No. 68 • July/August 2020 • £5.

99
www.international-piano.com

INSIDE
13 PAGES OF

EXPERT ADVICE FOR EVERY PIANO ENTHUSIAST

FREE
SHEET MUSIC

GRIGOR
KHACHATRYAN
Armenian rising star pays
homage to his heroes

DEMONIC GENIUS
Horowitz continues to stir
controversy decades
after his death

TREASURE HUNT
Discovering the piano
music of Howells

PLUS Lowell Liebermann unlocks the secrets of his celebrated Gargoyles

Key resources for online learning during lockdown
Discover our
New Piano syllabus
2021 & 2022

NEW FOR 2021

A new Initial Grade for Piano,
providing a pre-Grade 1 assessment 
Piano Exam Pieces, available with
New scales requirements and
or without CD, from Initial Grade to supporting resources
Grade 8 offer a varied selection of 9
More choice and variety of
pieces per grade from the syllabus. repertoire (30 pieces per grade)
A duet option from Initial Grade
Piano Scales and Arpeggios to Grade 3
A one-year overlap period -
The Piano Scales & Arpeggios all pieces and scales must be from
books have been revised the same syllabus
to match the new scales
requirements.

ABRSM supports the teaching and learning of music Discover more and download the syllabus:
in partnership with four Royal Schools of Music.
abrsm.org/piano
www.abrsm.org /abrsm @abrsm_music
@abrsm @abrsm ABRSM YouTube #ABRSMpiano
 CONTENTS

5 EDITORIAL

16

KLEMENS BEITLICH
Learning during lockdown

6 LETTERS
Your thoughts and comments

7 NEWS & NOTES

Historic piano recordings catalogue
launched online ••• Vladimir Feltsman
curates Portland recital series ••• Igor Levit
streams Satie’s complete Vexations

10 ONE TO WATCH
Italian pianist Filippo Gorini

12 IN BLACK AND WHITE

22

STEINWAY & SONS

Is spiritual fulfillment compatible with life
as a concert artist?

14 ILL-TEMPERED CLAVIER
Charivari warns against the dangers of
streaming music for free

31 BREAKING THE MOULD

Innovative design solutions from Phoenix
Pianos

34 DIGITALLY DRIVEN
Key resources for online study

36 PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

Charles Owen reflects on some positive
28

TULLY POTTER COLLECTION

outcomes from the lockdown

39 SOUND TRUTHS
Arpeggios – the Achille’s heel of exam-
trained pianist

SHEET MUSIC
42-48 REPERTOIRE FOCUS
Gargoyles by Lowell Liebermann
42 Masterclass with the composer

74
44 Know the score
STACY KENNEDY

49 PIANO RARITIES
Schulz-Evler’s Mélodie in F-sharp

53 NEW MUSIC
Vinterdans by Svein Hundsnes SPECIAL FEATURES
16 HEROIC STRUGGES 26 TREASURE HUNT
59 IN CONCERT Armenian pianist, teacher and Matthew Schellhorn unveils a
Live reviews from London composer Grigor Khachatryan pays cornucopia of rare and unpublished
homage to his national heroes piano works by Herbert Howells
60-72 NEW RELEASES
CDs, DVDs, books and sheet music
22 DEMONIC GENIUS 28 BEHIND LOCKED DOORS
74 MUSIC OF MY LIFE Why do Vladimir Horowitz’s A look inside the ultra-secure
Ilana Vered draws musical inspiration from performances and personality Steinway vault in Astoria, New York
Eastern and Western traditions continue to stir controversy?

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 3

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 EDITOR’S NOTE

Finding focus
W
e certainly seem to be living in interesting times. First Meanwhile, there’s a wealth of online streaming content with which
came the global pandemic followed by protests calling to engage, thanks to the artists and institutions who in many cases
for racial equality, while the latest news headlines are have been sharing their music for free. As this issue of International
predicting a global economic downturn on a scale not Piano went to press, several festivals announced that they will now be
seen since the 1930s. streaming content online rather than cancelling altogether, including
Playing the piano can seem like a distraction or escape from such Lille Piano(s), Verbier and the Riga Jurmala Academy. Details of these
harsh realities but personally I’ve found it to be a source of great solace and many more events will be posted on our website and social media
during these difficult times. Aside from the fact that it pages, so please do consider following us if you don’t already.
poses never-ending technical challenges which in turn Where, though, will it all end? Our provocative columnist Charivari
provide a focus for the mind, making music connects can always be relied upon to take a contrary view and this month
us with our inner life of feeling more keenly than warns about the dangers of musicians giving too much away for
almost any other kind of activity. free – however honourable their intentions (page 14). I’d love to
As Charles Owen points out in his excellent know your views about this too – please feel free to write to me
piece in this issue (‘Pause for thought’, page 36), at [email protected]
people have responded to the lockdown in many
different ways, ‘ranging from utter despair to hyper Owen Mortimer, Editor
motivation’. Charles himself has summoned the will
to focus and immerse himself in practice, leading him
to ‘fall in love anew with the aural and tactile contact International Piano o�ers a rich mix of inspiration and guidance to pianists
which the piano offers every committed pianist’. and piano fans around the world, from dedicated amateurs and
For those of us who haven’t reached the students to professional pianists, teachers and a�cionados.
heights of Charles’ artistry, we may Celebrating the piano in all its forms, including the
find it harder to throw ourselves fortepiano and digital keyboards, each edition of our
magazine is packed with interviews, features, news
into practising without a teacher or and reviews showcasing the top artists of today
regular lessons. This is where online and yesteryear. Practical advice for players runs the
learning can become a lifeline, gamut from articles on technique and repertoire to
providing the stimulation, structure learning resources and study courses, plus the latest
developments in piano technology.
and support we need to pursue
Our goal is to draw together the fascinating strands
our playing. Some recommended that make the piano such a popular instrument,
resources are given on page 34 of enhancing every reader’s knowledge and supporting
this issue. those who strive to master its challenges.

@IP_mag fb.com/internationalpiano

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CRITICAL THINKING
I read Michael Church’s recent thought Rana manged this very I am an amateur pianist and In my review, I acknowledge
concert reviews with interest well. The second movement is have attended recitals on and off that Rana’s recent performances
(IP May, page 58), though having a lyrical set of variations which for much of my adult life. I feel I have been good, but her latest
heard Beatrice Rana at London’s she brought out nicely, while am a pretty reasonable critic of recital lacked all the qualities
Wigmore Hall on 7 February, I the last movement is very fast good pianism, of which this was I had previously admired; her
wonder if Mr Church attended and difficult, marked Prestissimo a prime example, in my humble playing had completely changed
the same recital as me? I totally possibile. opinion. I have tried (without in character. Unrelenting force
disagree with his assessment of I totally disagree that any much success) to play all of these and volume were applied to every
Rana’s playing. To begin with, aspects of her playing ‘verged works in my time so know them piece in the programme; there
I do not think she ‘announced on the psychopathic’. Perhaps ‘from the inside’. was nothing idiomatic about her
to the world’ with Bach’s 48 the word manic would be more John Greenaway, via email approach to works each of which
Preludes and Fugues. As far as meaningful (although I did not demanded a different sense of
I am aware, she brought out a feel she played that way). Albéniz Michael Church replies: style and spirit. But she is very
well-reviewed account of the provides colourful ‘pictures’ of First an apology: by a slip of the young: I am guessing this was just
Goldberg Variations but has not Spain and I thought she did well pen I wrote that Beatrice Rana a temporary stage in her evolution
yet recorded the 48 as a whole. to bring them to life. Stravinsky’s announced her presence to the into the major artist she deserves
Schumann’s F minor Sonata Petrushka also emulates an world with the 48, when it was of to become.
has the alternative title ‘Concert orchestra with colourful and course with the Goldbergs (which It’s also worth pointing out I
sans Orchestre’, meaning it virtuosic writing. Would Mr at the time I praised to the skies). was not the only critic to react
should be given a rendition Church prefer a lacklustre But in no other respect can I agree negatively to the Wigmore recital
that is orchestral in concept. I performance? with Mr Greenaway. in question.

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6 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 NEWS NOTES

Historic piano recordings database goes online

M ichael Spring, owner of
historic piano recordings
label APR, has launched a free,
comprehensive online database
of 78 rpm piano recordings,
comprising more than 12,000
entries dating from the 1890s
until the mid-1950s.
The vast majority of music
recorded during this period
was issued on discs made
from shellac. In total, the
number commercial classical
piano releases (including solo,
concerto and chamber music,
but excluding accompaniment)
runs to 12,267 discs – equivalent
to nearly four discs per week for
the first 60 years of the recording
industry’s existence.
Spring’s extensive catalogue
took him four years to compile.
Nothing like it has been
undertaken since the far-off days
of Clough and Cumings’ iconic Making history: Michael Spring
WERM (The World’s Encyclopaedia
of Recorded Music), published explains. ‘Nobody there had 1953 but then elected to re-record stations the world over rarely
in 1950 – and that covered only ever compiled a catalogue of the it on a visit to London for HMV play any ‘hiss-and-crackle’ discs,
the electrical recording era from complete collection, so I thought (who were still issuing 78s) for the fearing that anything below
1925. Spring goes back to the I had better do this – not quite other side of a shellac disc,’ says pristine digital sound will offend
very beginning. ‘Though there is knowing what I was taking on!’ Spring. ‘This UK Debussy title is (and therefore lose) the audience.
a slightly earlier recording by a Among the rarities unearthed the one disc missing from Sony’s As a result, there already several
popular piano duo of a piece by by his research are one Zbigniew Arthur Rubinstein – Complete generations who are unaware of
Anton Rubinstein,’ he reveals, ‘the Drzewiecki playing Paderewski’s Album Collection.’ the treasures of the shellac era.
earliest disc by a serious pianist Polish Fantasy (on Polish Who is the catalogue aimed Spring was for many years the
was Grieg’s Papillon, recorded Columbia DMX183 recorded in at and what is its purpose? ‘I driving force behind Hyperion’s
by Alfred Grünfeld in 1899. As a Warsaw around 1933), and enfant would like it to be of interest to indispensable Romantic Piano
policy decision, I haven’t included terrible Leo Ornstein on two discs fellow piano nerds and the kind of Concerto series before becoming
cylinders, piano rolls or off-air for US Columbia in 1914 featuring people who buy APR recordings, the owner of APR in 2004. He
recordings.’ Chopin’s ‘Black Key’ Etude and but also for academics who has gone on to identify and
The APR database lists Impromptu No 1, Grieg’s Papillon research music,’ says Spring. ‘It release some of the most valuable
composers from Absil to Zuera and Poldini’s Marche mignonne. reveals what music was being recordings of great pianists of
and pianists from Abram to ‘Not quite Suicide in an Airplane!’ recorded and when, the different the past. This latest initiative is
Zadora. What inspired the says Spring. There is also one by pianistic styles, and so on.’ a unique resource that leaves
project? ‘One of the main sources Arthur Rubinstein of a Debussy’s It is also important because pianophiles further in his debt.
for APR’s piano releases is the Prélude ‘La terrasse des audiences the first 60 years of recordings aprrecordings.co.uk/apr78
International Piano Archives at du clair de lune’. ‘He had recorded are in danger of being ignored
the University of Maryland,’ Spring this in America for a Victor LP in and overlooked. Classical radio JEREMY NICHOLAS

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 7

 NEWS & NOTES

Igor Levit performs live Satie marathon

I gor Levit recently took to
social media to stream a live
performance of Erik Satie’s
would suggest, but rather a
retreat into silence and humility.
It reflects a feeling of resistance.
‘What usually comes over as
a mere stunt here became a
journey through a fascinating
20-hour piano piece Vexations, That’s why it feels right to play landscape, an exploration of
nkoda is an extensive
comprising four lines of music Vexations right now. My world and mesmerising beauty. At times,
repeated 840 times. Designed to that of my colleagues has been a the mood was gravely lyrical, digital sheet music
‘raise awareness for the plight different one for many weeks and at times declamatory, and at library boasting over
of artists worldwide’ suffering will probably remain so for a long times furious: Levit explained 100,000 titles and 30
income losses due to the time. Vexations represents for me afterwards that a long section of million pages of music.
coronavirus lockdown, Levit’s a silent scream”. it was fuelled by his fury at what
musical marathon began at Critic and IP columnist was happening in Minneapolis.
IP readers can enjoy
2pm (CET) on Saturday 30 May. Michael Church tuned in He had been attracted, he said, a 20% discount by
He said: ‘The sheer duration to watch parts of Levit’s by the music’s lack of “content”, subscribing to nkoda
of Vexations doesn’t feel like a performance and was ‘pinned but the miracle lay in the content online: rhinegold.co.uk/
“nuisance” to me, as the title down’ by its sheer power: he put into it.’ ip-nkoda

Vladimir Feltsman leads Portland recital series

P ortland Piano International
has unveiled details of its
2020-21 SOLO Piano Series in
longest-running series of its
kind in the US. In 2005, Portland
Piano International became
Oregon, US. The programme an independent non-profit
has been curated by pianist, organisation with the aim of
conductor and teacher Vladimir continuing to present the world’s
Feltsman, who will open the finest pianists in recital as well
season with a pair of solo recitals as developing outreach activities
on 3 and 4 October 2020. that enrich and educate the local
‘There are six pianists who community.
will play two recitals each with ‘It is essential for everyone
different programmes,’ explains involved in the music business
Feltsman. ‘Besides Jeremy Denk to support the next generation
and myself, the rest of our guests of musicians,’ says Feltsman.
are young. Ilya Yakushev and ‘Portland Piano International has
Daria Rabotkina are former really been out front in America
students of mine who have in presenting the next generation
developed very successful careers, of great pianists through their
while Ilya Rashkovsky studied Rising Stars programme. For
in Germany with the prominent several years, they have invited
Russian pianist Vladimir Krainev. four exceptionally promising
Roman Rabinovich is a multi- young artists to come to Oregon
talented artist with a strong and and give recitals in Portland
engaging personality and stage and outlying communities,
presence, whose programmes including the beautiful Oregon
are always well constructed and coast and the eastern part of
thought provoking.’ Feltsman the state. These same artists
says his aim has been to identify also give masterclasses to local
musicians who have a compelling intermediate students. I have
‘voice’, which he defines as an been pleased to choose wonderful
‘ability to bring me somewhere I young people for the 2020-21
have not been yet’. season.’
Portland’s annual piano recital portlandpiano.org/2020-2021-
series has an illustrious history season
Vladimir Feltsman: ‘It is essential for everyone involved in the music stretching back more than four
business to support the next generation of musicians’ decades, making it one of the FRANZ WULF

8 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 NEWS & NOTES

Andrew Quartermain leads a

workshop at Leiston Abbey NEWS IN BRIEF
Looters have damaged Jacobs Joel Harrison. The five awardees
Music, a long-time dealer for are: Dominic Cheli, Kenny
Steinway & Sons in Phildelphia, Broberg, Mackenzie Melemed,
US. The incident occurred Michael Davidman and Sahun
during protests sparked by Sam Hong. They will each travel
the death of African American separately to Indianapolis in
citizen George Floyd at the Spring 2021 to give solo recitals
hands of police officers in livestreamed in HD with
Minneapolis. One instrument no in-person audience. The
ended up on the pavement with competition culminates on 25-
graffiti scrawled on its side. A 27 June 2021 with solo, chamber
spokesperson for Steinway told and concerto performances. The
IP: ‘In addition to the digital winner will receive the Christel
piano that was thrown on the DeHaan Classical Fellowship,
sidewalk, there was some minor comprising career assistance
damage to a couple of Steinways for two years, publicity,
British pianist unveils new piano in the store. Mostly, however,
they got away unscathed.’
performance engagements, an
artist-in-residence post and
community for adult learners jacobsmusic.com a recording contract with the
Steinway & Sons label.

