CD and Other Review

Review: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Volume 3 (Jean-Efflam Bavouzet)

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has arranged his cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas chronologically in order of composition, meaning this final instalment encompasses the biggest of Beethoven’s hitters: the Appassionata, Hammerklavier and Opus 109, 110 and 111 included. I think it’s fair to say that Bavouzet’s approach has divided opinion. If Artur Schnabel or Emil Gilels are your go-to Beethoven pianists, then Bavouzet’s lean-and-mean textures – apparently achieved with a minimum of pedal, and fingers so transparent that they must be see-through – locate other impulses inside this music which might not appeal. Known primarily as an interpreter of Debussy and Ravel, Bavouzet views Beethoven as not just a progressive, but also a Modernist. This Beethoven is determinately non-sentimental (as already demonstrated by Bavouzet’s chilling, near-dystopian take on the Moonlight Sonata in volume 2 of his cycle) with a knack of clarifying form by emphasising moments of fracture. Bavouzet clearly follows a lineage of French Beethoven that begins with Yves Nat and hits peak chichi streamlined Modernism as Pierre-Laurent Aimard records the concertos with Harnoncourt. Except that Bavouzet remains his own man. So much to enjoy here, so much that makes me want to listen again. Perhaps perversely I began my deep dive…

February 16, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Italian Lute Virtuosi (Jakob Lindberg)

Jakob Lindberg has well and truly earned his reputation as one of the top lute players in the world. In this fine recital, he performs the music of Francesco da Milano, Marco dall’Aquila and Alberto da Mantova. In its heyday, the lute was the instrument of the greatest composers in the same way the piano was the instrument of choice in later centuries. These three Italian Renaissance lutenists were regarded as some of the finest musicians of the age (for example, da Milano was apparently nicknamed “Il Divino” and described as being “superior to Orpheus and Apollo”!). Although this is music of dense, criss-crossing contrapuntal lines, which makes it sound knotty and complex, in fact these pieces are ever-tuneful. In the liner notes, Lindberg divides the pieces into three categories – fantasias/ricecars (where the composer writes freely whatever he feels like), intabulations (re-workings of music originally for voices), and dances. Adept combining of pieces from each category ensures that there’s never a dull moment and that the pieces are shown in their best light, with ricecars rubbing shoulders with vocal music by Josquin and Arcadelt. BIS certainly knows how to make the instrument sound good. There’s a subtle reverb to…

February 16, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Songs of the Latin Skies (Katie Noonan, Karin Schaupp)

The intuitive relationship that vocalist Katie Noonan and classical guitarist Karin Schaupp have developed together makes for some gorgeous music-making in their latest recording Songs of the Latin Skies. Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp. Photo: supplied It’s their third release together, following the success of their 2012 ARIA nominated album Songs of the Southern Skies and their 2011 eight-track EP Songs from the British Isles. Songs of the Latin Skies features 13 tracks, which pay homage to the great South American songbook of bossa nova, samba, salsa and tango by composers such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Astor Piazzolla, Luis Bonfá, Antonio Lauro and Antônio Carlos Jobim among others. The duo bring a fresh, distinctive, original take to the repertoire, with Noonan’s exquisite vocals soaring delicately over Schaupp’s virtuosic, equally expressive playing, as they caress the melodies to create a meltingly laid-back album with a spare, minimal beauty that would soothe the most furrowed brow. The first track Seguranca makes for a stunning opening, with some double-tracking of Noonan’s voice creating lovely rich harmonies and showcasing her renowned vocal range from a warm bottom register to a dazzling, ethereal top. Classic bossa nova numbers Desafinado and Wave… Continue reading Get unlimited digital…

February 15, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Chopin: The Nocturnes (Nancy Tsou)

