Beethoven - Sonata in f
minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” Lambert Orkis Bridge 9169
Unlike the many previous recordings of this favorite
Beethoven work, this CD includes no other music. Orkis plays Opus 57 three times,
on three different instruments in turn: a replica of a Viennese fortepiano of
1814-20; a modern Bösendorfer concert grand; and a second replica, also
Viennese, after a model of circa 1830. Heard in sequence with the modern grand, the two
historic replicas illustrate sharp differences — wood, not steel, frames;
leather, not felt, hammers. Beethoven’s score contains no specific indications
for the soft pedal, but Orkis applies the device in the opening bars of the
sonata and elsewhere in pianissimo passages; its silvery color in the
fortepianos is perfect for the Appassionata’s wild contrasts. For the theme of
the central Andante con moto variations, there is even something called a
bassoon stop, an interesting period rattle perhaps veering towards quaintness.
The sonata relishes the bunching of low bass notes into chords, especially at
loud moments, and here the 1830 instrument offers surprising force and clarity.
The equivalent effects on the modern piano are, of course, wonderfully resonant
but require careful control: Orkis says he was surprised that his Bösendorfer
performance was marginally slower than the other two. Orkis is an experienced and versatile U.S. artist. He
plays the sonata with a fine appreciation of its special expressive ambience,
its insistence, and its exaggerated loud/soft swings. Appassionata was not the
composer’s title, but “passionate” seems the right word for those terrific
sweeps up and down the keyboard in movements 1 and 3, and for that whirling
gypsy song just before the end. Orkis delivers it all with impressive
precision, and follows Beethoven’s sometimes-eccentric pedal markings – with
strikingly different results in the three instruments. However, his
interpretation of movement 2’s tempo (Andante con moto = “moving along”)
reduces this oasis of tranquility to mere plainness, at least in the fortepiano
versions: the modern-piano performance inserts a few personal rubato touches. All in all an uncommonly worthwhile release. John Beckwith
Beethoven Sonatas at the
Library of Congress Henryk Szeryng; Gary
Graffman Bridge 9165
These performances have been re-mastered from original
Library of Congress LPs, recorded in the early 1970s. Henryk Szeryng is one of
the great “worldly” Eastern European violinists, born near the beginning of the
20th century and deeply connecting music with life experience, especially
during World War II. During his charmed upbringing near Warsaw, he studied with
an assistant of Leopold Auer’s, knew Paderewski and eventually moved to Berlin
to study with Carl Flesch. A few years later (early 1930s) he was in Paris,
studying violin with Gabriel Bouillon and composition with Nadia Boulanger. He
is quoted in the liner notes of this recording as saying “violinists should
obtain a good general education, particularly in the humanities, in history,
and languages. The study of music should include the sciences of acoustics and
mathematics. Their musical education should include harmony, counterpoint,
piano, orchestra, opera, etc. A violinist can learn a good deal from singers
and from pianists.” Here, here. Well, this recording, with its slightly inferior sound
quality and rough edges, is a joy. Gary Graffman, a fine American pianist born
in 1928, gives solid partnership in these remarkable pieces, but my biased ears
keep turning to Szeryng. I’ve never heard the famous opening of the Kreutzer
sonata played with such a magnificent mixture of technique and soul… and in
fact the two become one throughout this recording. Szeryng’s expression through
dazzling technique is intriguing and wholly satisfying to listen to. That’s not to say the performances are not without
their flaws. They’re live recordings, after all, with a certain “seat of the
pants” excitement which occasionally elicits some bloopers, but these are
wonderfully in the spirit of the whole thing. Ultimately, the genius of
Beethoven shines through: what tremendous and deep insight that man had, and
what a miracle it is that we are able to connect to it so fully and intimately
in this very different day and age. Larry Beckwith