B ritish pianist Andrew

Quartermain has launched a
new piano and lifestyle initiative
Improvisation plays a key role in
Quartermain’s approach because
‘it ticks every single teaching
americanpianists.org

British pianist Benjamin

aimed at adult learners and piano box’, he explains. ‘Pulse, phrasing, Grosvenor is to serve as
music lovers. Dubbed Piano understanding of structure, artist-in-residence with Radio
Sanctuary, Quartermain says harmonic language, textural and France for the 2020-21 season.
‘It will be so much more than a sonority awareness, confidence He will give concerts with the
piano course. It will be a retreat. in performing, technical Orchestre National de France
It will be about people. It will be advancement, memory and also and Orchestre Philharmonique
about a great social time. It will performing technique in general de Radio France, as well as a
be about great food and wine. – if you are making up your own solo recital broadcast on Radio
And above all it will be about music you are developing ways France later in the season. The
friendships. The piano will be the to make a performance sound The American Pianists first concert of Grosvenor’s
common factor that binds all of completely fresh. Plus, for adult Association (APA) has awarded residency is scheduled for 24
these threads together.’ learners, improvisation provides all five of its 2021 Award finalists September 2020, featuring
Quartermain is the CEO of the a fast-track method to exploring a cash prize of US$50,000 Rachmaninov Piano Concerto
leading music education charity new sounds, possibilities and before judging even begins. This No 2 with the Orchestre National
Pro Corda in Suffolk, UK. His general sense of excitement at unprecedented response to the de France under the baton of
ideas for Piano Sanctuary have the keyboard.’ lack of income for artists during the orchestra’s incoming music
been developed through many Another special initiative the pandemic was led by APA director, Cristian Macelaru.
years of performing and teaching, Quartermain has developed president and artistic director benjamingrosvenor.co.uk
meaning that he understands during the lockdown is a regular
‘what adult learners actually Spa session – an offshoot of the
want, as well as ways to fast-track weekly podcasts, featuring 20 neighbouring Abbey House. will be run like a hotel, including
learning via creative work’. minutes of non-stop soothing ‘Our first retreat takes place wonderful food prepared and
Piano Sanctuary will feature piano music. ‘I’ve received great from 3-5 July, with many more served in very safe ways.’
weekly podcasts (soundcloud. feedback from listeners,’ says planned throughout the year,’ Quartermain promises that
com/liveattheabbey) plus online Quartermain. ‘People use it for says Quartermain. ‘While the Piano Sanctuary ‘will truly be a
courses. These include Piano early evening wind-downs, as well virus persists we will ensure music course with a difference’.
Sanctuary Adventure (which fast- as during stressful and worrying complete safety by ensuring very Meanwhile, the weekly podcasts
tracks learning via the powers times to get them into sleep mode.’ low numbers each weekend. and regular Spa sessions are free
of improvisation) and a Starter Once the lockdown lifts, Piano Leiston Abbey also gives us all the to stream for all those who can’t
course for beginners or those who Sanctuary will begin hosting space needed for safe, distanced yet attend a retreat in person.
learnt as children but who have retreats at Suffolk’s beautiful teaching. Each participant will To book call +44 (0)1728 831354
been put off re-starting the piano. medieval Leiston Abbey and have their own piano and the site or visit procorda.com

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 9

 ONE TO WATCH

Keep it

MARCO BORGGREVE
complex

Filippo Gorini is drawn to challenging music whose formal strictures allow for great artistic
freedom. Colin Clarke meets an intelligent young artist with a brilliant future

W
hat really makes the 24-year-old Filippo feasible to attempt a career in music. I was very gifted
Gorini stand out as a pianist is the in mathematical and scientific subjects due to my
maturity of his music-making, well background – my parents are physicists and my older
beyond his years. His two Beethoven brother is a mathematician. But they did think that my
recordings for Alpha Classics, first the Diabelli studying music was a wonderful thing.’
Variations, and most recently the late Sonatas Opp 106 Perhaps the intersection of music and maths lies behind
(Hammerklavier) and 111, are stunning. He took first prize Gorini’s fascination with fugues – especially those by
at the 2015 Telekom-Beethoven Competition in Bonn, at Beethoven and Bach. The Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award
which he was also awarded two audience prizes; and this will enable him to create a project launching in September
year, he is the recipient of a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni 2021, involving a series of live events and digital content in
Trust Award in the UK. six ‘branches’ emanating from The Art of Fugue: performed
Gorini’s career took off after the Beethoven Competition. at the keyboard; presented in lecture-recitals; narrated via
‘The biggest thing I’d done until then was the Neuhaus a podcast; recorded; filmed; and finally ‘inspired’ –open
Competition in Moscow when I was 17. The exposure to anyone to share their pieces inspired by Bach. It also
really came with Bonn, and there have been a good encourages programming of The Art of Fugue, an austere
number of concerts already.’ No more competitions: as work from which promoters often shy away.
Gorini says, he now has a firm basis from which to work. ‘I’m not attracted to music that seems obvious to me,’
Gorini describes how one day as a youth he came says Gorini. ‘In general, counterpoint and polyphony are
home and there was a concert grand waiting for him. If fascinating because they offer the opportunity to listen to
his family were already putting such investment into his each voice, understand their relationships and discover
musical development, did everyone know this was the hidden musical meanings. The strict rules of the fugue
direction his career would take? ‘No, I hadn’t entered allow composers to build even more poignant structures
the conservatory at that point, so wasn’t sure if it was than freer forms. To me, the idea of a formal structure

10 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 ONE TO WATCH

that embodies communication, not just mathematics, is beautifully on a Hammerklavier, but the resonances on
really appealing.’ a modern instrument are different, so that dictates the
This makes perfect sense when it comes to Beethoven’s tempo for me.’
Hammerklavier which, Janus-like, displays forward-looking Gorini’s reference teacher is still the lady who taught
complexity, yet takes a backwards historical glance in its him at the Donizetti Conservatory in Bergamo, Maria
fugue. One of the interpretative challenges, I suggest, is to Grazia Bellocchio. He also sees Alfred Brendel five or six
honour both aspects. ‘Absolutely.’ Gorini concurs. ‘In this times a year – they work together in London and Milan
sonata you can hear the Modernists, the late Romantics and had a three-day intensive session for Gorini’s Diabelli
in the Adagio, and Handel and Bach in both the first and Variations recording.
last movements. To be able to create a language of such Driven by his razor-sharp intellect, Gorini already
breadth, yet still combine these diverse elements into an possesses a wide-ranging repertoire, encompassing
organic whole, is what makes this piece so incredible. The Stockhausen (Luzifers Traum, Klavierstück XIII from
challenges of the Hammerklavier are all that they are made Samstag), Adès (Still Sorrowing) and Schumann’s intriguing
out to be – I didn’t have any surprises. But it’s difficult to Geistervariationen. But it’s Gorini’s staggering maturity in
hold the tension in performance.’ Gorini achieves this like Beethoven that best reveals his youthful brilliance, poised
a seasoned master. on the cusp of a remarkable career. IP
The metronome markings in the Hammerklavier are
famously problematic. ‘We don’t have a manuscript
of this sonata, which is a pity. I simply do not believe Filippo Gorini’s recording of Beethoven’s Sonatas Opp
that Beethoven made a complete mistake in the 106 (Hammerklavier) and 111 is available from Alpha
metronome marking of just one movement. After all, most Classics (ALPHA 591). filippogorini.it
performances of the second and fourth movements are
very close to his markings. I also find it hard to believe The Art of Future Explored will launch in September
his metronome was right for the last movement and not 2021. theartoffugueexplored.com
the first. For the third movement, his marking works

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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 11

 IN BLACK AND WHITE

Moved by the spirit

s spiritual ful�lment compatible ith life as an artist
Benjamin Ivry considers the dilemma for pianists ho feel a religious calling

W
TULLY POTTER COLLECTION

hen pianists profess religious things blindly; you’re testing them out,
motivations, are they doomed almost like you’re a scientist – you’re trying
to be suspect in the eyes of to find out what is real.’
punters? A septuagenarian Franz Liszt, The Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires
founder of the piano recital, wrote a letter has also often spoken about her family
reprinted in Alan Walker’s biography: ties to Buddhism. Her grandfather was a
Buddhist, and although Pires refrains from
‘Everyone is against me. Catholics calling herself a Buddhist, she has studied
because they find my church music the religion and attends public workshops
profane, Protestants because to them my at which participants hear her perform
music is Catholic, Freemasons because mini-recitals, followed by guided meditation
they think my music is too clerical; to Abbé Liszt: a religious hypocrite? with the Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, a
conservatives I am a revolutionary…’ former molecular geneticist who now lives
exorcist, lector and porter, whereupon he at a monastery in Nepal.
Liszt realized that he was widely accused was often referred to as Abbé Liszt. He would In a 2011 memoir, A Pianist: Wanderings
of being a religious ‘hypocrite’ since his later emerge on occasion to conduct sacred of the Mind and Spirit, the Puerto Rican-
contemporaries published anonymous works, often at solemn ceremonies, or to give born pianist Rafael Cortés explained how
books saying so. lessons. By contrast, more recent performers conversion to Judaism was integral to his
Over a century later, it appears that have decided definitively to separate from success as long-time piano department chair
piety can better harmonise with keyboard their performing pasts. at New York’s Turtle Bay Music School.
performance, which has lost the air of In 2019, the Australian jazz pianist Tom While some pianists may follow the path of
disreputable charlatanism it had durign Vincent retired to a Buddhist monastery Hough and Rebello, enriching their musical
the era of barnstorming 19th-century after some 15 years of studying Zen. lives while becoming more aware of spiritual
virtuosos. In 2007, for example, the English Vincent told the Australian Broadcasting goals, others, like Vincent appear to require
pianist Stephen Hough published The Bible Corporation in March 2019: ‘Zen has got full-time dedication to a religious ideal.
as Prayer: A Handbook for Lectio Divina nothing to do with promoting yourself. It’s The Frenchman Thierry de Brunhoff,
presenting religion as a quest for equilibrium not about you, it’s about the other people… after studies with Alfred Cortot and Edwin
in a chaotic modern life. You get ordained as priest and a monk and Fischer, abandoned a promising career as a
American clergyman, Father Seán Brett then for rest of life you keep training. It’s a peformer and teacher In 1974, de Brunhoff
Duggan OSB, monk of St Joseph Abbey very different type of joy, dropping the me, retired to the Abbaye St Benoît d’En-Calcat,
near Covington, Louisiana, cheerfully me, me stuff and serving other people.’ a Benedictine community in southern
encourages his audiences to pray when he A near-exact contemporary of Vincent’s, France, whereupon he ceased any public
intermittently emerges from his monastic the English jazz pianist Jason Rebello, display of his musical talents. His recordings
duties to perform and record music by entered a Zen monastery in Bradford- of music by Weber, Chopin and Schumann
Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. Father on-Avon, outside Bath, in the mid-1990s, are all that is left to be savoured.
Duggan’s marathon recitals and recordings only to emerge again after a few months. Insofar as spirituality is an internal quest,
are possible, he explains, because his Speaking to The Independent newspaper it is not for us as listeners to evaluate the
Benedictine order favours artistic expression in January 1998, Rebello admitted that he motive behind an artist’s ‘pilgrim’s progress’.
This marks a change from the days of Liszt, found the monastic life too rigorous, despite Instead, we should just try not to be unduly
who after losing his children in mid-life and being drawn to meditation as a remedy for disappointed whenever a great pianist
enduring other tragedies, announced that he dissatisfaction felt after early career success. announces a premature departure from the
would retreat to a monastic life. In 1865, Liszt Buddhism appealed to Rebello because ‘it’s public scene. They may, after all, be going to
received the four minor orders of acolyte, very logical ... You’re not asked to believe a better place. IP

12 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 Ravel’s music has been a lifelong passion
of pianist Ann Martin-Davis and after
selecting the works for her first album of
Ravel’s solo piano music, commissioned
by Guild, she read Professor Michael J.
Puri’s book, Ravel the Decadent, which
breaks new ground by understanding
Ravel’s compositions to be part of the
late nineteenth century cultural and artistic
phenomenon of Decadence, rather than
the usual Neo-Classical or Symbolist
labels applied to his music. Ann realised
that her selection complimented Prof.
Puri’s arguments and invited him to
write the notes for the album.
The result is fascinating.

Ann Martin-Davis’s love of twentieth century

and contemporary art crosses all genres
and this has led to a career finding new and
appealing ways of presenting solo piano
GMCD7825
and chamber music, as well as that of
a renowned teacher.

“A distinguished scholar and pianist”

Gramophone magazine

Available now from www.guildmusic.com

 The
Ill-Tempered
Clavier
In their rush to give free concerts online during
lockdown, are musicians undermining their
professional worth? Charivari fears that there
will be a price to pay in the long term

‘Free concerts are a mistake. They cheapen the brand by providing premium goods as a giveaway’

I
phoned my dentist last week. The surgery ‘That’s quite all right. Do come along. I’ll open What? You mean you believe all that? Sorry
has been closed since lockdown, of course, up the surgery for you. I need to keep my hand to disabuse you but, no, that dentist story is a
but a filling had dropped out of an upper in, anyway. So don’t worry – the treatment will load of baloney. I merely wanted to illustrate
rear molar and left me with an uncomfortable be quite free. No need to pay.’ a point. Musicians all over the world have
sharp edge at the back of my mouth. I How lucky I am, I thought, to have such an no platform and, therefore, no income from
managed to get through to him. He’s a private accommodating, expert, generous professional paying gigs. So what do they do? They give
dentist, and a very good one. I’ve been a on hand in these grim days of social distancing. free concerts to everyone via the internet
patient/customer for many years even though How amazing that I can benefit from free and social media. All of a sudden, they have
he charges £10 every time he takes a breath. dental treatment at a time when he is unable changed from being a Professional Pianist into
Or so it seems when I get the bill. ‘Yes,’ he said. to work normally because of the pandemic. Father Christmas.

14 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 THE ILL-TEMPERED CLAVIER

Why? Let us talk about just the piano There are two means by which we hear (Facebook, in its omniscient way, now allows
and pianists. At least the piano can deliver pianists: recordings and concerts. Recordings, this – well, good luck with that). Others with
a satisfying musical experience without the generally, allow us to hear considered, highly- better business sense or more clout or more
involvement of another instrument. (A recital polished performances in excellent sound, pride in their craft attract a sponsor, allowing
for solo trumpet or clarinet? I don’t think so. played on well-regulated, beautifully-voiced them to play on a decent piano in a good
And, despite what record companies and instruments and in a natural acoustic, all acoustic, albeit in the arid atmosphere of
some exponents think, no solo violin or cello produced with the idea of rewarding, repeated an empty hall with an audience of one – the
for more than 10 minutes at a time, please.) listening. Or we go to a concert where the camera operator.
We are now awash with pianists of every music is as important an element as the Free concerts are a mistake. First, they
level of accomplishment vying for attention, social aspect: the frisson of the live event, its undermine the market by flooding it with
recording recitals in their homes. uniqueness, its collective, collaborative nature, material. They cheapen the brand by providing
Discounting the endless attempts of the shared experience and, yes, the discussion premium goods as a giveaway. Second, I might
amateurs to stagger through Für Elise (have over interval drinks. resent having to pay to hear you after things
these people no self-awareness?), I am talking Streaming from one’s own living room is return to normal when I know you are quite
about fully-fledged, expensively-trained neither one thing nor the other. It’s not even happy to parade your art online for nothing.
concert pianists, musicians who, in normal a poor substitute for both. A duff acoustic, Why do you do it? To keep your name in the
times, you can only hear by paying substantial an indifferent microphone and music played frame? Narcissism? Because your existence
sums of money (travel to and from venue, on a piano that usually needs some attention seems otherwise purposeless?
tickets for concert, programmes, et al). Now (it amazes me, the number of professional My dentist would never dream of working
they are offering the same thing for free. pianists whose pianos are out of tune or poorly for nothing, just as I would never dream of
Agents and managers who have spent years maintained). Why this need to communicate asking him to do so. Why should pianists be
building up their clients’ fees, negotiating at this reduced level of excellence? And why any different? And, by the way, in case the
contracts, getting the best possible terms – do it for free? True, some are offering their editor of this magazine thinks he is getting this
gone! When push comes to shove, they’ll do it recitals to raise money for charity (noble, to be column for free because I’m self-isolating, then
for nothing. Madness! applauded). Some suggest a personal donation he can think again. IP

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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 15

COVER FEATURE

Heroic
struggles

STACY KENNEDY

16 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 COVER FEATURE

Grigor Khachatryan grew up making music in war-torn Armenia, an experience that has
coloured his career as a pianist, composer and teacher. He explains to Andrew Mellor how
all three elements have become essential to his identity as a musician

