Liszt•Wagner
Piano Works
Imogen Cooperp
CHANDOS CHAN10938
★★★★★
Faultless piano works explore
Liszt’s hang-up with Wagner
In addition to masterful technique
andsensitivelyricism,theEnglish
pianistImogenCooperisrenowned
for her impeccably considered and
well-researched programmes,
which eschew obvious choices.
HerfifthrecordingforChandos
exploresFranzLisztandRichard
Wag ner, exact contemporaries w ith
personalities, egos and intertwined
personallivesmoregenerally
associated with dissolute rockers
ofacenturylater;despiteoften
strained relations, they were friends
and great mutual admirers.
This album’s initial impetus was
Cooper’s rediscovery of Zoltán
Kocsis’pianotranscriptionofthe
PreludetoWagner’sTr istan und
Isolde,andthenotionofplaying
it alongside Liszt’s transcription
of theLiebestod,effectively,the
beginningandendofthe(five
hour)opera.Particularlyinspired
is Cooper’s decision to include, as a
bridge between these two abysses,
Liszt’sLa Lugubre Gondola,written
afterapremonitionthatWagner
would die in Venice and his body
wouldbebornealongtheGrand
Canal, which did in fact happen.
AlsoincludedarefourofLiszt’s
ItalianAnnées de Pèlerinage,and
hisextraordinarytranscriptionof
Gretchenfrom hisFaustSymphony,
whichglistensinCooper’shands.
ThelinernotesbyDrConor
Farrington are erudite, learned and
fascinating, as are the additional
notesfromCooperherself.Zoltán
Kocsis died suddenly in late 2016,
andCooperhasdedicatedthis
very personal, sophisticated and
quitemarvelloussetofrecordings
to him.Lisa MacKinney
Bach • Tárrega et al
Two Po r traits of O n e Subjec t
Paul Ballam-Crossg
PAULBALLAM-CROSS.BANDCAMP.COM
★★★★✩Debutguitarrecitaloffersan
intimate space for dreamingI’ve been listening to a lot of
Schumann lately, so it was with
some pleasure I discovered that
young Australian guitarist/
composer Paul Ballam-Cross also
finds Schumann “deeply inspiring”
asheadmitsinthenoteonhis
self-titled debut recital.
Ballam-Cross’sTwo Port raits
of One Subjectis dedicated to
Schumann. But those same
qualitiesofmelancholy,intimacy
and nostalgia permeate the entire
programme, which comprises
worksbySchumann(ofcourse),
Bach(afavouriteofSchumann’s),
Tárrega(whoadoredSchumann’s
music),Chopin(bornthesameyear
as, and championed by, Schumann)
and Sor (whose three studies evoke
akindofSchumannesquesaudade).
Tárrega’s preludes owe a
debt to Chopin, and it is with
Tárrega’s transcription of Chopin’s
MazurkaNo4thatBallam-Cross
prefaces his sensitively rendered
performances of those nine
miniature masterpieces. He opens
hisrecital,however,withBach’s
oft-performed-on-guitar Suite No
1inG.Hemakesofitaspacious,
searchingpreludetotherestofthe
programme,whichthenmoves
through Sor to Ballam-Cross’s
own lyrical, musical commentaries
on Schumann’s work and
personality, Chopin and Tárrega,
before coming to rest, appropriately,
on the latter’s transcription of
Schumann’sBunte BlätterNo 1.
Thisisabeautifulandthoughtful
debut,whichasmuchasanythingis
an invitation to reverie, an intimate
space for dreaming in the company
of fellow dreamers.Will YeomanUnlikethelifelongartisticjourneyofsomeotherpianists,that
of Maurizio Pollini has remained remarkably consistent. Winning
the 1960 International Chopin Competition, the young virtuoso’s
approachrightfromthestartwasoneofclarity,servedbya
techniqueofformidablestrengthandaccuracy.Pollinimadetwo
recordingsofChopinforEMI,thentookanextendedbreak.In
1971 he signed with DG where he has remained to this day.
Every one of his early LPs was an event, due to his phenomenal
concentration and technical assurance: His Prokofiev Seventh
Sonata and Stravinsky’sThreePiecesfromPetrouchka,andhis
ChopinÉtudes,remaingramophoneclassics.Fromthenuntil
theultimatereleaseinthisboxfrom2014,hehasnotsomuch
mellowedasmatured.Hecontinuestoseekoutawork’sstructure
andclarifyitstextures;heisrevelatoryinSchoenberg.Themore
important the music, the better. Bach’sWell Tempered Clavier
(Book1),Beethoven’sandSchubert’slatePianoSonatasallreceive
this treatment. The slow movement of Beethoven’s Third Piano
Concerto (especially in the earlier performance under Karl Böhm) is
neitherpersonalintrospectionnoralyricalserenade;itisahymn.
WithPolliniyougetnoneofthewryhumourunderpinning
AlfredBrendel’sintellectualism,northedetailedcapriciousnessof
Martha Argerich. There is no improvisatory feel to Pollini’s playing.
Whereothersrevelinlightandshade,hepreferslightandmore
light.ThisresultsinveryindividualDebussy,predictablymore
successful in the severeÉtudesthan the picturesquePreludes.
Chopinishishometerritory.WhiletheyoungPolliniknew
that Chopin’sÉtudesandPolonaisesrevealed his strengths,
hewaiteduntil2005beforehesetdowntheNocturnes.
Whilebereftofhalf-lights,thesepiecesglowwithareverend
tenderness. DG’s superb sound quality is the other constant
in what really is a highly recommendable set.PSConsistency and authority mark
Pollini’s recordings over 43 years
Maurizio Pollini
TheCompleteDGRecordings
Maurizio Pollinip
DG 4796315 (55CD, 3DVD)
★★★★★Maurizio Pollinihttp://www.limelightmagazine.com.au MAY 2017LIMELIGHT 79
REVIEWSO