KENNETH HAMILTON, Piano

Prima Facie  PFCD050 / ****1/2

Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015) was one of Scotland's greatest musical treasures, a larger-than-life figure in the mould of Franz Liszt (West Linton near Edinburgh was his Weimar), and musical heir to pianist-composers like Ferruccio Busoni and Percy Grainger. 

Described to be “incapable of writing a genuinely easy piano piece”, this recital album by his disciple Kenneth Hamilton is an excellent introduction to his contrapuntally complex yet accessible style. Not a single note is superfluous or wasted. 

Of the three major works here, best-known is his Peter Grimes Fantasy, where themes from Benjamin Britten's opera are pithily compacted into 8 minutes, much like in Busoni's Carmen Fantasy. Beltane Bonfire, inspired by a Scottish folk festival, is both fugal and virtuosic, a competition showpiece. The monumental Symphonic Elegy For Liszt superficially resembles a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, but with distinct Scottish accents.

Stevenson is also shown as an effective miniaturist in his arrangements of Scottish ballads and Elizabethan dances, while his transcriptions of Ivor Novello's We'll Gather Lilacs and Richard Tauber's My Heart And I are so luscious as to be almost decadent. Hamilton cleverly throws in Rachmaninov's own Lilacs just to prove the point. A revelatory and enriching listen beckons.  

DON'T MISS:

MUSICAL PORTRAITS

KENNETH HAMILTON Piano Recital

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

Esplanade Recital Studio, 7.30 pm

Programme includes:

STEVENSON Three Scottish Ballades

CHOPIN  Sonata No.3

ALKAN By the Waters of Babylon

MERRICK-STEVENSON Hebridean Seascape

DEBUSSY L'isle joyeuse

LISZT Deux Legendes

Tickets at $32 available at SISTIC

https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/kenneth0417

Please click on link above to buy tickets.