A
rmenia’s history reads like a Sisyphean struggle are giving everything that you have to make your ideals
through waves of conquests by empire-builders come to life.’ When he took that mantra into the political
over several centuries. The country suffered arena of the piano competition, Khachatryan learned
genocide during the First World War and was how restrictive the competitive process can be. ‘For a
later subsumed into the Soviet Union. It finally gained competition to work, everyone has to conform to the same
its independence in 1991, only to be plunged almost parameters, and even then it depends how the jury feels
immediately into a war with Azerbaijan that prevented it on a particular day. At its worst, it’s just teachers looking
from rising as quickly as its former Soviet counterparts in out for their pupils. At its best, you can learn something
northern Europe. about yourself – but only if you decide to compete solely
Grigor Khachatryan was five when the Soviet Union with your own expectations of your own ability. Then you’ll
collapsed, but the event’s seismic judders would be felt discover who you are and what you’re made of.’
long into the pianist’s teens. Food, heating and electricity Khachatryan achieved high rankings in the Cincinnati
were scarce into the 1990s. Yet Armenia never lost its and Russian international piano competitions, but already
affinity with music, along with countless other lands the composer inside him was jostling with the pianist – a
that struggled to assert their autonomy through the struggle laid bare in Cincinnati. ‘I was in way over my
latter 20th century while enjoying the privileges of the head – I think I was even the youngest competitor,’ he
Soviet music education system as a curious byproduct. explains. ‘Somehow I got to the semifinal, and I chose to
Khachatryan sang and played folk instruments before he play one of my own piano sonatas alongside Schumann’s
and his brother learnt the basics of music in the charred Fantasie. My sonata was about 25 minutes long. I later
remains of a burnt-out music school in Yerevan. ‘I wanted heard that’s the reason I didn’t pass through to the
to play the guitar, but my father believed that to play an concerto round.’
instrument, you should sit symmetrically,’ he recalls, ‘so The work in question was an early version of the
I ended up with the piano.’ pianist’s Piano Sonata in C-sharp minor, David of
Before long, it dawned on Khachatryan that the only Sassoun – recounting the escapades of one of Armenia’s
viable future, whatever his chosen profession, lay in iconic heroes. It is one of two sonatas issued, in his own
the USA. At 15, he emigrated alone, hosted at first by recording, on an Albany Records disc dedicated to Edlina-
a married couple who had extended the same hand of Dubinsky. ‘I always thought that being a pianist was
friendship to his cousin. For three years, he didn’t see something you did just to compose,’ Khachatryan says.
his mother and had little contact with his family back ‘Pletnev once claimed that you cannot express love if you ‘The greatest danger
home. After battling through High School he entered the have never been in love. I interpreted that as, if you don’t in music is looking
University of Indiana’s Jacobs School of Music, where he compose, you can’t perform.’ for pride in it’
was taken under the wing of the late Ukrainian pedagogue
Luba Edlina-Dubinsky, another Soviet émigré.
‘The first thing that struck me was how brutally honest
she was,’ recalls Khachatryan of Edlina-Dubinsky’s
teaching. ‘That made me feel at home – as well as the fact
that all my teaching, the terminology and so on, had been
in Russian. We had the language in common.’ Did he sense
the Russian tradition in Edlina-Dubinsky’s pedagogy?
‘Not technically. In fact, I don’t remember her talking
about technique ever, except for quoting her own teacher
Yakov Flier’s rule, “If it hurts, stop doing it”. Personally, I
always felt the Russian school more as a general attitude
to music; that it was something to be taken seriously –
something holy almost. People like Richter, Gilels and
even Oistrakh embodied this. They didn’t play to make
pride for themselves. It was a far deeper need than that.’
Apparently, such ideals had already rubbed off on the
young Khachatryan, who was feeling a similar need ‘to
STACY KENNEDY

become a serious musician.’ But what did he believe

‘serious’ meant? ‘Not necessarily famous. Just the sort of
musician who, when somebody listens to you, they feel you

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 17

 COVER FEATURE

‘I always thought that being a pianist was You can argue aesthetics and cultural history with
Khachatryan on that point, but you can hardly fault the
something you did just to compose’ authenticity of the music his ideals have produced. ‘When
you have played a lot of music by the great composers,
Both sonatas speak of Armenia’s struggles through you start to feel their methods in your hands: Chopin with
music that’s dense, intricate, melancholic and brazenly a big left hand, Beethoven loving arpeggios and runs,’ he
nostalgic (the second, Battle of Avarayr, is named after says. ‘I realised that if my own music doesn’t feel different,
a defining event in Armenia’s bid for independence in then it can’t be different. I think there’s a certain truth to
the fifth century). References to the traditional music of that. Later in the process I am guided much more by how
Armenia are often deft and the internal workings of both the music sounds, and the more I worked away from the
scores are intriguing: Bach refracted through the troubles, instrument the better it became.’ His catalogue contains
topology and musical history of the Caucuses. ‘Whoever chamber and ensemble pieces, but he admits that ‘it’s
said tonal music is dead is either suffering from a lack of really just these two sonatas that represent me.’
imagination or a lack of comfort in playing its game of
chess – because that’s really what it is,’ says Khachatryan.
The pianist is not only vigorous in his defence of tonal
music but strives to elevate it. ‘I strongly believe that there
K hachatryan hopes to write more ‘once life has settled’
– which it soon will. His professorial position on the
faculty of Concordia College at Moorhead, Minnesota
is good and bad in music, and that has to do with basic was recently tenured. At Moorhead, he also directs the
science. I talk about this with my students. Look at the specialist music college’s annual Concordia Piano Festival.
general tendencies with which a string naturally vibrates He admits an initial hesitancy when faced with a career in
– like the overtone series. It is not a cluster of tritones pedagogy, but says he saw things differently after acting as
Khachatryan performs and seconds. It has a very certain way of vibrating first at an assistant to a professor in Indiana. ‘If you think about
Rachmaninov’s Third the octave, then at the fifth and then at the fourth. This is it, no matter how many concerts you play, it’s just one
Concerto with the basic nature. I’m not saying I only like consonant music. hour with a public who barely know you; you just have to
Concordia Orchestra in But you have to respect those basic laws of nature because hope that somehow they will understand, and hear what
Minnesota when you don’t, I think they will come back and bite you.’ you hear. With teaching there is a completely different

18 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 COVER FEATURE

KELLY KRUSE
level of self-expression that I absolutely fell in love with.
I suddenly realised that this is the third thing that makes
me a whole musician.’
Khachatryan’s enthusiasm for teaching stretches
beyond glowing words. He proved prescient in
establishing the YouTube Conservatory long before the
COVID-19 lockdown forced many instrumental teachers
to embrace digital teaching methods overnight. As a
teacher, he appears also to have inherited the straight-
talking tendencies of his own former teacher. His pupils
describe him as ‘blunt’, he reports with a chuckle. It can’t
help but serve them well in the long term.
Of the next generation, like many other regular teachers
Khachatryan warns that all is not well. ‘In Minnesota we
have a situation which I am sure many will recognise,
where pianists in their mid-teens are playing some of
the hardest repertoire, with all the notes there but zero
musicality. It’s like they are bred from childhood to seek
fame: what can I do to be famous? How can I succeed in
competitions? Almost like it’s an Olympic sport. Of course,
once in a hundred a young person will come along and
play some rare Mozart; they’ll be unbelievable, not merely
in terms of technique. First prize material. But that is the
exception, which I would venture is not just a problem in
Minnesota. The greatest danger in music is that everybody
is just looking for pride in it – thinking more about how who are slowly but surely walking away from the values that ‘I am inspired by
they can be successful than about the music. We must be some of our forefathers laid out: being brave, self-sacrificing heroism, from other
careful not to encourage that, so I do my best to look out and family-oriented,’ he says; ‘A lot of music these days cultures as well
for it in my students.’ has become about self-indulgence – about “how I feel and as my own’
The big question facing pedagogues everywhere how you feel” – but I am inspired by heroism, from other
is whether it’s the short-lived naivety of youth or the cultures as well as my own. I have been equally inspired
excesses of global capitalism that are chipping away at by heroes like William Wallace and Spartacus. I know
the soul of young musicians. Perhaps those who have this comes from living under the Soviet Union, but I feel I
witnessed hardship and suffering, as Khachatryan would die for my nation – for my people, my culture and my
undoubtedly has, see it more clearly. ‘I genuinely feel a heritage. There is something unique about the Armenian
weight on my shoulders,’ he says. ‘I don’t know where it nation; so many sad and tragic moments in its history.’
comes from but I have had it from childhood – this need For those of us who didn’t live under the Soviet regime,
to give something to the broader population, and the it’s easy to see that expression as cutesy or nostalgic. Only
whole humankind if possible.’ Khachatryan can know exactly where it comes from, but
In the booklet notes for his new recording, he writes there’s no doubting his honesty – especially in an age
passionately about the Armenian history that inspired when the artistic agenda has largely moved on. Moreover,
the works. He describes himself as ‘a hundred per cent he is quick to point out that it’s only context. ‘I wanted to
Armenian’ despite his American passport. The sonatas make the music sufficient enough that you could listen
carry the sort of girder-like weight that one might to it and think, “Oh I like that, it’s a nice piece”,’ he says. ‘If
associate with the music of Khachaturian: the second someone says it’s beautiful and old-fashioned, I’ll be very
movement of Battle of Avarayr introduces a theme which happy. It doesn’t have to be the craziest or most original
the uneducated ear could easily hear as a folksong from thing, because I don’t believe in that. As a sign on my
the region, while David of Sassoun seems to hint at the former teacher’s door said: “Don’t try to be somebody else,
character of a duduk, the distinctive reed instrument because the best you can be is you”.’ IP
given to the world by Armenia. ‘There are no quotes, but
I have been surrounded by Armenian music all my life
so, of course, certain intervallic structures, cadences,
resolutions and chords will at some point resemble it,’ Grigor Khachatryan’s Spirit of Freedom is now available
says Khachatryan. As a child, he played the dhol – a from Albany Records (Albany Records TROY1795-96).
traditional South Asian double-headed drum. His complete scores for The Battle of Avarayr and
His motivation for commemorating David of Sassoon David of Sassoun are available to download from
and Vardan Mamikonian (who led the Armenian forces at grigorkhachatryan.com
the Battle of Avarayr) was to inspire ‘our Armenian youth,

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 19

 Keep the
musip c ng
this
layi
summer
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 IN RETROSPECT
KLEMENS BEITLICH

Demonic genius
Vladimir Horowitz died more than 30 years ago but his incandescent performances and
charismatic personality continue to polarise critics. Bryce Morrison recalls meeting this most
brilliant and capricious of all pianists

V
ladimir Horowitz has always stirred a sea Then there was Horowitz’s attitude and personality.
of controversy. The ‘over-God of the piano’ Glenn Plaskin’s biography painted a disturbing picture
(Friedrich Gulda) and ‘Merlin of the keyboard’ of egotism on a grand and often cruel scale. Too many
(Joan Chissell) was also dubbed ‘a master young pianists were taken up for coaching only to find
of musical distortion’ by the waspish Vergil Thompson. themselves discarded as Horowitz lost interest in them,
Early in his career, Horowitz’s astounding pianism was their promised career at a premature end. He had scant
celebrated by Dinu Lipatti, but with the caveat that such regard for women (though his eyebrows shot upwards
virtuosity should not become an end in itself. For John Lill, on listening to Martha Argerich’s early recording of the
Horowitz was always ‘neurotic’, while Vladimir Ashkenazy Prokofiev Toccata) and his single female student was
once told me with a reproving wag of his finger: ‘Horowitz quickly abandoned. Byron Janis wrote that his years with
is like a dazzling figure-skater cutting capers on the ice. Horowitz resulted in a complete loss of his own identity
Music is a lifelong spiritual quest. I try to get closer to a under the colossal weight of the older man’s personality.
composer’s inner spirit. I may not succeed but at least I André Watts spoke of a lucky escape after his mother
try. He doesn’t try.’ More recently, a Guardian journalist told Horowitz that they didn’t need his recommendation
found Horowitz to be ‘a shallow genius’ when compared to because they already had Leonard Bernstein’s, at which
Sviatoslav Richter. point they were shown the door.

22 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 IN RETROSPECT

Horowitz’s comments on other pianists were blunt to say valse Op 52/6: ‘He was interested in creating a circus act,
the least. On Claudio Arrau, ‘Ugh, so slow!’ On Solomon, not in the music.’ Schnabel, too, was stung by Horowitz’s
‘Dull, dull, dull.’ He reserved praise for Earl Wild (‘very patronising advice that he, too, could play Liszt – ‘You
good fingers’) and for Jean Yves-Thibaudet. Listening to really could!’ Schnabel’s retort was that he had insufficient
Thibaudet’s recording of Liszt’s Waltz on Themes of Gounod’s time to study great rather than inferior music. A heavy
‘Faust’ he was clearly fascinated by such lightly pedalled touch of irony underlined Schnabel’s comments as he
textures, dry-ice sparkle and ultra-gallic charm – qualities surveyed the enormous popular success of pianists such
light years away from his own training and personality. as Rachmaninov and Horowitz. ‘I am the only pianist who
Perhaps above all, it was not in Horowitz’s nature to plays a second half of a programme as boring as the first’
share. His concerto appearances were seen as little more was his sardonic response to audiences who preferred
than visiting cards for solo recitals. His joint debut with listening to Schulz-Evler’s Arabesques on ‘The Blue Danube’
Sir Thomas Beecham in Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto and other glittering gewgaws. Indeed, Horowitz thought
caused a furore. Irked by Sir Thomas’s conservative tempo, nothing of elaborating a score – very much in the Liszt
Horowitz accelerated ahead in a blaze of pianistic glory tradition – to suit his own ends. His ‘arrangements’ of Liszt’s
(‘I will show you, my English lord!’). Sir Thomas was left Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos 2 and 19, Balakirev’s Islamey and
virtually at the starting post, eclipsed and ignored. Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata are cases in point.
As his career progressed, Horowitz’s concerto repertoire Yet if adverse critical comments have abounded,
became increasingly narrow. Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto particularly in recent times, others have listened in awe
was passed over in favour of the Emperor, whose and astonishment. For Rudolf Serkin, Horowitz’s Chopin
testosterone heroics (suggested English pianist Valerie was ‘like a fireball exploding,’ while for mischievous
Tryon) better suited Horowitz’s outsize pianism. Both the William Kapell, ‘if people knew what Horowitz’s tone
Brahms concertos were learnt reluctantly at the insistence meant, he’d be banned from the keyboard’. Clearly for
of Toscanini, his father-in-law, but the result, for all its Kapell, Horowitz was an X certificate, adults-only pianist!
mastery, is cold-hearted and detached. A brief appearance And then there was Alicia de Larrocha, who literally knelt
with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau ended when the singer found in front of her idol.
himself partnered by a pianist whose cunning and charisma A recent article in Gramophone by the musicologist
threatened to erase his own contribution. True, there was Michelle Assay (‘Horowitz, our contemporary’, December
an unforgettable public performance with Rostropovich 2019) attempted to equate Horowitz with Shakespeare.
of the slow movement of Rachmaninov’s Cello Sonata, Both may be endlessly discussed and considered, but
but what draws the listener’s attention is the astonishing contrary to the title of Assay’s article, Horowitz is surely
colouration of Horowitz’s pianism, his capacity to make his an artist of his time. Tastes and fashions in music-making
sound blossom when it should logically fade. alter rapidly, and an age when a pianist uses a composer Horowitz gives his
Criticism came from Cortot who felt contempt for a as a springboard for every whim and idiosyncrasy has legendary televised
pianist who wanted to know the secret of his double-note been replaced by a more puritan, indeed, puritanical recital at New York’s
virtuosity at the close of Saint-Saëns’ Étude en forme de ethic. The days when Jorge Bolet could say ‘We went to Carnegie Hall in 1968

SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

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 IN RETROSPECT

‘There never has been and never will be major K260, with its bewildering shifts from exuberance to
melancholy. Then there is Horowitz’s Chopin, in particular
another Horowitz’ the G minor Ballade (a work he wished to record many
times to show his interpretation evolving over the years).
hear Hofmann in Beethoven, not Beethoven played by His early RCA recording will set even the most sanguine
Hofmann,’ have been superseded by Ashkenazy’s belief listener’s pulse racing, telling you in every bar that
that, ‘Once we were music’s masters, now we are her Horowitz was never afraid to dare. If, as Barenboim once
servants.’ Horowitz, while unique, was a throwback to claimed, Rubinstein found the spine in Chopin, Cortot the
a time when performers came before the composer, opium, then Horowitz surely found the devilish.
recreation before creation. Yet such was Horowitz’s power Liszt’s Scherzo and March (a one-off performance)
that both Prokofiev and Barber listened in disbelief to his burns with the same demonic fury, as does his
performances of their sonatas, saying they had no idea performance of Mendelssohn’s Etude in A minor, where
their music could sound like that. all notions of Victorian propriety are swept to oblivion.
Horowitz will always occupy a unique place in the Debussy’s ‘Serenade for the Doll’ from Children’s Corner
Parthenon of great pianists. Assessments by many of today’s teases the life out of what is clearly a very sophisticated
finest pianists are of little more than passing interest but Miss, while the Barber Sonata will always remain
Norman Fisher, a pianist of an older generation, provides a benchmark performance. Then there is the 1932
a suitably transitional comment. Initially mesmerised by recording of the Liszt Sonata, made at a time when it was
Horowitz, she came to wish that he had, perhaps, greater considered both incomprehensible and unplayable. A
respect for a composer and his score. later record, where an element of self-parody had already
It is also important to note that Horowitz, in common appeared, reminds you that pianists do not necessarily
with virtually every other great pianist, was not equally increase in stature with age.
at home in all parts of the repertoire. His side-trips away Last, but not least there is that slow movement with
from his beloved Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Rostropovich of the Rachmaninov Cello Sonata, making
Rachmaninov, from Chopin, Schumann and Liszt, were you regret the absence of the other movements. Here, and
partly token gestures towards respectability. Others have in all these recordings, can be heard playing that makes all
achieved a truer quality in Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. comparisons irrelevant. There never has been and never
The following brief selection from his vast discography will be another Horowitz. Imitations have been legion and
aims to capture the Horowitz Phenomenon. His Scarlatti occasionally still occur, but they never come near to that
provides a supreme answer to those who swear by historic unique and unsettling voice.
instruments, to those who feel a piano fails to capture the

