Piano Potpourri No. 12 (CD/Streaming Reviews)

by Karl Nehring

Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works and Concertos. (CD1) Sérénade grotesque, M. 5; Menuet antique, M. 7; Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19; Jeux d'eau, M. 30; Sonatine, M. 40; Miroirs M. 43; (CD2) Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55; Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn, M. 58; Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61; Prélude, M. 65; À la manière de Borodine, M. 63/1; À la manière de Chabrier, M. 63/2; Le tombeau de Couperin, M. 68; (CD3) Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, M. 82; Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83. Seong-Jin Cho, piano; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Andris Nelsons, conductor. Deutsche Grammophon Limited Edition 3 CD 486 6824

 

Earlier this year, we reviewed a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Maurice Ravel’s complete music for solo piano by the young Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho (b. 1994), a review that you can read here. Following the release of that album, DG released his recording of the two Ravel piano concertos with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andris Nelsons. As many music lovers are no doubt aware, 2025 marks 150 years since Ravel’s birth; in May, DG released this deluxe album -- that combines those previous albums as part of this limited-edition 3-CD set. The album cover looks like it should hold LPs rather than CDs (when my copy arrived, my first thought was that I had been sent a vinyl version by mistake). That large, sturdy package comprises (in addition to the three CDs themselves) a hardcover book with full track listings and notes on the music; numerous photos of the artist; and the offer of three months’ free access to STAGE+, DG’s online video repository of concert performances and audio albums. Because we have already reviewed the solo piano music (link above), we’ll confine our comments to the concerto disc, which, given the talent shown by Cho in the solo piano music combined with the undeniable excellence of the BSO, is a worthy release indeed. Cho brings something of a light touch to Ravel’s music, which may well be why the album’s producers thought to devote a page devoted to this quote from Ravel: “The music of a concerto should, in my opinion, be lighthearted and brilliant, and not aim at profundity or at dramatic effects.”  Delightful music in an impressive package – it’s a limited edition (only 4000 to be produced), and of course the solo piano music and concerto releases are also available – these are all recommendable as appropriate.

 

Arc III. Louise Talma: Alleluia in Form of Toccata; Schubert: Fantasie in C major, Op. 15, D. 760“Wandererfantasie”; Debussy: L’Isle Joyeuse, L. 106; Dohnányi: Pastorale on a Hungarian Christmas Song; Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5; Ligeti: Études, Book 1: No. 5 Arc-en-ciel. Orion Weiss, piano. First Hand Records FHR129

 

Back in 2014, Ohio-born pianist Orion Weiss (b. 1981) embarked on a recording project that eventually yielded three releases, Arc I (our review of which you can read here) being the first. In the liner note essay of the first release of his projected trilogy, Weiss explained that “the arc of this recital trilogy is inverted, like a rainbow’s reflection in water. Arc I’s first steps head downhill, beginning from hope and proceeding to despair. The bottom of the journey, Arc II, [you can find our review of Arc II here] is Earth’s center, grief, loss, the lowest we can reach. The return trip, Arc III, is one of excitement and renewal, filled with the joy of rebirth and anticipation of a better future.” Weiss recorded Arc III in 2022 as the world was beginning to emerge from the COVID-19 shutdown and he found that to him, “everything seemed utterly transformed, almost unrecognizable. My perception of humanity had undergone a fundamental change… The music was another world, another set of ideas, able to lift me above my own, to teach me and guide me.” The generally uplifting spirit of the album is established at the outset with the exuberant Alleluia in Form of Toccata by the American composer Louise Talma (1906-1996), a piece that seems to be bursting at the seams with exuberance. Following this unfamiliar beginning, Weiss then brings us back into the realm of the familiar, with music from Schubert and Debussy, before once again bringing us something less familiar, Erno Dohnányi’s Pastorale on a Hungarian Christmas Song. This piece sounds more like a dreamlike dance fantasy than an ode to Yule logs or Christmas trees; but it has a wistful, hopeful charm that makes it quite appealing. Weiss then brings us the major work on his program, Brahms’s Piano Sonata No. 3, an imposing work in no fewer than five movements that total more than 35 minutes. Brahms composed this sonata at the age of 20, eager to display his talents as both composer and pianist, and Weiss channels the exuberance and youthful spirit of the young Brahms before closing his program in a more reflective vein with the colorful but enigmatic Ligeti Étude.

And thus we come to the end of Weiss’s Arc series of recordings. As the pianist himself summarizes it: “The music recorded on Arc I (FHR127) expresses foreboding from the brink of disaster. The music on Arc II (FHR128) was written by composers dealing with tragedy. At last, Arc III is a set of pieces born from the bright points of life. Peace, hope, love, ambition, optimism and the divine – the inspirations are myriad. These compositions spring from the million shades of happiness.” Arc III certainly is a delightful conclusion to the trilogy – well worth an audition, as are its two predecessors.

 

The Art of Memory. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II; Lasser: 12 Preludes for Solo Piano "The Art of Memory". Anton Mejias, piano. Deutsche Grammophon (digital-only release)

 

The Finnish-Cuba pianist Anton Mejias (b. 2001) was fascinated by the music of Bach from a very young age. He made his recital debut at the age of eight, and by ten, he had already learned the entire Well- Tempered Clavier, Book I. Since then he has added the complete French and English Suites, all six Partitas, and the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, to his repertoire. The title of this new release has a dual reference: the recording captures a concert performance that in which Mejias played these works by Bach and Lasser from memory – no mean feat, to be sure – and the subtitle of Lasser’s work, “The Art of Memory.” Rather than present the Bach and Lasser compositions separately, Mejias has chosen to weave them together: four tracks of Bach, a track of Lasser – repeated in this way through all 48 preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II and all 12 Preludes for Solo Piano "The Art of Memory."

