Gramophone – September 2019

gramophone.co.uk GRAMOPHONE SEPTEMBER 2019 79

frontofanaudience.Thestudioambience
underminestheGminorPrelude’schains
oftrills,whichgaindefinitionthanksto
thelivetraversal’stighterpickup.Jarrett’s
fluidlyunderstatedstudioAminorFugue
retainsitsbasictempothroughout,whereas
thepaceslightlyspeedsupinthelive
version.Ontheotherhand,therelatively
dutifulandsquarestudioBminorPrelude
comesoutofitsshellamonthlater,replete
withanaltogetherlightertouchand
archinglineonJarrett’spart.Theleaner
liveengineeringalsoconveysasenseof
transparentlinearinterplayinboththe
BflatminorPreludeandFugue.
Otherinterpretativevariantsinthe
presentrecordingcanbeascribedto
Jarrett’sfreewill,orperhapsit’sthe
adrenalintalking.Howelsemightone
explainhisCsharpminorPrelude’s
newfoundfreedomandrhetorical
flexibility?TheAminorFugueremains
buoyantlyunderstated,exceptthatthe
tempogetsatadfasterasthemusic
progresses(betterthantheopposite!).
ThebrisklydispatchedAmajorFugue’s
cross-rhythmicphrasesbecomeless
emphaticandmoreconservationalnow,
whileboththeFmajorPreludeandFugue
trulytakewing.
ForallofJarrett’sseriousnessand
concentration,Imissthecolour,the

nuance,thefinelyhoneddegrees

oftouchandtherangeofexpressive

varietycharacterisingagoodnumberof

Book 1 pianorecordings;EwaPobłocka’s

extraordinaryrecentreleaseisacase

inpoint.

Thenagain,canthegreatestBach

pianistsdeliveratotallyimprovisedsolo

concertfromscratchonJarrett’sstunning

creativelevel?JedDistler

Selectedcomparisons:

Jarrett(10/88)(ECM) 835 246-2

Pobπocka(3/19)(NIFC)NIFCCD062/3

Busoni

‘PianoMusic,Vol11’

JSBach/BusoniTenChoralePreludes.Prelude,

FugueandAllegro,BWV998BusoniPreludio

alcoralee fugasopraunframmentodiBach

(EdizioneminoredellaFantasia

contrappuntistica,K256a). SonatinaNo5,

‘SonatinabrevisinsignoJoannisSebastiani

Magni’,K280

WolfHardenpf

NaxosB8 573982(69’• DDD)

Busoni’s music can

on occasion remind

me of that quip by

Eduard Hanslick when

he encountered Brahms’s Fourth

Symphony for the first time: ‘All through

I felt I was being thrashed by two terribly

clever men.’ When it’s played with true

understanding, with mental and physical

virtuosity held in perfect accord, it comes

truly alive – think of Hamelin, Levit or

Ogdon. Unfortunately, though Wolf

Harden is absolutely committed to his

music, it frequently sounds overly earnest.

He begins with the Fifth Sonatina, giving

its striking discord with due élan, but

the fugal writing (from 1'42") is pretty

unyielding; Hamelin by comparison

is much more supple in effect.

From here, Harden moves on to the

Preludio al corale e fuga sopra un frammento

di Bach – not the one we know from the

Fantasia contrappuntistica but rather an

‘Edizione minore’ – which he plays with

absolute conviction, although again there’s

a relentless quality, particularly in the

fugues, that prevents the music from

coming to life. The transcription of Bach’s

Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E flat for

lute sets off more promisingly, with a freely

flowing Prelude, but the Fugue’s voicings

are less than subtle and some of the

semiquaver fingerwork in the Allegro

is a touch uneven.

Wolf Harden ends with the glorious set

of 10 Chorale Preludes, making slightly

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