Receiving a standing
ovation at Carnegie
harpsichord’s more authentic character and glitter. Yet no
harpsichordist has excelled Horowitz in his cornucopia of
witty and sparkling performances, and never more so than
M y meetings with Horowitz in New York and London
remain an indelible experience. They came about
through another pianist with whom he shared a manager:
Hall (April 1966) in the audacious, ultra-Spanish nature of the Sonata in G the suave and powerful Harold Shaw. My writing had
SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

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 IN RETROSPECT

TULLY POTTER COLLECTION

sparked Shaw’s interest sufficiently to invite me to
New York – an invitation that was both warm-hearted
and pragmatic. He felt that I might be able to persuade
Horowitz to leave his self-imposed exile in America to play
once more in Europe and Russia. I was astonished by this
request since Horowitz had refused all interviews for many
years. Horowitz’s sudden change of heart, though typical of
his mercurial nature, came as a complete surprise.
I felt a mixture of exhilaration and trepidation. I
knew many stories of Horowitz’s strangeness and of
the omnipresence of his wife, the formidable Wanda
Toscanini. Yet such fears were erased when Horowitz
finally appeared, fresh from his customary afternoon
nap, his signature flamboyant bow tie intact, wearing an
expression of astonishment at my having travelled all the
way from London to see him. I began by asking about
his famous collection of paintings by Degas and Picasso.
‘Well, you know, I didn’t play concerts for a long time and
so we sold them,’ he explained. ‘I mean, you have to have
money to pay for the groceries.’
We talked at length about repertoire. I mentioned the
soirée he had given at the home of Joseph Szigeti, where
he played Ravel’s ‘Scarbo’ – a performance legendary for
its frightening intensity. ‘I now consider Gaspard de la
nuit old-fashioned,’ he shot back. ‘I prefer the Sonatine.’
Pausing briefly, he added: ‘Speaking of Ravel, I played Jeux
d’eau in Paris many years ago and a little man came up
to me and said, “You play very well, but here in Paris we
play a little more Impressionistically.” I was most amused
until I was told, “C’est Maurice Ravel.” That really brought
me up short. You never know who is in your audience!’ I
expressed surprise that as a pianist who possessed such a long time.’ I had grown up with recordings of two of the ‘Dexterity considered
an astonishing range of colours, he never played anything Fairy Tales played by the composer himself, but nothing in isolation is
by Granados or Albéniz. ‘I’m a Russian gypsy, not a prepared me for Horowitz’s rendition of one of these meaningless to me’
Spanish one’, came his dismissive reply. exquisite miniatures, followed by part of the colossal Night
Our conversation turned to other pianists and he Wind Sonata. I left the house feeling bewitched, bothered
became more expansive: ‘You know, during my illness and bewildered, as the song lyric has it.
Rubinstein came to see me. But when I recovered and When we next met, I found him nervous about his
started to play again he stopped visiting me. Now I forthcoming performance of Scriabin’s Fifth Sonata, new
wonder why he still plays in public – so old! I hope I can to his repertoire. On the day of the recital at Carnegie Hall,
still walk at his age. Sigi [Alexis] Weissenberg was another Horowitz turned to his manager and said, ‘Morrison says
visitor. He thinks he sounds like me, but he doesn’t! He’s a I play like the devil, so now I will show them.’ I still recall
good mechanic but there’s a world of difference between that performance as if it were yesterday: I expected to see
a good mechanic and a skilled technician. Dexterity scorch marks across the keyboard. As for the Kinderszenen,
considered in isolation is meaningless to me. Technique Horowitz’s reading was far from innocent. The darker forces
and musicianship are an indissoluble consideration. I have in Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and most of all Scriabin and
a good technique and can make many different colours. Rachmaninov were his home ground. Here he could truly
Do you think I have a good technique?’ I looked up to see be himself – and was certainly no angel. IP
if this most startling of questions was made teasingly or
as a provocation, only to be met with a wide-eyed, oddly
childlike expression. I told him people thought of him as
demonic, his playing like the unleashing of a giant coiled Vladimir Horowitz’s Berlin recital of 18th May 1986 is
spring. ‘But I can play like an angel,’ he protested. ‘You now available as a digital album from Sony Classical,
will hear this when I perform Schumann’s Kinderszenen in featuring three piano sonatas by Scarlatti, Schumann’s
London to celebrate the birth of Prince Charles’ first child.’ Kreisleriana and selected pieces by Chopin, Liszt,
The highlight of my visit came when Horowitz offered Scriabin and Rachmaninov. Encores include
to play for me. He said: ‘I used to play Medtner all those Schumann’s ‘Träumerei’ and Moszkowski’s ‘Etincelles’
years ago in Russia but I haven’t looked at his music for

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PERSONAL TOUCH

Treasure hunt
British pianist Matthew Schellhorn unveils a cornucopia
of rare and unpublished piano pieces by Herbert Howells

LAURA PANNACK
H
erbert Howells deserves to be recognised Clinch at London’s Royal Academy of Music had access
as a truly significant piano composer. Until to certain manuscripts, which he allowed me to view. I
now, he has been valued primarily for his was excited at the notion that they might be suitable for
choral works, but his piano writing provides performance, but Jonathan said he was against the act-of-
further evidence that he was a composer of great musical faith approach taken by composer societies which assume
substance and emotional depth. I feel very lucky to have every note must be cherished, so he wanted me to form
been given the opportunity to perform and record these my own opinion.
wonderful pieces for the first time. It soon became clear to me that these unpublished
The story behind this project still amazes me. It works were of immense quality. Indeed, I kept
began when Stephen Cleobury put me forward to play encouraging Jonathan to search out more so I could gain
at the 2017 AGM of the Herbert Howells Society in as much of an overview as possible for understanding
Cambridge. Stephen was a sensitive musician whom Howells’ style.
I greatly respected. We had recently collaborated in As more and more pieces turned up – Jonathan has
performances of Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie and described the process as being like a ‘treasure hunt’ – I
Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence-Divine (the latter in realised that the music deserved proper exposure: they had
the wonderful acoustic of King’s College Chapel) and I was to be recorded. I am grateful to the British Music Society
intrigued by how he appeared to ‘join the dots’ between and Herbert Howells Trust for supporting me in bringing
my work in the field of French and contemporary music this recording project to fruition.
and this lesser known but equally interesting English Just as I went into the studio, yet another manuscript
composer. Although I had experience of Howells as a came to light – this time a book of very early works. It
choral composer it felt very natural to apply myself to the was clear that the inclusion of these new pieces would
pianistic and expressive complexities of Howells’ voice. tip the project over more than one album. I therefore
As I began exploring Howells’ published piano set about creating a balanced programme for the first
repertoire, I discovered that he had written several other volume, allowing the remainder potentially to constitute a
pieces that were unavailable. Fortunately, Dr Jonathan second volume.

26 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 PERSONAL TOUCH

Locating unpublished works from every period of fascinating glimpse into the composer’s psyche. Howells
Howells’ life has allowed me to develop a clear vision of wrote another piece titled ‘Finzi’s rest: for Gerald on the
how his compositional style developed. The first thing to morrow of 27th September 1956’, which was published
note is the vast range of Howells’ piano style. In the early in 1961 as part of Howells’ Clavichord. But the one on my
works we have melody-and-accompaniment styles, along album, unpublished until now, is much darker and almost
with an Impressionistic attitude to harmony and texture. troubled. The contrasts between the two pieces show how
Later on, we encounter a sensitive contrapuntalism, with emotionally adaptable and creative Howells could be.
some creative metrical details. Howells always crafts his My second volume in this series will include the
music with an eye for balanced phrases. He consistently early pieces that recently came to light. Some of
shapes expressive lyrical lines. Most of all, I admire the these are written in the late-Romantic pastoral style,
fact that the quality of his musical conception remains demonstrating an adept handling of form and texture.
strong across so many different types of pianism. In There is a beautiful, much later piece called Comme le
every period of his life, Howells wrote piano music of cerf soupire, which is redolent of the well-known choral
astonishingly high quality. masterpiece Like as the Hart (the melodies are entirely
Nevertheless, perhaps because Howells was primarily different but they inhabit a similar character) plus several
an organist, his writing can be unpianistic. His highly other works that have previously been published but
idiosyncratic blend of attitudes produces some unusual never recorded. And who knows? Maybe more pieces will
moments, musically and technically. John Rutter has turn up in the meantime! IP
said that ‘Howells was one of music’s poets’, and I am
inclined to agree: the language is sinewy, unpredictable 571382 bk Howells.qxp_571382 bk Howells 24/04/2020 14:25 Page 1

and oblique, yet often touching. In the writing itself, these

qualities are manifested in unfamiliar demands, awkward Herbert
corners and contradictions. In particular, chord voicings HOWELLS
are sometimes unusual, requiring large hands or, shall Piano Music • 1 Volume 1 of Matthew
Phantasy
we say, creative fingerings! Additionally, the manuscripts Harlequin Dreaming Schellhorn’s survey
Summer Idyls
are at times unclear or contradictory from passage to Siciliana of piano music by
Petrus Suite
‘repeated’ passage. Part of my role is to consider the Herbert Howells is now
repertoire as a whole and offer an assertive response. Yet Matthew
available from Naxos
the piano is suited to many different approaches, so in Schellhorn, Records (8.571382).
Piano
the final analysis I found myself adapting to the style and matthewschellhorn.com
relishing Howells’ demands.
From the beginning of my exposure to this

TULLY POTTER COLLECTION

wonderful repertoire, Howells’ Phantasy leapt out as
an extraordinary piece of writing: it tests a pianist’s
technique and stamina to the limits, not least
because its challenges include a need for delicacy and
subtle phrasing. What makes this piece all the more
extraordinary, however, is the context of its composition.
The manuscript is dated 1917, when Howells was
incredibly unwell with Graves’ disease. His treatment
regime entailed trips back and forth between Lydney in
Gloucestershire and St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster,
where he received experimental radium injections in his
neck every fortnight over a two-year period. Although he
was in the early phases of recovery, and still very young,
he managed to write a triumphant and complex piece
worthy of the most mature composers.
Another key moment in his stylistic development
was the illness and death of Howells’ nine-year-old son,
Michael, who suffered from polio. As with Herbert’s
own illness, this experience was highly motivating. At
this point, in the mid-1930s, the plain and sometimes
carefree qualities of Howells’ younger voice were replaced
by a more searching, even restive mindset. As such, the
relatively late Pavane and Galliard and the Petrus Suite are
all the more thought-provoking.
Finally, the context of Finzi: His Rest, written by Howells Herbert Howells
when news of Finzi’s death reached him, provides a (1892-1983)

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 27

 MANUFACTURERS

STEINWAY & SONS

Behind closed doors
Customer visits to the Steinway factory in New York were once rare, but the company is now
actively inviting people to see how their pianos are made. Owen Mortimer reports

I
t was a sunny November day when I made my way look back to our heritage, and to the product that was
to the Steinway & Sons factory in Queens, New York. perfected over a century ago,’ says Steiner. ‘It’s vital to
Although it’s only a short subway ride from Times continue that, not deviating too far from what was done
Square, the middle-class suburb of Astoria where historically. On the other hand, the world is changing all
the factory is located has a totally different feel from around us, so we always need to improve and innovate.
Midtown Manhattan. Here the buildings are mainly low- It’s something we do very cautiously and carefully while
rise residential brownstones, the relatively sleepy streets also recognising that it’s necessary. Because if you don’t
fronted by neighbourhood restaurants and small stores. innovate the company will die.’ He pauses briefly before
I cut across to Steinway Street and followed it towards adding: ‘It’s important to remember that the people who
the East River, counting down the numbers until I reached made the company what it is today were innovative and
the intersection of 19th Avenue and 38th Street. There ground-breaking in their own time.’
stood the large but relatively unprepossessing brick and This cautious attitude to the necessary evil of
glass building that I’d crossed the Atlantic to visit, the innovation can be seen in the development of the new
Steinway & Sons logo emblazoned on its side in shiny Spirio r, which combines traditional craftsmanship with
silver letters two feet high. new technology to create a high resolution player piano
I was, I have to admit, slightly nervous with excitement. capable of live performance capture and playback. ‘For
I rang the doorbell and was ushered into a cool conference us, it’s about keeping the instrument the same in terms
room, where the walls were covered in signed portraits of its core design, but then adding Spirio, which is a huge
of great pianists from yesteryear and today. Benjamin change for us,’ says Steiner. ‘We introduced Spirio 1.0
Steiner, the company’s CFO and COO greeted me with a in 2016, followed by the Spirio r in 2019. I can’t go into
warm handshake and welcoming smile. details, but we’ve got plans for all sorts of innovative
I’ve always been intrigued by Steinway’s marketing software offerings and connectivity uses for Spirio –
strategy and how they present themselves as a brand. particularly in the realm of education.’
On the one hand, they talk a lot about the company’s Steiner also points to improvements in manufacturing
history, yet to be commercially successful in today’s world techniques using new technology. ‘We are constantly
innovation and technology are becoming paramount. improving our manufacturing processes and materials,
‘For a company as old as ours – 166 years – we’ve got to incrementally and sometimes dramatically, in order to

28 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 MANUFACTURERS

continue making better and better instruments. One big Steiner. ‘It’s about highlighting the core of our brand,
change in recent years is the precision with which every which is our factories. We want consumers to come to
component can be fabricated using CNC [computer the heart of the company and see how instruments are
numerical control] machinery. But the assembly of those made. Before they see the factory people may look at the
components is something we will always do with skilled price and wonder how something can be so expensive.
and highly experienced artisans. That’s the critical piece Once they’ve visited, they’ll wonder how a company can
that can never be automated.’ make so few products with such care and attention yet
Three essential elements of Steinway instruments have still exist in this day and age!’
historically been produced by third-party suppliers: cast That’s perhaps something of an overstatement, but a
iron frames, keys and action parts. But in recent years, visit to The Vault is certainly an experience to remember:
Steinway has acquired several of its former suppliers – its locks use fingerprint recognition technology to access a
causing concern in some quarters that they’re creating chamber lit with other-worldly colours, where a stunning
a monopoly. ‘If Steinway hadn’t purchased those array of art cases stands on display. If you’ve got what it
businesses, we were worried they might not continue to takes to cover the six-figure price tag these instruments Benjamin Steiner:
exist,’ says Steiner. ‘If that happened we would be faced command, you’re sure not to leave disappointed. IP ‘Creating the world’s
with a lot of problems, but so would every other piano best piano is our top
manufacturer. It’s just a reality of our industry. We have steinway.com priority as a company’
no desire to change anything, so people should not be
afraid. They should be more afraid if Steinway were not
buying these businesses!’
Perhaps more than any other manufacturer, Steinway
also puts a huge amount of effort and investment into
developing its artist roster. ‘Today, more than 98 per
cent of the world’s active concert pianists – over 1,700
artists – bear the title “Steinway Artist”,’ states their
website. Is there any concern at Steinway that other piano
manufacturers might be starting to chip away at this
statistic? ‘Creating the world’s best piano – not to a price
point but to a standard – is our top priority as a company,’
says Steiner. ‘Just below, or maybe equal to that, stand our
relationships with artists. We’re always concerned when
an artist looks elsewhere.’
Whereas Steinway used to regard itself as solely being
a manufacturer of instruments, the company culture is
also beginning to shift. Not only is restoration becoming
an increasingly important area of activity, especially in
mature piano markets such as Europe and US, but the
company has recently launched a certified pre-owned
business. ‘Lots of used pianos are now being sold, but it’s
often unclear what kind of work and components have
gone into these instruments. So we think it’s important
for consumers to have an option to buy pianos that have
been restored properly and checked by Steinway to ensure
every part is genuine and operating exactly as it should.
We have a 72-point checklist which our Steinway trained
and certified technicians use to guarantee this’.
According to Steiner, it’s all about ‘owning’ more
of the customer-facing relationship. For their most
‘discerning’ customers, there’s now even the possibility
of an exclusive, invitation-only tour of the Queens
factory followed by a visit to The Vault – a high-security
showroom that houses the company’s Crown Jewels
collection and other high value pianos. ‘Not every dealer
and retail store could stock those instruments – it
wouldn’t make economic sense. But we wanted one
place where discriminating customers could see all
those products together, so we created a very special
environment to display them in a unique way,’ says

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 29

 Gramophone, the authoritative classical music voice, has compiled a shortlist of
ten ensembles which have made a particular impression on our critics over the past year,
and we’re asking you, the music-loving public, to decide the winner.