Philip Lasser (b. 1961) is an American composer and pianist who is currently on the faculty at Julliard. Of his “The Art of Memory” he writes, “I began my Twelve Preludes many years ago with the idea of creating a set of works wherein as we went from one to the next, each prelude would collect remembrances of the past preludes until, at last, we reach the twelfth, which would be entirely made up of memories. . . I began to realize that this was a metaphor for human memory. With each new day, we become richer with new events, emotions, apperceptions; and yet, we receive the new only through the filter of our own personal experience which is then nothing more than a sum of our past remembrances. . . I am deeply honored that Anton Mejias has taken the bold move to perform and record my Preludes inside Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and I hope that my work nests quietly in Bach's great work and offers yet another rhythm to the mastery of his unfolding of time.” Lasser’s brief, subtly ambiguous-sounding Preludes offer a subtle contrast to Bach’s more resolute music; woven together, the net effect is entrancing. At more than two hours in length, this is hardly an album suitable for a quick listen; to be sure, many listeners will use it as background music – not that there’s anything wrong with that. It will also reward serious listening for those who have the time and the inclination. It’s a remarkable recording.

Simone Dinnerstein: Broadway-Lafayette (CD review)

Music of Ravel, Lasser, and Gershwin. Simone Dinnerstein, piano; Kristjan Jarvi, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Sony Classical 88875032452.

This is another of those kind of, sort of theme albums, the producers telling us that "the music on this album celebrates the time-honored transatlantic link between France and America through the music of three composers--George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel and Philip Lasser." It suggest also "the French-American connection as the Marquis de Lafayette and his French troops helped the American colonists out against the British during the American Revolution." OK, a tenuous link if you ask me, but it's awfully good music and well handled by American pianist Simone Dinnerstein, conductor Kristjan Jarvi (another in the musical Jarvi family, son of conductor Neeme Jarvi and brother of conductor Paavo Jarvi), and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The program opens with the Piano Concerto in G major by French composer Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). The Concerto has always struck me as one of Ravel's most-imaginative works, full of jazzy bustle one moment and the tenderest grace the next. It's done up not only in Ravel's usual impressionist style but most expressive as well, and unless the pianist is careful the piece can appear merely as a series of clamorous rants and dreamy allusions. One past master of taming this sometimes unwieldy beast was Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, who in a 1957 recording for EMI (now Warners) showed how beautifully crystalline and elegant the music could sound. Now, Ms. Dinnerstein gives it a shot, and she, too, finds joy in the work.

Dinnerstein emphasizes the jazz element in the first movement, perhaps to show the work's connection to Gershwin all the better. Yet she keeps it fairly light and atmospheric, too, never making the music appear too showy. Does it fully capture Michelangeli's magic? No, but it's close. Ms. Dinnerstein does even better in the touching second-movement Adagio assai, which embraces a sweet, Chopin-like quality. In the final Presto, Dinnerstein fully engages the composer's blazing technical displays, yet also manages to find some respite along the way. If the whole is still not quite so coherent as Michelangeli's account, it is nevertheless satisfying, with good support from Maestro Jarvi and the MDR orchestra.

Simone Dinnerstein

Next, we find the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra "The Circle and the Child" by American composer and pianist Philip Lasser (b. 1963). Lasser's work, composed in 2012 especially for Ms. Dinnerstein and here receiving its premiere recording, is a different sort of animal from the others on the program. Lasser says of the concerto that it "speaks of memory, inner voyage and closeness," the circle "a powerful metaphor for life." Fair enough, if fairly vague and ambiguous. He uses as the basis for his composition a Bach chorale, and the piece does possess a delightfully melodious nature. Like most modern music, though, it doesn't rely too heavily on memorable tunes, relying mostly on creating mood, which Dinnerstein provides nicely, along with the orchestra's continual reinforcement.

Things close with the perennial favorite Rhapsody in Blue by American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937). In Gershwin it's hard for me not to think of Bernstein's classic recording for Columbia (now Sony) or Previn's (EMI) or Gershwin's own, reworked by Tilson-Thomas (Sony). Still, Ms. Dinnerstein puts her own stamp on the piece and makes the music a bit more tender than we usually hear it, a bit milder and gentler, though still filled with dazzling finger work. While I wouldn't call it as energetic an approach as the ones mentioned above, it's an interpretation that's easy to live with, and it reveals a sensitive side to Gershwin that is most flattering.

Adam Abeshouse produced and engineered the album, recording it at the MDR Orchestersaal, Leipzig, Germany in July 2014. The sound is warm and smooth, with no rough or jagged edges in sight. Nor have the engineers recorded it too close up; instead, it has a moderate distance involved, making it sound all the more realistic (if at the expense of sounding a trifle soft). Ultimate transparency, therefore, is only so-so, yet that's the case with many concert-hall performances, so one can hardly complain. Figuring into the equation a mild resonance as well, let's just say the sound is pleasingly comfortable.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here: