Bartok: Piano Concerto Nos. 1 & 3 (CD review)

Also, Divertimento for String Orchestra. Peter Serkin, piano; Seiji Ozawa, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Rudolf Barshai, Moscow Chamber Orchestra. HDTT HDCD248.

American pianist Peter Serkin (b. 1947) is into his fifth decade of performing, and while he is among the world's leading pianists, he has never quite achieved the intense following his father, pianist Rudolf Serkin, acquired. I suppose that's one of the drawbacks of performing in the shadow of an illustrious parent, unfair as it is. Anyway, on this remastered disc from HDTT (High Definition Tape Transfers), we hear Peter Serkin in one of his earliest recordings, two 1967 performances of Bartok with Maestro Seiji Ozawa and the Chicago Symphony.

The album begins with the Piano Concerto No. 1, written in 1926 by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (1881-1945). It is not the most smiling work in the world, full of hard edges and blunt percussives. Although it displays much of the coarse dissonance typical of Bartok's work, it also utilizes a good deal of Baroque-style counterpoint. Along with his Concerto for Orchestra, which came much later, the First Piano Concerto remains one of the composer's most popular pieces.

So, how does Serkin handle it? Well, he's an extremely discerning, precise, and somewhat reserved player, so his interpretation is characteristically more reflective than it is edgy or exciting. The problem is, I'm not sure that's exactly what the music needs.

All three movements of the First Concerto seem more leisurely than one usually encounters in Bartok performances, making them perhaps a shade more scholarly than not. In the Andante, especially, Serkin imbues the music with an eerier quality than do most other pianists, taking it at a much slower pace; but that's about the only place his approach works well. One thing he does provide in abundance, though, is contrast, because after the ultraslow Andante, he launches into a pretty heady Allegro. Still, what I missed most was a compelling forward pulse, a building of tension and its consequent release. It is these qualities one finds in Bartok readings from pianists like Stephen Kovacevich (Philips), Zolton Kocsis (Philips), Krystian Zimerman (DG), and Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca).

Serkin fares better with the Concerto No. 3, written in 1945, maybe because it is lighter than the First. Bartok wrote the Third at the very end of his life, not even finishing the last few bars, and it might have been his way of showing the world that he had softened considerably from his younger, more defiant days. Here, Serkin, with his studied approach, seems more at home with the composer's newfound melodic normalcy, even if there still appears to be a degree of slackness in the rendition.  Be this as it may, when you factor in the excellence of the HDTT remastered sound, Serkin's Third might be a reasonable consideration for anyone who enjoys Bartok.

Bartok's Divertimento for String Orchestra comes from 1939, and on the present disc we have it performed by Rudolf Barshai and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. Barshai helps it along with dash and élan in the outer movements and splendid atmosphere in the Adagio. You won't find a better reading than this one, and when you again count in the superb audio quality, you get a top-of-the-line choice in this repertoire.

RCA recorded the Piano Concertos in 1967, and HDTT transferred them to compact disc from an RCA 4-track tape. The sound is a tad forward overall, but it suits the music, and it provides an exceptionally well detailed experience, with plenty of air around individual instruments. The transient response is quick and taut, the piano firmly grounded within the orchestral setting, its attack strongly delineated. While the clarity and exactitude of the sound tend to diminish somewhat the apparent size of the orchestra, a fairly realistic stage depth helps the illusion of one's being in front of a live ensemble. Loud outbursts, cymbals, and triangles emerge impressively, as do all of the percussive instruments for that matter, including the piano.

Decca recorded the Divertimento in 1962, and HDTT transferred it from a London 4-track tape. It may not have quite as much orchestral depth as the RCA production, but it displays a better left-to-right stereo spread, with better fill. It also sounds a shade bright to my ears. Be that as it may, like the RCA recording it exhibits a vivid, vibrant sound, a wide dynamic range, and a potent transient impact.

For information on HDTT discs and downloads, you can check out their Web site at http://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/storefront.php.

JJP

Gershwin: Concerto in F (CD review)

Also, Rhapsody No. 2; I Got Rhythm Variations. Orion Weiss, piano; JoAnn Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Naxos 8.559705.

American composer George Gershwin (1890-1937) made his name in the musical world in 1924 with Rhapsody in Blue, in which he fused American jazz and classical orchestral music. It probably seemed unique at the time, and it certainly proved influential. But maybe folks back then had already forgotten that the American pianist and composer Louis Gottschalk had done much the same thing some half a century earlier with his Night in the Tropics symphony and Latin American Symphonette. Be that as it may, audiences loved what Gershwin did, and in the following thirteen years before his untimely death, he practically changed the way people would look at serious music forever, with the Concerto in F, An American in Paris, the Cuban Overture, the opera Porgy and Bess, and a whole series of film and Broadway show songs.

In the present album American pianist Orion Weiss, conductor JoAnn Falletta, and the Buffalo Philharmonic present three of Gershwin's most-famous creations, the Concerto in F, the Rhapsody No. 2, and the I Got Rhythm Variations. Although I was not familiar with Mr. Weiss's playing, I have been an admirer of Ms. Falletta's work in Buffalo for some time and looked forward to their collaboration. They did not disappoint me.

Gershwin wrote his Concerto in F in 1925, and in its way it's a bit odd, the piano never quite dominating the proceedings the way you would expect in a concerto. An Allegro opens the piece in a big, robust, sweeping fashion, with Weiss and Falletta leading the way in a forward drive they sustain wonderfully. Supposedly, the Concerto in F was Gershwin's way of saying he could write a "proper" concerto after the popular success of Rhapsody in Blue a year before. The fact is, the Concerto is not as melodic as the Rhapsody, which is probably why it is not as memorable, yet the two works bear a marked resemblance to one another.

The second-movement Adagio evokes the languorous, soulful mood of a nocturne, particularly in the bluesy segment for trumpet and cornet and then in a more breezy and buoyant section when the piano enters. As Gershwin was a fan of Chopin, who wrote so many nocturnes, the similarities would seem appropriate. When the piano does appear, Weiss maintains a good, jaunty, yet poetic cadence.

Then the finale takes up where the first movement left off, big and brassy, Weiss's piano displaying a bravura temperament. Weiss shows us he's a spirited Gershwin interpreter, and one hope he returns for more.

Next up is the Rhapsody No. 2, which Gershwin wrote in 1931 for a Hollywood film, Delicious, with Janet Gaynor. The studio wanted the music to represent the hustle and bustle of New York City, prompting the composer originally to call it Rhapsody in Rivets. Fortunately, he changed his mind about that one. Here, everyone involved with the performance is again in top form, and the piece bubbles over with extravagant, effervescent enthusiasm.

Gershwin wrote the I Got Rhythm Variations for Piano and Orchestra in 1934 for a concert tour celebrating the tenth anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue. It would be the last composition he would fully orchestrate. He based the variations on the tune of the same name from his 1930 hit musical Girl Crazy, the variations marking various musical styles from waltz to Chinese to Arabesque. Weiss, Falletta, and the orchestra handle all of it with ease and practically bring down the rafters.

Naxos recorded the music in Kleinhaus Concert Hall, Buffalo, New York, in November of 2010. It's something a little different for the company in that rather than the warm and slightly veiled sound we often hear from Naxos recordings, this one is very open, very clear, very clean, and very transparent. Coupled with a huge dynamic range, strong transient impact, and deep, taut bass, the results are often startlingly realistic. The piano is somewhat close, true, but it fits in well with the rest of the sonics.

JJP

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 (SACD review)

Also, Marche Slave. Mikhail Pletnev, Russian National Orchestra. PentaTone Classics PTC 5186 381.

Maestro Mikhail Pletnev and his Russian National Orchestra continue their march through the Tchaikovsky symphonies, with only a few more remaining in the cycle. When they finish, PentaTone will probably gather all the recordings together in a complete box set. Who knows. In the meantime, Pletnev has not exactly knocked me over with his eloquent but rather cautious interpretations of Symphonies Nos. 4-6. With No. 1, however, he seems more in command, more in control; either that, or his recent conservative streak better suits the music of No. 1.

Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) wrote his Symphony No. 1 in G minor "Winter Daydreams," Op. 13 in 1866 when he was only twenty-six years old. It was among his first large-scale works, and in a way it was somewhat experimental for him. Always the self-doubter, he revised it during the next two years, premiering the completed piece in 1868 and then revising it further in 1874. Although the composer would go on to produce far more dramatic things, in the First Symphony he was at his most lyrical, his most rhapsodic. Perhaps that's why Pletnev, who seems to be becoming more restrained and careful in his approach to music lately, finds himself so secure in the music.

The symphony begins with a movement subtitled "Daydreams on a Winter Journey," which the composer didn't really mean as programmatic so much as evocative. He marked it Allegro tranquillo, and most of it is peacefully lyrical, with Pletnev making the most of it by taking his time in an easygoing, highly poetic manner. We can almost feel the snowflakes swirling around us as we imagine a musical traveler moving through the snowy countryside in an open carriage. Or some such picturesque image.

The second, slow movement, marked Adagio cantabile ma non tanto ("Leisurely, songlike, a little fast but not too much") Tchaikovsky subtitled "Land of Desolation, Land of Mists," and you can guess what sort of imagery that conjures up. Tchaikovsky wrote a lovely, plaintive melody for oboe that Pletnev draws out deliciously.

The composer abandons subtitles for the final two movements, a Scherzo and Finale. Pletnev elicits the best from the Scherzo, making it appropriately playful and doing a good job with the waltz tune at its core, one of the first of many such waltzes that would become a hallmark of Tchaikovsky's music. The Finale, which under Pletnev is perhaps a shade too relaxed, features variations on an old Russian folk song, making it the most "Russian" sounding part of the composition. Tchaikovsky always liked his First Symphony, something he could not bring himself to say about too much of his other work. The performance is also Pletnev's best work in his PentaTone Tchaikovsky cycle thus far.

The album concludes with the Slavonic March, Op. 31 from 1876, a patriotic and triumphant affair that predates the composer's 1812 Overture by several years but bears remarkable resemblances. Here in the Slavonic March Pletnev finally lets the brakes off and goes full throttle. It's among the best, most exciting interpretations of the work you're likely to hear.

Polyhymnia International recorded the performances at DZZ Studio 5, Moscow, in 2011. The sound they obtain is smooth and warm yet remarkably lifelike, captured in both two-channel stereo and multichannel surround on a hybrid SACD. As I heard it played back through a Sony SACD unit, it appears to have less of the ambient veiling I've heard on previous recordings from this source. Although the sound stage is not especially wide and the midrange not particularly transparent, the sonics do display a good orchestral depth, a strong bass, and a solid dynamic impact, so, overall, we get a pleasingly realistic aural presentation. For whatever reason, I enjoyed the sound best in the Marche Slave, perhaps because the music itself is so vigorous.

JJP