THE SHORTLIST
BBC Symphony Orchestra

Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Freiburger Barockorchester

Los Angeles Philharmonic

musicAeterna

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo

Orchestre National de Lille

Philadelphia Orchestra

Listen to our selection of recent recordings from our shortlisted orchestras on

Apple Music at gramophone.co.uk /awards and cast your vote by September 7
 MANUFACTURERS

Breaking the mould

High-tech engineering meets traditional craftsmanship at a British farm that’s fast becoming
a global centre for design innovation in piano manufacturing. James Bacon reports

P
hoenix Pianos founder Richard Dain is an engineer The ‘hinge’ of a traditional hammer assembly
who has spent the past 20 years focusing his comprises a thin metal pin plus a felt ‘bushing’, or bearing
creativity on improving the design and acoustic interface. Felt is prone to swelling through absorption
performance of boutique, handmade pianos. of atmospheric moisture. A traditional assembly may
Drawing on a lifetime of expertise in fields as diverse as seize up almost completely in wet weather or tropical
gas turbines, diesel engines, agricultural machinery, oil conditions, wreaking havoc for any pianist. The opposite
refineries and railways – coupled with a lifelong passion for applies to traditional wooden parts, which may become
music and piano sound – Dain is breaking the mould with loose in dry weather, to the point where they produce
new concepts that have the potential to disrupt what he distracting ‘clicks’ each time a note is played.
sees as a stagnating, change-resistant industry. No matter how much money you spend on a piano, all
Dain’s early innovations have been reported in past traditional wooden hammer assemblies have the same
issues of International Piano, beginning with patented problems. Dain has therefore sought to reimagine the Tireless innovator:
Phoenix bridge agraffes and computer-designed carbon design of the hammer assembly from the ground up. Richard Dain
fibre soundboards. His company Hurstwood Farm Pianos
enjoys a manufacturing collaboration with Steingraeber
and has recently been contracted to supply a fleet of
Phoenix instruments to London’s Fairfield Halls, including
a flagship concert grand for the venue’s newly refurbished
Phoenix Concert Hall.
The latest innovations to have emerged from Dain’s
Kent workshop include 3D-printed hammer assemblies,
carbon fibre bridge caps and Kevlar soundboards. What
advantages do these designs have over traditionally
manufactured pianos, and how might they change the
way instruments are built in the future?

D3D HAMMER ASSEMBLIES

In early 2018, Dain turned his attention to one of the most
critical parts of the piano – the ‘hammer rail assembly’,
broadly defined as the hammer flange, knuckle and shank,
upon which the hammer itself is mounted.
The traditional wooden hammer assembly is a series
of ‘accidents waiting to happen’, says Dain. Hornbeam
– used for the shanks – was originally chosen for its
superior strength, fine grain and durability, but like all
woods it changes shape with the weather. When warping
occurs, even a small change in hammer alignment leads
to a poor match with the strings, compromising acoustic
performance. Misaligned hammers must be regulated by a
technician to restore evenness of tone.
Wooden shanks also flex and twist when a note is
played. This twisting results in a chaotic flight path for the
hammer. With vigorous playing, the twisting of the shank
can be so serious that the hammer only strikes one or two
strings of each trichord in the tenor, middle and upper
registers. This can result in a loss of power and may give
rise to unpleasant tonal effects caused by a glancing or
wrongly positioned strike.

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 MANUFACTURERS

Dain and his engineering team have ensured the parts

used in D3D are extensively serviceable and adjustable.
Each part of the assembly can be replaced without
discarding the other parts. Both the strike line and the
bearing clearance are adjustable.

CNC CARBON FIBRE BRIDGE CAPS

In late 2018, Dain began to address another area of
weakness in traditional piano design: the bridge caps.
Traditional bridge caps are strips of beech or maple wood
glued to the bridge root. They act as the initial interface
between the strings of a piano and its soundboard.
Having already patented his acclaimed bridge agraffes
over a decade ago (and having since found their application
most effective in the bass and tenor registers), Dain started
to consider a new bridge cap design for the upper registers.
Traditional bridge caps are susceptible to material
inconsistency, leading to patchy energy transfer from
the strings to the soundboard – a source of unevenness
in terms of power, sustain and timbre. Cracks and splits
can also develop in the wood due to the forces exerted by
string tension over long periods of time. Furthermore, the
intrinsic weakness of wooden bridges limits the angles at
which the bridge pins can be fitted and thus the efficiency
with which sound energy from the vibrating string reaches
the soundboard.
With a number of successful carbon fibre designs
Top: Traditional Assessing modern, high-performance materials which already gracing Phoenix instruments, this material was a
wooden hammer could be used for hammer shanks, he opted for helically- natural choice. Partnering with specialists in 3D computer
assembly; Above: woven carbon fibre tubes, which have the benefits of modelling, Dain has engineered perhaps the most
Phoenix D3D hammer enormous strength and stiffness, climate resistance and precise and perfectly uniform bridge caps ever made for
assembly a weight equivalent to hornbeam. But it is the hinge acoustic pianos. They are manufactured using computer
part of the assembly – the ‘hammer flange’ – where the numerically controlled (CNC) machining to exceptional
real innovation takes place. Partnering with Igus UK – levels of accuracy. The result is an even, powerful, singing
specialists in high-performance bearing materials – Dain sound, right up to the highest parts of the treble register,
redesigned the two hinge components so they could be where piano sound, with conventional bridge caps, is
produced with extreme accuracy and consistency by 3D notoriously short and weak.
printing. Crucially, the hammer flange no longer requires a With the pins set now at greater angles, sound energy
felt interface for the pin. Using larger, buttery-smooth bush transfer is optimised with no fear of the bridge cap
pins, the materials used for the flange are lower stressed splitting. Having indefinite lifespan, these bridges are now
but far stronger, self-lubricating and climate resistant fitted as standard to all new Phoenix grand pianos as well
When the ‘D3D’ (Dain + 3D printing) hammer assembly as being available to retrofit on other pianos.
prototypes were tested, pianists noted that they offer
an exceptional sense of control, immediacy and reserve KEVLAR SOUNDBOARDS
power – much as tennis players felt when carbon fibre For many years, Phoenix instruments have been available
rackets appeared to replace their wooden predecessors. with climate-resistant, high-performance carbon fibre
A series of refinements have since been made to D3D, and soundboards. These soundboards were originally
in summer 2019, the first commercial hammer assembly developed using ultra high power computers and Finite
was fitted for a discerning London pianist with a Phoenix Element Analysis (FEA), whereby their projected sound
Model 212. Another was built for a specialist recording performance could be assessed in terms of the cumulative
studio’s Bösendorfer Imperial 290, followed by other actions effect of parameters such as material properties, board
for Phoenix grands, one of which now graces the Phoenix thickness, bridge geometry, acoustic case concept, rib
Concert Hall at Fairfield Halls. One professional pianist of stiffness and mass.
wide international experience recently described D3D as the Following these virtual design stages, Dain prototyped
best action he has ever played. his carbon fibre soundboards in smaller grand pianos,
From 2021, D3D actions will be fitted as standard to all refining them until he found his ‘magic formula’. While
new Phoenix grand piano models. They are also available pianists may not initially be aware they are playing a
for retrofit to most makes and models of grand piano. carbon fibre soundboard, these boards have an open

32 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 MANUFACTURERS

sound with a beautiful sustain and the potential for With so many exciting accomplishments already in
enormous power, even in smaller instruments such as the place, there has never been a better time for piano lovers
Phoenix Models 170 and 130. and professional musicians to invest in leading British
In 2019, Phoenix trialled their first Kevlar soundboard engineering. For whatever the next quantum leap in
made by aircraft part manufacturer Retrac. The resulting acoustic piano technology may be, one thing seems likely:
Model 130 has a warm, blossoming sound that affords a it will be a Phoenix. IP
rich and expansive musical tonality.
phoenixpianos.co.uk
THE FUTURE
Phoenix claims to be ‘The World’s Most Technologically
Advanced Pianos’. For this to remain the case, Dain is
driven to keep challenging the design orthodoxies of the
late 19th century.
Prototypes for a D3D lever system for both grands and
uprights are already being tested. All the parts are 3D
printed, including bearings without felt that offer near-
total climate resistance and superior longevity. Other
innovations in the pipeline include pneumatic hammers,
a piano without bridges, a miniature upright piano with
grand piano performance and Kevlar soundboards without
ribs. Perhaps most ambitiously of all, Phoenix has patented
schemes for composite graphene soundboards, some
only a few molecules thick. Graphene may prove to be the
ultimate material for soundboards once components of
adequate size can be manufactured reliably.

it all happens here

here.
MSMNYC.EDU
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid
Manhattan School of Music
130 Claremont Avenue, New York, NY 10027
917-493-4436 [email protected]

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 33

 EDUCATION

Digital inspiration
re you loo ing for ays to hone your piano techni ue and become a more con�dent
performer? Owen Mortimer tries out some e-learning resources that can help

B
eing stuck at home for weeks on end may sound fright. There’s also a section for ‘Teaching’ developed in
like a nightmare but for those of us who play the partnership with the Piano Teachers’ Course UK.
piano it offers a perfect opportunity to sharpen If, like me, you’re more interested in extending
our skills and master new repertoire. Even if your repertoire than focusing on technique per se, I’d
you’ve stopped going for regular one-to-one lessons, there recommend going straight to the ‘Learning Pieces’ tab. I’ve
is now a wealth of teaching materials available online to already spent several happy hours working on Debussy’s
support individual learning. ‘Girl with the Flaxen Hair’ using the materials available
Full disclaimer: I began this process as a hardened here, which have helped to transform my previously ham-
sceptic, wholly opposed to the prospect of teaching fisted and inelegant interpretation.
myself using a website or app. Having been lucky enough I began by working through the brief but excellent
to receive lessons on three instruments throughout my practice worksheet, which breaks down the piece’s
childhood, I was firmly wedded to the idea that face-to- technical challenges into short studies. Once these have
face lessons are the only effective way to learn. Without a been mastered, you can move on to a walkthrough which
teacher being present to offer real-time advice, wouldn’t I explores the piece bar-by-bar. The fingerings provided are
quickly fall into bad habits? particularly useful. There’s also a 17-page Annotated Study
That was before I stumbled across Practising the Piano Edition which can be downloaded and printed so you can
Online Academy. Unlike some other online courses work offline.
I’ve seen, which promise more than they deliver, this The teachers behind this fantastic resource are the
excellent website offers a wealth of extremely detailed British pianist Graham Fitch and Peabody Institute
advice and information that’s both comprehensive and associate professor of keyboard studies and music theory
easy to follow. Close-up demo videos illustrate every Ken Johansen. Anyone wanting to trial the site can
point made in the text and because there’s no specific register for free and read up to five articles. A monthly
‘course’ to follow, you can go at your own speed and focus subscription costs just £9.99, or you can opt to pay £99.99
on whichever aspects of practice and performance you’re for the whole year. Highly recommended.
most keen to develop.
For example, subcategories within the ‘Technique’ area online-academy.informance.biz
of the website include topics as diverse as scales and
Finesse your forearm arpeggios, forearm rotation, the art of pedalling, healthy
rotation with Practising piano playing and yoga for musicians. ‘Practising’ places FURTHER RESOURCES
the Piano Online strong emphasis on sight-reading skills, while ‘Performing’ ArtistWorks: Piano with Christie Peery
Academy covers subjects such as improvisation and managing stage ArtistWorks hosts over 50,000 video lessons from
35 experienced teachers. Piano lessons are given
by Christie Peery Skousen, a performer and teacher
who studied with Dmitri Bashkirov and Leon Fleischer.
Progressive video lessons range from beginner to
advanced and a video exchange platform allows
members to submit videos for review by Peery.
artistworks.com/piano-lessons-christie-peery

iClassical Academy
iClassical Academy provides opportunities to learn
from experts via a series of online masterclasses
aimed at advanced pianists. Special features
include access to musiXange music education and
performance resources, webinars and consultancy
from teachers.
iclassical-academy.com

34 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 NEW DISCOVERY A previously unknown and unpublished piano piece by Ludwig van Beethoven was found by the editor-in-chief
of the Wiener Urtext Edition during research in the music collection of the Wienbibliothek im Rathaus in Vienna.
HITHERTO UNKNOWN PIANO PIECE The work is notated on a double sheet with sketches by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1790–1792. The 16-bar
OF LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN!
piece shows the musical character of a Ländler. Beethoven notated the complete melody voice of his piece, even
‘LÄNDLER-LIKE DANCE’ reworking it in a few places, but the accompaniment is written in abbreviated form.
Editor: Jochen Reutter
Fingerings: Nils Franke
Difficulty: easy
UT 50296
NEW
Languages: ger/en

THREE PIANO
WoO 47
SONATAS W

Beethoven Three Piano Sonatas WoO 47

UT 50426

Beethoven
Drei Klaviersonaten WoO 47
Kurfürstensonaten

Reutter / Franke

Wiener Urtext Edition

Schottt / Universal Edition
Schot

UT 50426

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Errors excepted; delivery terms subject to change without notice
 COMMENT

Pause for
thought
Charles Owen considers some
positive outcomes from the global
lockdown, which has provided
professional musicians with a rare
opportunity to introspect and learn
new skills

C
oronavirus has been devastating for so many
people in our community. For those who make
their living from performing and teaching,
the reality of lockdown has been particularly
frightening. But while, like other performers, I saw
income and concert opportunities disappear overnight,
the situation has also revealed unexpected positives. In
particular, it has renewed a sense of love and respect for
the privileged artistic life I am fortunate to lead.
Lockdown has brought renewed clarity to many aspects
of my music-making. The enforced staycation has made
me realise how important it is to spend quality time with
music through a mix of practice, listening and study.
During the usual round of external pressures, musicians
can find themselves caught on a treadmill as they strive to
meet the ever-increasing demands of rehearsals, recording
sessions and public appearances.
Juggling a vast array of repertoire while travelling far
and wide also exacts a mental and physical toll. Suddenly,
with the removal of all imminent deadlines, an unexpected
space has been created for renewal and contemplation,
providing in some cases a complete escape from the
relentless demands of an exacting profession.
Together with most other classical musicians around the
world, I had spent the beginning of 2020 preparing many
of Beethoven’s works. As fate would have it, all of these
long-planned concerts evaporated with tentative promises
for rescheduling at a future date. With the cancellations
flowing in, I couldn’t find the heart to continue working on
those programmes, however great the repertoire.
The initial shock of lockdown and the slowly dawning
reality of the pandemic led to a period of stasis. Music
seemed redundant and even inappropriate at a time when
so many others were starting to experience suffering,
dread and fear for the future.
‘Lockdown has made me fall in love anew with the aural and tactile During those first weeks I realised that two basic
JACK LIEBECK

contact hich the piano o ers every committed pianist’ options for the immediate future lay ahead: to immerse
myself in practice and study, or slip gradually into a

36 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 COMMENT

dangerous malaise. Somehow I managed to tap into my its removal is quite a shock to the system! With none of
energy reserves and summon up the will to focus. the usual external deadlines I’ve found it important to
Works by Chopin, Liszt and Schumann called out create my own by filming performances at home. At first
to be practised and soon became close companions, these were only shared with close friends and family but I
offering reassurance, challenges and beauty in abundance. was gradually persuaded to overcome my reserve and post
Nevertheless, subconscious worries frequently bubbled up some via Facebook and Instagram. The resulting response
to the surface of my mind, disturbing my sleep patterns has been heart-warmingly positive, resulting in many new
and occasionally knocking my most disciplined intentions connections and even some offers of future concerts.
off kilter. What will the music profession look like after the Watching other musicians playing from home has
crisis? Will it even exist in a recognisable form? encouraged me to invest in high quality AV equipment
Gradually I began to connect with other musician to create a filmed catalogue of my repertoire,
friends and colleagues, encountering in the process many complementing my commercial recordings and keeping
different responses ranging from utter despair to hyper me gainfully occupied while concerts are suspended. As a
motivation. Some people, particularly those who have cellist and composer friend recently ventured, ‘It’s time for
been actively performing for many years, felt this was the all musicians to Tech Up’!
time to step back completely from music-making. Others When it comes to technology, the education field has
amazed me with daily social media postings and news of had to embrace this Brave New World so studies can
major repertoire plans embarked upon with a zeal often continue. I’m now happy to work with a small class of
verging on the heroic. pianists from the Guildhall School when under normal
For me, the vast acres of newly available time have circumstances I would give individual lessons. But the
provided space to think deeply, remember past concerts, process of explaining things online can be laborious,
long-forgotten lessons and countless words of wisdom particularly when it comes to mentioning bar numbers,
from teachers buried in the recesses of my memory. I beats and notes. It can be very draining for participants,
think many musicians have a shifting relationship with not least because sound quality varies enormously and
the process of practice, a discipline which never remains poor connectivity sometimes distorts the relay, resulting
fixed but rather like any kind of human activity can be in an ‘underwater’ effect or rhythmic chaos!
subject to ups and downs. The majority of musicians are still in the early stages
There have been many times when consistently of finding ways to turn online teaching into something
organised practice has led to a ‘breakthrough’ moment positive. Despite initial scepticism, I feel one can achieve a
and a resulting euphoria following weeks in the foothills of great deal, particularly in the preparation stages. Cameras
note learning, analysing, listening and contemplating. The offer an eagle-eyed view that’s ideally suited to this purpose.
transformation when a piece ‘takes off ’ is an exhilarating My experience of the lockdown has been rewarding in
if fleeting moment, usually encountered by the player unexpected ways, and things I’ve learnt will doubtless
alone. By contrast, I’ve also had feelings verging on deep prove beneficial for face-to-face teaching in future.
resentment for the never-ending but necessary demands Nevertheless, it will be a treat when we can finally return
made by the piano and its insurmountable repertoire. to hearing others playing the piano in real time and a
Lockdown has made me fall in love anew with the natural acoustic. No digital technology can fully replace
aural and tactile contact which the piano offers every the glorious resonance and visceral impact of the true
committed pianist. piano experience. Happy days to look forward to! IP
Speaking of pianos, I consider myself very fortunate
to have three instruments in my possession: an upright Charles Owen lives in London and is co-artistic director
Yamaha U3 at home and two Steinway B grands which of the London Piano Festival. londonpianofestival.com
reside with a lady currently under strict lockdown. All
my practice since March has therefore been done on
the Yamaha, including frequent use of the piano’s clever
silent system and headphones to avoid disturbing my
neighbours and partner with nitty-gritty details.
Once a piece is well prepared, I remove the silencer and
continue working out loud. While there is a limit to what
one can achieve on an upright, this experience has proved
revealing and beneficial. It is the longest period I’ve gone
since early childhood without touching a grand piano, so I
wonder how the return to a full spectrum of tonal colours
and dynamics will feel.
Most performers agree that motivation is often
JASON GROVES

generated by the pressure of having to appear in public

and deliver the goods. Adrenaline is such an essential
element in preparing to make a concert appearance that