While not demanding technically, Chopin’s Nocturnes contain pianistic pitfalls. Some artists over-prettify them – easy to do when the melodic line is highly decorated – and they can seem fragile and precious. Australian-based pianist Nancy Tsou avoids these traps by taking most at a reasonably fast pace. The popular Op. 9 No 2 in E Flat provides a good example: it is lyrical and flowing, not (as it can be) interminable. In terms of dynamic shading and rubato, Tsou’s playing reveals a genuine personal connection to the composer’s spirit. The quasi-improvisational feeling and quiet inwardness are beautifully captured. Yet Chopin’s nocturnal world was not all contemplation and nightingales. In later pieces he brought much personal angst to the form. I feel Tsou understates the drama of the C Minor Nocturne, Op. 48 No 1 and elsewhere, possibly so as not to overinflate the music. Her dynamic range never ventures above mf, a marked contrast from Maurizio Pollini (DG, 2005). Some find Pollini too determinedly unsentimental, but I respond to the backbone he finds.  Tsou’s incomplete but representative selection gives us just 13 of the Nocturnes. Her instrument is closely but beautifully recorded, aptly placing the listener in the front row…

February 10, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas (Fazil Say)

Turkish pianist Fazıl Say is known for his virtuosic readings of core classical repertoire. He is also a composer and, in a tradition that has a long history in Western Classical music, incorporating folk influences from his native Turkey. Notoriously, Say was sentenced to a ten-month jail term in 2013 for making allegedly blasphemous comments on Twitter, a charge that was overturned by the Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals in 2015. Today, we find him signed to Warner Classics and turning his attention to the complete piano sonatas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with stunning results. The 18 sonatas and Fantasia in C Minor are grouped on six discs according to key, and were recorded in 2014 in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Salzburg. For Say, Sonata No 14 in C Minor is the most momentous and a significant influence on Beethoven and Schubert. His playing is utterly assured, precise and crisp, with any potential for brittle timbre alleviated by the recording’s roomy warmth. Mozart’s music “requires us to assimilate it with our own bodies and beings… to live it and breathe it,” according to Say, who was striving for “a certain naturalness” throughout, and his detailed notes on each…

February 10, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Four Hands: Australian Music for Piano (Viney-Grinberg Piano Duo)

The piano four-hands configuration is surely one of the more humble performance traditions, shirking the flashy egoism of solo playing in favour of friendly fun. But that’s not to say the music isn’t virtuosic, as Anna Grinberg and Liam Viney show in their recent release on ABC Classics, offering an attractive programme of Australian music that’s not without depth. Carl Vine’s Sonata for Piano Four-hands is a multifaceted work that explores the textural combinations possible where four hands share melodies and accompanying figures that ripple and dance with a modal energy. Stuart Greenbaum’s own sonata takes inspiration from the cosmos, building a language inspired by the relationship between Sun and Earth – at times powerful and domineering, at others contemplative and spacious. Both works are evocative responses to the four-hands conundrum and make for satisfying listening. Music by Ross Edwards and Peter Sculthorpe tap into the duo’s tradition of music for younger players. Edwards’ Nine Bagatelles are charming miniatures that dance and play with casual merriment, and occasionally a hint of the telltale Edwards ‘maninya’ style. Sculthorpe’s Four Little Pieces are all arrangements of previous works for piano, imbued with a lyrical melodic character. Elena Kats-Chernin’s Victor’s… Continue reading Get…

January 30, 2017
CD and Other Review

Review: Bruckner: Symphony No 8 (Australian World Orchestra)

Ever the perfectionist, Bruckner left two versions of his Eighth Symphony – the last symphony he completed. After his “artistic father” Hermann Levi rejected the first version, Bruckner spent three years revising the work. In this performance by the Australian World Orchestra, recorded live in the Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall in 2015, Sir Simon Rattle uses Robert Haas’s 1939 edition – a hybrid that incorporates elements from both of Bruckner’s versions. The Haas version has remained popular, conductors like Karajan and Haitink continuing to use it even after Leopold Nowak released his more authentic scholarly editions of the symphony in 1972. From the shimmering violins and brooding basses of the opening, Rattle leads the AWO through a mammoth symphony, which has attracted the nickname Apocalyptic – a moniker that captures the scope if not quite the atmosphere of the work. The two-plus-three “Bruckner rhythm” – given so much motivic weight in the composer’s Seventh – sweeps through the strings in the first movement while the descending figures, like pealing-bells in the Scherzo are flowing and expansive under magically shimmering strings. The AWO’s brass and timpani conjure vast landscapes that fade away again into solitude. The Adagio… Continue reading Get…

January 30, 2017