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 37

 TH
Organised by:

SAE D
VE AT
E
Music Technology in Education
A Music Teacher conference

musictechconference.co.uk
NEW DATE: 16th October 2020
America Square Conference Centre, London
 SOUND TRUTHS
Murray McLachlan weighs up the pros and cons of traditional
piano pedagogy

Part II: Arpeggios – the Achilles heel

of exam-trained pianists

n f f f f f
5

f bf f f
4

f
3

b ≈ nf f f f f f
4 2 2 4 5 2
f f f
1

b ≈ b
2
?
1 2 3

f bf
1 3 2 4 2
f
4

&
4 1 2 2 1

f f f f f f

{
bf f
? bb F F F
F F
F F F

Example 1 ••• Mozart Concerto in D minor K466, II: Romanze, bars 142-143

A s soon as young pianists start preparing

for examinations, they are asked to learn
how to play legato arpeggios with no pedal.
I have long felt that legato arpeggios lead to
too much stress for beginners. Young players
feel confused and overburdened with new
musically desirable. Sure, it is lovely to dwell
on notes and ‘finger-pedal’ from position to
position in slow movements, but as soon as
Non-pedalled arpeggios are a core element physical movements. Success comes when you want to move a little faster, the legato
of standard examination syllabuses through the teacher is patient and moves one step at a approach becomes compromised.
to Grade 8. They also feature frequently in time, insisting on freedom of movement while Let us begin with a classic exam-style
technical tests or assessments at specialist focusing on the notes involved in each change arpeggio passage: bars 142-143 from the slow
music schools and conservatoires. of position. This is vital for the successful study movement of Mozart’s Concerto in D minor
Non-pedalled legato arpeggios can cause all of arpeggios. Indeed, many problems in piano K466 (Example 1, above). Here the non-
kinds of problems, especially for young players. technique occur because pupils do not realise pedalled finger legato approach combines
Changing positions without bumps, breaks and that the ‘join’ between positions requires purity of tone with subtle overtones as each
accents typically involves twisting motions in attention – nothing else! note dovetails with the next. It would be
order to hold down the final note in one position We can profitably spend time repeating with ruined by too much pedal.
until the first note of the next is dispatched. Even good co-ordination the two notes involved Problems with exam arpeggios arise as soon
Grade 2 exam candidates must become familiar in any arpeggio position shift. When other as players wish to move effortlessly and lightly
with rapid alternating shifts between ‘lateral’ and notes are added, it is useful to ‘prepare’ these: from position to position. Even in the easiest and
displaced wrist positions while they navigate make sure that wherever possible you cover briefest Czerny arpeggio exercises and studies,
up and down the keyboard. Players often arpeggio notes in advance. In this way a ‘touch problems will occur if the player holds onto
overreach, resulting in exaggerated, ineffectual and press’ aesthetic is adopted, with accuracy notes between position shifts for too long. In
and uncoordinated movements. Inaccuracy a given because the fingers are already on the bar 13 of Bach’s Two- Part Invention No 13 in A
and unreliability commonly feature in exam notes they are about to play. minor BWV 784, the E minor arpeggio shift will
candidates’ attempts to dispatch arpeggios In practice, however, there are very few be challenging if the player attempts to overlap
because they cannot control their thumbs, so instances in the piano literature where ‘full and connect every note while moving down to
arrive at each new position too quickly. on’ non-pedalled finger legato arpeggios are the lowest register (see Example 2, below).

f #f f #f f
Tutors are divided about how thumbs

& #f f f fJ ‰ Œ
should move in arpeggios. Do they ‘slide’

{
up and down the keyboard like a proverbial
snake, or glide from above in an airborne
manner? Many speak about the thumb
f f f f f f f
moving through the ‘tunnel’ of the hand.
General consensus seems to be that rapidity of ? f f f f
f f f
thumb travel is important, namely getting the
thumb to move from position A to position B 1 5 1

as fast as possible. Example 2••• Bach Two-Part Invention in A minor BWB 784, bar 13

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 39

 EDUCATION

b fj
Presto 1

fffff f f f#f f nf
3 4
bf#f f
f U
&b ≈
2

‰
3

f
3 3

f fffff f
4 3

f
n f bf#f

{
f# f

?b fnf f f f f f 3

bf#f f
f #f f f nf f f
4

f b f #f ff
f
Example 3 ••• Mozart Fantasia in D minor K397/385g, bar 34

This movement becomes simpler and more here with wave movements up and down the are necessary in the repertoire rather than
gracefully idiomatic if it is approached not as piano, refraining at first from playing notes. spending entire segments of exam syllabuses
an ‘exam twist’ but rather as a wavelike wrist Once coordination is achieved silently, simple on a musically specialised area of pianism?
movement. The left hand can stay consistently triadic patterns can be played in the major and There is a very serious repercussion of our
parallel to the keyboard throughout the minor keys, moving the hands up and down exam obsession with non-pedalled arpeggios:
E minor semiquavers (so-called ‘lateral the full range of the keyboard, first separately players frequently become insecure in their
movement’) and the player can gently enjoy then together. technique because they attempt to play all
lifting the wrist up and down in a sine wave The wave arpeggio is far more commonly arpeggios with the ‘exam twist’. As a teacher
movement. The resulting leggiero touch sounds found in repertoire than the finger legato I have seen this several times with advanced
far more stylistically convincing than the rather arpeggio. Indeed, judging by what composers students learning the finale of Prokofiev’s
overconnected finger legato aesthetic that request in compositions, finger legato Eighth Sonata. Mistakes and a sense of
results from trying to overlap and connect the arpeggios are a decidedly ‘niche’ discipline. So anxiety stem from an approach that involves
arpeggio as a single musical unit. why do they dominate grade exams? When complicated shifts of the wrist, stimulating
Wave movements should initially be questioned about this, teachers often respond the wrong tonal approach as well as a huge
mastered away from the instrument: with the ‘Latin’ argument: even though it may amount of stress and inaccuracy. Simple box-
move each hand to the left then the right not be commonly used in everyday life, the like lateral movement (in this case with less
in a straight line with relaxed, undulating discipline of learning Latin will stand you in sine wave movement) proves to be the most
movements. When this feels natural you can great stead. Fair enough, up to a point, but effective ‘cure’. Boxy arpeggio movements are
‘transport’ the exercise to the keyboard. Begin surely it is important to learn techniques that also fun to practise in skeleton form: if you

“”
b nf f nf f >
& b bb
nf nf nf F nf bf f nf bf ∫f f F
4 3

f nf nf bf f n f b f ∫ f f F nFF f

{
F-
f
f
bb b nff Œ Œ ? nf f‰ f f ffff f f f f
& b nf
∏∏∏∏∏∏∏

‰ ‰ fJ f f f f f f f f f f f f
- f nf
° ø ø ø ø

ff f F f f nf #f
b
5 5

FF fF f nf #f
4 5
f f
3

#
4 5

b ff f
5 5 4

b nf f
2 2 3
f f
2 2 4
f f f f
3

& b b fff nff nff f

1

f ff f f
1 1

f #f
4

{
f ( p)
f f
f
ff f n f bf f
? bb f f f f f f nf bf f f f f f nf f f f ff
bb f f bf f ff
f. 4 3
ø ø ø ø ø ø
Example 4 ••• Chopin Fantaisie in F minor Op 49, bars 92-97

40 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 EDUCATION

have triadic arpeggios, put them into block approach could have devastating
chords and play them as such, sliding up and consequences.
down the keyboard with as little extraneous Chopin’s beloved Fantaisie in F minor Op
movement as possible. The thumb can remain 49 becomes a nightmare for the player if
on the keyboard and act as a guide for the approached without the cultivation of sine
hand as it moves to the left and the right. wave wrist movements. These are required
In the diminished seventh flourish in bar not only in the G major right-hand descending
34 of Mozart Fantasia in D minor K397/385g arpeggio of bar 92 but also to navigate
there is no question that exam twists are between the position moves in the left hand of
utterly hopeless. How sad that certain editions bars 95-96, as well as through the sweepingly
suggest spitting this arpeggio between the imposing E-flat major left hand arpeggio in
hands rather than dispatching it eloquently bar 97 (see Example 4, opposite).
with a one-handed wavy flourish. Chopping it I passionately believe that students need
up into four bar units with rapid left-right/left- to be taught three basic arpeggio techniques
right alternations risks cheapening the music, from the earliest stages: lateral movement
making it sound too populist and rhapsodic with the wrists moving upwards and
(see Example 3, opposite). downwards gracefully (wave arpeggios); lateral
Thumbing-under and legato overlaps are movement, in which the hand simply slides
extremely useful for cultivating flexibility up and down the keyboard with the wrist
and coordination but they can all too easily Non-pedalled legato arpeggios can cause all remaining in a fixed position (box arpeggios);
discourage – especially if this technique is kinds of problems, especially for young players and non-pedalled overlapping arpeggios, as
uniformly applied to every arpeggio. This is featured in our beloved exams ( finger legato
the reason many players will never be able exams when they play Romantic repertoire arpeggios). Players equipped with all three
to play Chopin’s Etude Op 10/1. They may with position shifts, but the subconscious techniques will be empowered to face every
not consciously1be02/04/2020
ad.qxp_Layout thinking of10:31
their arpeggio
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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 41

 MASTERCLASS
Composer Lowell Liebermann weaves an atmosphere of peaceful delicacy in
the third movement of his celebrated Gargoyles suite

G argoyles was commissioned by the

JOSEPH MORAN
Tcherepnin Society for pianist Eric Himy,
who presented the premiere at his Alice Tully
Hall debut recital in New York City in 1989.
I’ve found it enormously gratifying to see how
widely the piece has since been embraced
by musicians and audiences. It has been
performed by countless pianists worldwide,
from Yuja Wang to Stephen Hough and others.
There are over 20 recordings of the piece, from
its very first by Michael Boriskin on New World
Records, to the most recent by Hai-Kyung
Suh on Deutsche Grammophon. One of my
greatest professional disappointments was
not to be able to hear the legendary pianist
Shura Cherkassky perform Gargoyles: he was
learning them for the recital programme he was
preparing at the time of his death. One country
where they have become especially popular is
China. A colleague who returned from judging
a competition there told me she had seen a
pirated edition of Gargoyles where the title
had been mistranslated into Chinese as Water
Running Off Roof Tiles!
Gargoyles are decorative architectural
features, usually in the form of animals or
monsters, which often serve as rainwater
spouts. Occasionally, listeners are disappointed
when I tell them that I chose the title of
Gargoyles after most of the music was already
composed. As a rule, I compose absolute music,
adhering to the Stravinskian perspective that
music is about notes and nothing else. My
interest is in the manipulation of thematic or
motivic materials and the non-specific emotions
they evoke. So, unless a composition includes
a text, I usually don’t think about extra-musical
things while composing. I have always preferred Lowell Liebermann: ‘My interest is in the manipulation of thematic
generic titles, in order to emphasise the non- or motivic materials and the non-specific emotions they evoke’
programmatic nature of my compositions.
In the case of Gargoyles, I originally
considered calling the set Etudes since each four pieces. I was hard at work on the final evokes the grotesque mood of the two outer
of the movements presents very specific movement when I happened to glance down movements and the ‘aqueous’ character of
technical challenges, but that title did not at the floor underneath my piano where I had the two inner movements, but I never meant
seem quite right. I could think of no other title put three plaster reproductions of the famous the title to be taken literally to imply the
– Impromptus, Preludes, Songs without Words, gargoyles from Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, movements were inspired by specific gargoyles
etc – that seemed to fit the character of the and violà! – I had my title. To me, Gargoyles – an assumption that is sometimes made.

42 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 MASTERCLASS

At the beginning of last year, when my are different so I have not indicated specific I hold the una corda for most of the first page,
publisher (Theodore Presser Company) was redistributions: depending on hand size, what modulating it during the crescendo in bars
preparing for the most recent reprint of the works for one pianist could be awkward for 11–14, then depressing it at bar 15 to help
sheet music, I chose for its new front cover a another. However, the pianist should strive to achieve the pp subito. I do not use it at all from
vintage photo of the most iconic of the Notre achieve the same sound and evenness that they bar 20 (a tempo) until the ppp in bar 36, in
Dame gargoyles, one of the three that had get in the first two bars. For this reason, it is order to create a real contrast of timbre in this
given me the idea for the title. One day in useful to practice the semiquavers without the section. From then on, I employ the una corda
April, I learned the distressing news that Notre melody as well as the melodic notes without as needed, certainly for most of the last page.
Dame was burning; throughout that evening the semiquavers – in each case using the same The contrasting section just mentioned
I was transfixed by the live footage of the fingerings as if playing both together. (bars 20–35) should have a much stronger
devastation to the historic building. The next feeling of direction and sweep than the outer
morning, I was woken by the postman ringing two sections. It is only in these bars that the
my doorbell to deliver a package. I opened the ‘The feeling should dynamic of forte is reached; however, the
parcel, and inside was the famous Notre Dame performer should be careful to not overdo it.
gargoyle staring up at me from the freshly be one of calmness– At bar 36 there is a marking of subito ppp,
printed cover of the music. It was an eerie and molto espressivo. Try not to give away the
unsettling moment. glistening like a lake subito by slowing down before it. The accent
I am currently practicing Gargoyles to
record for an upcoming album release, so
rather than splashing for the leading tone G-natural in bar 42 should
be expressive, not harsh. The movement’s
thoughts on the interpretation of the piece are
fresh in my mind. For this Masterclass, I will
like a waterfall’ trickiest section is probably the one that
begins at bar 50. Here, the melody occurs in
concentrate on the third movement of the set, strict canon in the ‘outer’ fingers of each hand,
marked Allegro moderato. In bar 3, the marking ben cantando ma dolce while the ‘inner’ fingers must again maintain
I have heard many performances of this indicates that the performer should strive to the even and unobtrusive semiquavers.
movement where the tempo was simply too achieve a different tone colour for the melodic Redistribution of the semiquavers is
fast (this is even more true of the second voice: well sung – in other words, projected – imperative if the performer is to shape each
movement.) The performer should take their but sweetly. The p dynamic in this bar refers melodic voice independently and maintain an
cue from the indication at the beginning of specifically to the melodic entrance and is not absolutely smooth legato in both.
the movement: placido e delicato (placid and meant to indicate an overall change in volume. Most of this movement transpires in different
delicate). Although there is a constant stream It is also important for the performer to notice shades of piano, pianissimo and pianississimo.
of semiquavers, the feeling should be one of that the expressive hairpins beginning in bar Its musical challenge lies in controlling the
calmness, of floating rather than rushing – 3 are written above the stave, indicating that crescendos, diminuendos and subito dynamics;
glistening like a lake rather than splashing they only refer to the melodic line. The pianist maintaining an even and unobtrusive ostinato
like a waterfall. In this case the tempo should should refrain from making the crescendos divided between the hands; and negotiating
not exceed the indicated metronome mark. and diminuendos in the accompanying a singing and expressive line – all within a
I intentionally write ‘c.’ (circa) within some semiquavers, but rather maintain a constant restricted dynamic range. IP
metronome marks to indicate a certain pianissimo until they are signalled to do so by
amount of latitude. If that ‘c.’ is not present indications that appear between both staves.
The use of the sostenuto LoweLL LieberMann
(as it is not in this movement) I mean for the More pedal is shown for
Piano Music
by Lowell Liebermann
metronome mark to be followed precisely. the first four lines, followed by ‘sim.’ to indicate
Solo Piano Gargoyles
Fantasy on a
Album for the Young
for Piano
This, however, never negates the use of rubato. that the pianist should change pedal with each
Complete Nocturnes

Fugue of J.S. Bach

Evening Prayer and Dream: Concert Transcription from Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel”
Four Apparitions Op. 29
Four Etudes on Songs of Brahms
Four Etudes on Songs of Robert Franz

It is an indication of the base tempo and not change of harmony. The only exception to this
Gargoyles
Nocturne No. 1
Nocturne No. 2
Op. 27
Nocturne No. 3
Nocturne No. 4

a signal that the piece should be performed occurs at bar 72, where the pedal should be
Nocturne No. 5
Nocturne No. 6
Nocturne No. 7
Nocturne No. 8

metronomically. (I sometimes find that held down until the end of the piece, blurring
Nocturne No. 9
Nocturne No. 10
Nocturne No. 11
Piano Sonata No. 1
Piano Sonata No. 2 “Sonata Notturna”

performers, when approaching contemporary the harmonies.

Piano Sonata No. 3
Three Impromptus
Two Impromptus
Variations on “America” (Charles Ives, arr. Liebermann)
Variations on a Theme by Anton Bruckner

music, do not allow themselves the same The use of the una corda pedal in this piece
Variations on a Theme of Schubert

Two Pianos
Concerto No. 1, for Piano and Orchestra – Solo Part and Piano Reduction

expressive rubato they would automatically use and in my compositions in general requires
Concerto No. 2, for Piano and Orchestra – Solo Part and Piano Reduction
Concerto No. 3, for Piano and Orchestra – Solo Part and Piano Reduction
Daydream and Nightmare, for Two Pianos, Eight Hands
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – Solo Part and Piano Reduction
Sonata for Two Pianos

in a ‘standard’ piece: I almost always intend for some comment. I find that some pianists
Three Lullabies
Variations on a Theme by Mozart

my music to be played with a certain amount of think of the una corda as a ‘special effect’ and ISBN 1-59806-974-8
ISBN 1-49110-877-0 114-41679
410-41289 THEODORE

PRESSER
expressive rubato.) only use it when explicitly called for. When
visit usvisit
at us at
www.presser.com
www.presser.com 99 781598
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COMPANY

The semiquavers in the first two bars of this I play the piano, I constantly use the una Lowell Liebermann’s Gargoyles Op 29
movement should be divided between the corda pedal in varying degrees to shape the is available from the Theodore Presser
hands, as indicated. Elsewhere, the pianist will tone of whatever I am playing, whether or Company (ISBN 978-1-4911-0877-2).
need to redistribute notes to maintain a singing not it is indicated. In this case, una corda is lowellliebermann.com
legato in the melodic lines. Each pianist’s hands indicated at the beginning of the movement.

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 43

 Gargoyles
Lowell Liebermann
Op 29 No 3

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 SHEET MUSIC

Adolf Schulz-Evler

Mélodie
BY JEREMY NICHOLAS

A ndrei or Adolf or Andrey or Andrej

Schulz-Evler or Schultz-Evler (1852-
1905)? The man is something of a mystery.
Musicologists find it hard to decide even on
his first name, bizarrely given as ‘Henryk’ on
his gravestone. Though he wrote one of the
most popular of all the myriad Johann Strauss
piano transcriptions – who has not heard his
Arabesken über ‘An der schönen blauen Donau’?
– very little is known of its mischievous,
highly-skilled creator.
Who knows anything
about Schulz-Evler
or any of his 50 or so
other works apart
from his (somewhat
lacklustre) Russian
Rhapsody, recorded by
Hyperion as a make-
weight for Moszkowski’s Schulz-Evler received a distinguished education at Warsaw Conservatory
then newly-unearthed Inset: His grave in the Polish capital
Piano Concerto Op
3 on Volume 68 of its (not 1884 as some sources have it) he took Perhaps we shall be able to give our own
Romantic Piano Concerto series? up the post in Kharkov, relinquishing it only verdict one day should some intrepid soul
The internet is deafeningly silent beyond months before his death. He was buried in provide us with recordings of his Echo de la
telling us that Schulz-Evler was born in Warsaw’s Protestant Cmentarz Ewangelicko- Partita de J S Bach – Paraphrase de Concert,
Radom, Poland, studying first at the Warsaw Augsburski on 17 May 1905. Invitation à la valse Op 2, Octave Etude (a
Conservatory and then in Berlin with Carl Judging by some of his other music, he must formidable tour de force, arguably more taxing
Tausig before serving latterly as a professor have been quite a pianist. Indeed, a review even than Anton Rubinstein’s) or Variations in
at the Kharkov School of Music. End of of a Schulz-Evler concert in Warsaw in 1896 G major.
information. In fact, he was born Szulc (the would seem to confirm this, Meanwhile readers can
Polish version of his name) but added his describing him as ‘a pianist amuse themselves with
mother’s maiden name in order to distinguish of exceptional technique, this unassuming and quite
himself from various other Szulc/Schulz who combines subtlety and uncharacteristic piece of
(German) musicians active at the time. At delicacy of sound with bravura Schulz-Evler. His Chopinesque
the Instytut Muzyczny in Warsaw he studied and power.’ The critic admired Mélodie has a sweet if none too
with Rudolf Strobl (piano) and Stanisław his Handel, Bach and Scarlatti, distinguished theme, the main
Moniuszko (composition). After his studies but was not so taken by his difficulty ( for some of us) being
with Tausig he spent several years teaching Schumann, while the pianist’s the litany of double sharps! IP
in Warsaw before moving to Moscow. Here own works did ‘not sound
he was lauded by Anton Rubinstein, no less, overly attractive: they only An elaborately curlicued early
before being appointed head of piano at a seem to prepare the ground for edition of the Arabesques on
private music school in St Petersburg. In 1888 a display of brilliant technique.’ motifs by Johann Strauss

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 49

 lo ie

Adolf S chulz-Evler

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50 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 51

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52 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 SHEET MUSIC

Svein Hundsnes

LIISA VALONEN
Vinterdans
BY SVEIN HUNDSNES

W inter Dances is a suite in five

movements. It was written in 2018,
joining several of my previous works for solo
piano: a sonata, a series of miniatures dubbed
Clavinatas and the suite Downtoned Beats.
Some of these pieces were recorded by the
Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola in 2019. They
are rhythmically very demanding, requiring a
sense of ‘groove’ which is rare in art music.
Up until the 20th century, most composers
made use of dance rhythms in their music
– from the Baroque suite to Classical minuet,
Tchaikovsky’s symphonic waltz, Chopin’s
mazurkas and waltzes, and so on. Composers
like Stravinsky, Shostakovich and others
occasionally used jazz-inspired rhythms, but
this approach became less common during
the 20th century. In the 21st century, however,
composers have begun showing renewed
interest in making use of contemporary ‘folk
dance’ elements.
Realising that the rhythms in Downtoned
Beats (particularly Nos 1 and 4) explore
unknown pianistic territory, I felt an urge
to write some pieces which rely less on
funky rhythms while still being personal
and challenging. This led to the creation of
Winter Dances. Above: Finnish pianist Laura Mikkola will record
As with most of my works, a short motif her second album of Hundsnes’ music in 2020
provides the main building material for Left: Svein Hundsnes (b 1951)
Vinterdans No 5, namely three chromatically
falling notes in the opening bar. I find this Vinterdans No 5, will be recorded for a
focused, Beethovenian approach works well new album by Laura Mikkola later this year,
when paired with rhythmic propulsion in together with my lyrical, dramatic second
general, and funky rhythms in particular. The sonata plus yet another suite. I have also Svein
latter characteristic is not very pronounced continued to explore the use of dance in a Hundsnes’
here, but is juxtaposed with passages of suite titled Anna Magdalena Bach’s Secret Winter
tranquil, static quaver propulsion in the left Notebook plus two small collections intended Dances is
hand, such as in bars 1-9. Although intended mainly for young pianists: Anna Magdalena’s available from
to be played with a strong sense of motoric Secret Etudes (Volumes 1 and 2). nb.no/sheet-
drive, the static quavers could also be It has been a sheer joy to write these music/shop
rendered with a touch of rubato, albeit with pieces – a spirit that I hope will be shared by
very different results. performers and listeners alike. IP hundsnes.com

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 53

 Vinterdans

> > >

oderato con anima Svein Hundsnes

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54 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com
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ø ø ø ø ø ø

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 55

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56 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 œ
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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 57

 >œ nœ bœ b>œ œ nœ
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58 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 CONCERTS • REVIEWS

Stupendous: Pierre-Laurent Aimard

MARCO BORGGREVE
UK But that’s unlikely: they contain in embryo
many of the ideas he would pursue in later
masterpieces, and that, with no histrionics, is
But while his live performances have stopped,
Orchid Classics have brought out his complete
sonata cycle, which now takes its place
LONDON how Tiberghien played them. The first ‘Rule alongside the other outstanding cycles of the
Britannia’ variation came over like a sculpture day by Igor Levit and Llŷr Williams. What
Wigmore Hall missing some of its limbs, with the succeeding strikes me most is the delicate nuancing of
Cédric Tiberghien 23 February ones being by turns gently lyrical, brilliantly Biss’s approach – a quality I have missed in
Jonathan Biss 28 February virtuosic, angry in the minor, and brightly his recent recitals: let’s hope that during this
Queen Elizabeth Hall coloured in conclusion. Tiberghien made a enforced break he will recover it.
Pierre-Laurent Aimard 10 March strong case for the ‘God Save the King’ set, Pierre-Laurent Aimard spends so much
with its intricacy, unpredictability, and sheer of his time and energy on cutting-edge

C édric Tiberghien is a fine chamber

player, but it’s an even greater pleasure to
catch him playing solo, particularly when his
charm. The WoO 77 variations were no less
interesting; the Dressler Variations, written
when the composer was 12 but reworked
modernists that it comes as a surprise to
find him scheduling Beethoven, even if it is
with that composer’s most overtly modernist
programme ranges into unfamiliar territory. For later, and the Heibel Variations written when work. But here the Hammerklavier had a
this recital he chose to thread works by Morton Beethoven was becoming a lionised celebrity, marvellously sustained fluency. The first
Feldman, John Cage and George Crumb offered more glimpses of his budding genius. movement was precisely disciplined yet
through a framework of Beethoven variations, The American works were fascinating, if not emotionally incandescent, the Adagio was
but those variations were not the big sets we all emanations of genius. Cage’s Seven Haiku, infused with an exalted tenderness, and the
know so well: these were unassuming efforts, lasting altogether three minutes, was an in- finale was a thrilling ride.
two being based on the English songs ‘Rule group game of no great interest, but his In a Following this – after a quick shower and
Britannia’ and ‘God Save the King’. landscape, which was a homage to Satie and a change of shirt - with Ives’ Concord Sonata
There had been controversy in Vienna an invitation to the listener to let their mind meant taking on a huge challenge, but
in 1799 when an anonymous reviewer rove where it chose, had a graceful cumulative Aimard rose to it seemingly without effort. A
castigated Beethoven’s variations as being effect. Crumb’s Processional emerged as a stupendous performance, leaving wonderful
marred by ‘harshnesses in the modulations’. lovely harmonic experiment. echoes in the mind for all those who would
Some contemporary critics thought these Meanwhile the global lockdown has halted now have to get their music online, or make it
two arrangements of English songs were Jonathan Biss’s Wigmore march-with- themselves. IP
a placatory gesture from the composer. commentaries through Beethoven’s sonatas. MICHAEL CHURCH

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 59

 REVIEWS • CDs

Critic’s choice BY MICHAEL CHURCH

that he had ‘run out of fingers’. It is indeed a

toweringly complex work which owes a lot to
Chopin, and its grandeur is indisputable.
Lortie begins and ends with two of his own
charming transcriptions from Fauré’s Requiem.
The rest of his programme of Nocturnes,
Ballades and Barcarolles is dominated by the
majestic Theme and Variations Op 73, which
was Fauré’s homage to Schumann’s Études
Symphoniques. And the homage is indeed
Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1 In paradisum: A Fauré Recital – Vol 2 close: beginning with an evocation of what
Concerto No 5 ‘Emperor’ Op 73; Louis Lortie (pf) Alfred Cortot described as an ancient frieze of
Concerto No 2 Op 19 Chandos CHAN20149 mourners, the work turns stylistic tricks which
Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) are very reminiscent of Schumann’s. Lortie
Freiburger Barockorchester/ Fauré’s piano music has never entirely makes the best possible advocate for this
Pablo Heras-Casado convinced me, so I am grateful to Louis Lortie underrated music.
Harmonia Mundi 902411 – who carries a torch for it – for dunking me
in this melange of rarely-performed pieces.
For this recording Bezuidenhout and his And what comes over most strongly is the
colleagues have drawn on the latest textual composer’s knack for wrong-footing the
scholarship, in the hope of resolving numerous listener’s harmonic expectations, in a way
issues regarding Beethoven’s intentions: which is at once teasing and engaging. As
how to treat the slur (which in his time was Roger Nichols puts it in his illuminating liner
regarded as a diminuendo), how best, and note, Fauré was not primarily interested in
on what note, to trill, and how to honour the ‘progress through opposition’: he preferred the
music’s improvisatory origins. art of combination, ‘of throwing new light from
They considered using two different cleverly judged angles on to familiar ideas’.
instruments but decided that would become Fauré did not aspire to join the big league Beethoven
a distraction so fixed on a bright-toned of piano composers, but he did want to Piano Sonatas: E Major Op 109, A-flat
Graf copy. This was a wise decision: the first explore alternatives to the sonata form: Liszt, major Op 110, C minor Op 111
problem for every fortepiano performance is to whom he played his Ballade in F-sharp Maurizio Pollini (pf)
to assert its very different sound quality for Op 19, gave up trying to sight-read it saying Deutsche Grammophon 483 8250
ears accustomed to the sound of the Steinway.
And from his incisive entry in the Emperor
Concerto onwards, Bezuidenhout makes his
point: this doesn’t feel like a period-instrument
ALBUM OF V íkingur Ólafsson says he has always loved
Debussy, and that his first encounter with
diminution of what the composer wanted.
He extracts many refinements of colour and
THE MONTH Rameau was hearing Gilels’ 1951 recording
of ‘Le rappel des oiseaux’. Ólafsson’s second
creates lovely effects. encounter was total immersion in Rameau’s
He also dispenses with what he regards keyboard works while he waited for his first
as Beethoven’s ‘grotesque’ cadenza for the child to (tardily) appear. But he regards these
Second Concerto, instead playing a ‘cut composers, despite their profoundly contrasting
and paste’ cadenza of his own; this won’t styles, as brothers under the skin. Both, he
please everybody, but it’s an interesting if says, were revolutionaries, and both possessed
futuristic solution. Thanks to his artistry – a ‘relentless intellectual independence’. Both
and to excellent support from the Freiburger also had a synaesthetic streak: while Debussy
Barockorchester and Pablo Heras-Casado drew inspiration from paintings and sculptures,
– there are moments which will convince Rameau took a scientific interest in the colour
even those listeners most wedded to modern of sounds, and in the orchestral effects he drew
instruments. His passagework has a sustained from his instrument.
strength which allows him to command the Ólafsson says he has allowed the choice
ARI MAGG

orchestra, and when it’s liberation time in the Víkingur Ólafsson: Perfectly poised and arrangement of pieces on this album to
final movements he generates elfin mischief.

60 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 CDs • REVIEWS

Maurizio Pollini was always a nervy creature: pellucid works demand the technique which
his standard recital pattern has been to conceals technique.
play the first half in an embarrassed rush, Beethoven’s own cadenza for the Allegro of
but then to recover himself with a magical the Second Concerto was written much later
second half. That seemed to me how his and doesn’t suit the work; Hough plays his
approach to this trio of masterpieces was own cadenza, a nifty sequence of harmonic
going to pan out as he tore with heavy shifts. His dramatization of the ‘Heaven v Hell’
pedalling into the opening movement of movement of the Fourth works beautifully, the
Op 109, seemingly driven by a desperate piano sounding sweetly submissive until an
urgency. The second movement was an angry explosion of aggressive trills. But what these
blur; the theme and variations began with a Beethoven: The Piano Concertos recordings reflect above all are these works’
busy matter-of-factness which turned into a Stephen Hough (pf) Finnish Radio sheer exhilarated heroism.
storm. Would he calm down for Op 110? Symphony Orchestra/Hannu Lintu
No. The first movement should open Hyperion CDA68291/3
delicately like a flower, but here it merely
had a chugging cheerfulness, and there was What a pleasure to encounter a great pianist
no sense of wonder; the Allegro molto had a at the top of his form, and with a conductor
rough-hewn jollity. In the final sequence of and orchestra so perfectly attuned to his
moods and modes, which should feel like an wavelength. Stephen Hough makes the
epic journey, there was no moment where most companionable guide to this cycle,
Pollini – and we – could pause for thought his instinctive good taste saving him from
and take stock of where we were; the arioso histrionics, his equally instinctive intuition
sections didn’t sing, and the final rush to the allowing him to unlock moments of unexpected
summit seemed to be over much too fast. beauty. Sometimes these are just fleeting hints, Janáček: Solo Piano
Pollini evinced a fine fury in the Maestoso as at the beginning of the development of the On an Overgrown Path; Piano Sonata
and Allegro of Op 111, but the majestic finale first movement of the Fourth, where he gently 1.X.1905 ‘From the street’; In the Mists
never once touched the heavens. leads Hannu Lintu and the Finnish RSO into a Thomas Adès (pf)
Afterwards, I listened back to Pollini’s 2014 change of tone and tempo; or the moment of Signum Classics SIGCD600
recordings of these works – what a contrast! pure stillness which Hough conjures up mid-
Here was everything I wanted, both from him bar, near the close of the Third’s Largo. Short tone-poems and autobiographical
and from Beethoven. Clean sound, a poetic These concertos depend on the pianist’s fragments written in the shadow of his success
touch and a serene mastery of these supreme mastery of passagework, and in this respect as an opera composer, most of Janáček’s
musical mysteries. He now claims to have too these recordings are outstanding: Hough solo piano music takes place in an intimate
discovered ‘new riches in every detail’ of this is exceptionally clean and expressive, and he arena. The exception to this rule was his
music, but if so, those riches elude me. Fans of extracts all the drama inherent in the scales, sonata 1.X.1905 ‘From the street’, which was
this great pianist should stick with the superb whether it’s a diatonic one rising through four Janáček’s response, white-hot with fury, to the
sonata cycle he recorded in 2014. octaves, or a descending chromatic one. These shooting of a young demonstrator for Czech
independence by the Habsburg police.
be guided by the music, rather than by any one of the few Rameau pieces which will Janáček’s musical language may in some
intellectual scheme, and the result is very be familiar to listeners; the rest will be a ways be cognate with Bartók’s, and his effects
satisfying. He gently rings the changes between refreshing dip into unknown waters. The may have something in common with those
the composers, beginning with the archaic final piece is a perfectly poised rendering of of Musorgsky and Debussy, but it is intensely
grace of ‘La damoiselle élue’ before seguing Debussy’s ‘Hommage à Rameau’. individual and draws heavily on folk styles.
into a series of Rameau’s 1724 Pièces de clavecin On an Overgrown Path follows what Janáček
which begin with the ravishingly evocative ‘Le himself described as a path that leads to
rappel des oiseaux’ in which each bird adds its ‘memories, including the most ancient ones…
distinctive sound to the mix. Then we plunge so sweet one would like to think there is no
into Debussy’s rain-washed gardens, followed end to them’. And the memory that rings most
by two pieces from Children’s Corner, after poignantly through that work was the death of
which it’s back to the plangent sweetness of his daughter Olga. ‘Unutterable Anguish’ and
Rameau’s ‘Les tendres plaintes’. ‘In Tears’ are just two of the pieces in which his
Ólafsson’s touch is malleable: suggestive in pain comes to the fore.
the Debussy pieces and bracingly gritty for Since this oeuvre fits neatly onto a single
Rameau. The centrepiece of the collection is CD, pianists are often drawn to record it, and
his own transcription of an interlude from Debussy ∙ Rameau Thomas Adès’ account is graceful, if at times
Rameau’s final opera, Les Boréades, which Víkingur Ólafsson (pf) over-cerebral. I prefer András Schiff ’s on ECM
comes over as a meditation. ‘Les sauvages’ is Deutsche Grammophon 483 7701 – for him, the piano weeps and sings from
the heart. IP

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 61

The Beethoven Connection
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
This selection of works
by contemporaries of
Beethoven illuminates
and contextualises
Beethoven’s output in
this his 250th
anniversary year.

‘Bavouzet’s advocacy
is passionate and
intelligent’
The Sunday Times

CHAN 20128
Beethoven:
Piano concerto no.4
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
In anticipation of the September
release of the complete
Piano concertos, the 4th
concerto is available now
as a digital single.
CHSA 5247 - digital only
 CDs • REVIEWS

high-pitched voice before announcing the first and tonal shadings no one else on records has
item, Tausig’s arrangement of Bach’s Toccata divined’ must be a moot point. The forgotten
and Fugue in D minor BWV 565 (not to be Rosita Renard (1894-1949) plays a transcription
confused with his superior 1931 recording of a Monteverdi madrigal before an electrifying
of the same transcription souped up, as he account of Debussy’s Feux d’artifice (1929
might have said, by Busoni). Scotch Strathspey and 1930 respectively) and Reah Sadowsky
and Reel, differing slightly from the published (1915-2012) in Lyapunov’s Lezghinka from an
music, is new to Grainger’s solo discography unpublished 1944 radio broadcast.
(though he recorded the original version with The centrepiece of this disc is Mark
voices in 1925). Lastly, a fine rendering of his Hambourg (1879-1960) thundering his way
Landmarks of Recorded Pianism – famous arrangement of the Londonderry Air. through the Tchaikovsky First Concerto,
Volume 2 With the second section of CD 1 we adroitly followed by Sir Malcolm Sargent
Rare and unissued recordings and finally land on real treasures. Five pieces by in a live 1955 performance with the BBC
broadcast performances by Rosenthal, Mompou and his Godowskyian arrangement Symphony Orchestra. It is a massive, big-
Grainger, Mompou, Friedman, La of Chopin’s Waltz in A minor Op 34/2 played boned conception with Hambourg striving
Forge, Renard, Sadowsky, Hambourg, by the composer, recorded for Spanish HMV for effects that are utterly compelling, though
Dolmetsch, Freund and Castagnetta in 1929/30, with two further numbers for the often compromised by inaccuracy and
Marston Records 52075-2 same label from 1944. Charming pieces, lovely fumbles. The slow tempo of the waltz section
piano sound, delightfully played. Then Ignaz in the middle of the slow movement is one of
Friedman in a 1933 recording for Argentinian several passages of vivid individuality.
BY JEREMY NICHOLAS Columbia of Chopin’s A-flat Polonaise with all Next come the only true ‘landmark’ recordings
of that great artist’s zest and technical ease, here: Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940) with

O nly one of the recordings here falls into

the generally accepted definition of
‘landmark’: ‘an event or development that
including a huge whoosh up the keyboard
to welcome the final return of the big tune.
Tremendous. Disc 1 ends with four items
‘probably the earliest recording [1933] ever
made on an “original” fortepiano’ and almost
certainly the first recording of the opening
marks a turning point or a stage’. What we taken from a 1933 Friedman Tokyo radio movement of the Moonlight Sonata as Beethoven
have here, as on Volume 1 from the same broadcast, about which the most remarkable requested – ‘without mute’ (ie with the dampers
source, are rare and/or unusual and/or things are that any private individual should raised throughout). Etelka Freund (1879-1977)
unissued performances by famous (and not so have had the equipment to do this in 1933 and had a modest career as her fine but otherwise
famous) names. And, like the earlier volume, why anyone in 2020 would want to listen to unremarkable Appassionata would seem to
I cannot help feeling that the producers have the results. All musical interest is completely indicate (another unpublished broadcast of
sometimes confused rarity with musical value. obscured by hideous surface noise. frankly limited interest). Disc 2 ends, though,
Take the first track: the magnificent Moriz The Leschetizky pupil Frank la Forge (1879- with Grace Castagnetta (1912-1998) live in 1944
Rosenthal playing his own version of Liszt’s 1953) opens CD 2 with one of the earliest playing one of her famous improvisations, this
Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 taken from a 1929 recordings (1912) of anything by Gottschalk. one based on four notes chosen by the audience.
Edison Hour broadcast. Far from being an Pasquinade, played at a more measured pace Hardly a landmark but, like most of this
exciting take on Liszt’s original, Rosenthal than most, is beautifully executed, though collection, a treasurable curiosity. Presentation
disfigures and vulgarises the score. The lassan whether others will agree with the booklet that and annotation are outstanding, as we have
section is drawn out to an extraordinary la Forge ‘found opportunities for subtle effects come to expect from Marston. IP
degree, a dour dirge with bars cut and inserted,
and other unnecessary amendments that do
nothing but traduce Liszt’s original. As to the
friska, if you want to hear a piano thumped
unmercifully, here is your chance (try the
downbeats at the beginning of the Tempo
giusto-vivace section at 6’23”). ‘Astonishing,
breathtaking and exhilarating’, says the booklet.
‘Terrible and tasteless’ is an alternative view.
A second (shorter) version of the same Liszt-
Rosenthal arrangement (a rare Ultraphon disc
recorded in Berlin in April 1930) is, apart from
better sound, far worthier of the great pianist
TULLY POTTER COLLECTION

despite passing similarities in its conception

and execution with the Edison Hour broadcast.
Live performances by Percy Grainger
follow, part of a recital at the University of
Kansas in July 1953. Grainger makes some
introductory remarks in his unexpectedly Utterly compelling: Mark Hambourg Terrible and tasteless: Moriz Rosenthal

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 REVIEWS • CDs

Given these accomplishments on record, effects and sonorous, sometimes clangorous

it is puzzling why some of the bland or flat displays of power. Deft and fluent as these
choices Katsaris espouses here lack the performances are, they are largely surface
molten inspiration that Glenn Gould lavished statements.
upon his recordings of the Beethoven/Liszt Least gratifying of all is the Sonata No 32 in C
symphony transcriptions (Sony). minor Op 111, where an emotionally superficial
Instead, at times Katsaris produces interpretation cuts into the appreciation of
a dutifulness akin to doggedness, like a one of Beethoven’s profoundest affirmations.
raconteur determined to press on to the end Digital skills aside, Katsaris replaces cosmic
of a not very compelling tale. Booklet notes visions with what sounds like, at times, the
Beethoven – A Chronological Odyssey by Katsaris in intermittently unidiomatic accompaniment for a silent film serial.
Cyprien Katsaris (pf) English oppose the tradition of not including In transcriptions, the outcome is more
Piano 21 P21-060 – 6 CDs among Beethoven’s mature output the Three rewarding, although the inherent value of the
Piano Sonatas WoO 47 or Kurfürstensonaten pieces in question is almost always inferior.
that he wrote at ages 11 and 12. Katsaris even Carl Czerny and anonymous collaborators
BY BENJAMIN IVRY exclaims: ‘This discrimination against those produced a solo keyboard version of the
three youthful Sonatas is simply unfair!’ Kreutzer Sonata, which is pleasant enough.

T his grab bag of Beethoven, near-Beethoven

and quasi-Beethoven keyboard pieces is an
intriguing listen for piano lovers who maintain
Despite this protest, surely Katsaris must
know that few composers would accept
compositions from their prepubescent years
Need it be said that the violin is much missed?
Katsaris’ unctuous suavity is scarcely a
match for the nervous tension caused by
personal distinctions between kitsch and being counted in their catalogue of mature the effect of a bow being drawn across violin
real art. The French-Cypriot virtuoso Cyprien achievements. In any case, in 2007, Barry strings. To use a French term applied to
Katsaris, born in Marseilles in 1951, has made a Cooper did include the Kurfürstensonaten in the arts, especially painting, this decorative
name by dazzling his way through transcriptions his critical edition of the sonatas for ABRSM, Kreutzer Sonata is pompier – trite or insipid –
of symphonic and choral creations. bringing Beethoven’s number of piano sonatas in spirit.
Here he offers a mix of ‘name’ sonatas from 32 to 35. Not much happier is a transcription by the
(the Appassionata, Moonlight and Tempest Although these efforts reflect the rococo pianist Franz Kullak, who had no discernible
among them) juxtaposed with dilutions of spirit of the era when they were composed, gift for composition, of the third movement of
the composer’s work by mediocrities who Katsaris adds a certain lumbering quality, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major. The
happened to be his contemporaries. as if endeavouring to increase Beethovenian result trivialises the orchestral and violin parts
Perhaps because they share some repertoire, weight rather more than these particular by replacing them with dainty high keyboard
Katsaris is sometimes inappositely compared sonatas can bear. tones. And a plodding, cloddish version of
with the Hungarian virtuoso György Cziffra, When we reach the celebrated Sonata No 14 Beethoven’s String Quartet No 16 by Modest
with whom he briefly studied. Yet Katsaris is in C-sharp minor (Moonlight), we hear a rather Musorgsky, no less, is equally disappointing.
usually a far more ingratiating artist than the brisk tempo for the opening movement, oddly So, like an episode of the BBC’s Antiques
fire-breathing Cziffra. slowing in forward momentum as the movement Roadshow where piles of dusty bric-à-brac
Katsaris’ more sustained studies at the Paris progresses. Overall, it is a numb reading, as if are suddenly overshadowed by a fortuitous
Conservatoire were with Aline van Barentzen under the influence of a local anaesthetic. bit of uncanny splendour (the Beethoven-
and Monique de la Bruchollerie, putting Katsaris’ Appassionata has Parisian urbanity, Wagner Ninth Symphony) this set is worth
him directly in the tradition, across some but showily contrasts extremely light-fingered experiencing, despite its unevenness. IP
generations, of the 19th-century eminences
Charles-Valentin Alkan and Franz Liszt.
The high point of this set is Richard Wagner’s
transcription of the third movement of
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, of primarily lyrical
inspiration, played plainly and sympathetically.
Because Wagner’s writing is less pianistically
sophisticated than Liszt’s, for example, it
conveys emotion all the more directly.
The singing line here recalls other
achievements by Katsaris, such as his rendition
of the fourth movement Adagietto from Mahler’s
Fifth Symphony as transcribed by the German
mathematical physicist Karol Andrzej Penson
JEAN-BAPTISTE MILLOT

(Sony) or his complete recording of Beethoven’s

piano arrangement of the ballet Creatures of
Prometheus as a plausible composition in its Dazzling: Cyprien Katsaris
own right (Piano 21).

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 CDs • REVIEWS

HISTORIC RECORDINGS Such playing might easily be characterised A number of scholars have a hand
as sober or sub-fusc were it not for a constant here, while Diabelli completed the idea
sense of underlying nuance, and in Mozart for the String Quintet WoO62, ostensibly
a no less constant awareness of the light Beethoven’s ‘last musical idea’. The final
and shade at the heart of the composer’s track, a ‘composition’ in D major, is a
genius. Gulda may have commented that 22-minute ‘sonata’ fleshed out by Kerman;
‘Bach expresses in three words what others parts are fragmentary in the extreme.
take pages to achieve,’ yet his performance of A necessary consequence of Beethoven
Strauss’s Burlesque reveals him as a Romantic year, completists will hoover this one up.
virtuoso to the manner born. What other Even the tiniest morsel from Beethoven’s
pianist could be such a coaxing, insinuating table tastes good.
charmer in that all-Viennese second subject?
Friedrich Gulda: Piano Concertos by Debussy’s Feux d’artifice is rendered with an
Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Strauss imaginative vitality far beyond conventional
Friedrich Gulda (pf) French wisdom: pinwheels, rockets and Bengal
SWR Classic 19088CD – 3 CDs lights spin, soar and blaze in all directions.
Gulda was no more ‘deadeye Fred’ than
SWR’s triple album of Friedrich Gulda Van Cliburn was ‘Horowitz and Liberace
in performances dating from 1959-1962 rolled into one’ (Time Magazine). He was an
captures a rare musical candour. In concertos incomparable artist, and I for one will return
by Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn – with regularly to these recordings for the ultimate
Richard Strauss’s Burlesque and Debussy’s in musical calibre.
Feux d’artifice as scintillating encores – we BRYCE MORRISON Chopin
hear a pianist whose playing far transcends Etudes Opp 10 & 25;
external considerations and a reputation for SOLO REPERTOIRE Trois Nouvelles Etudes Op posth.
eccentricity. Sonya Bach (pf)
Gulda’s shuttle between New York’s Rubicon RCD1042
Carnegie Hall and the Birdland nightclub
provoked both conservatives and jazz lovers. Korean pianist Sonya Bach is a major
For conservatives, his seemingly extramural new voice. This is a remarkable set of
activities were a form of exhibitionism, while Chopin Etudes, following on from her
for jazz enthusiasts his crossover creations recording of Bach Keyboard Concertos.
were neither one thing nor the other. Happy She sometimes points out Chopin’s pre-
to state that ‘classical music is dead, long echoes of Impressionism within these
live jazz’, Gulda saw the latter as a vivid and remarkable works. Her approach is non-
blessed release from ‘the pale, academic confrontational, so that the C major of Op
approach I had been taught’. His onstage Beethoven 10 is fluid rather than strong. The E major
appearance caused outrage ( for one writer Piano Pieces and Fragments (No 3) is a song, while the C-sharp minor
he looked like ‘a Serbian pimp’) and his Sergio Gallo (pf) (No 4) rivals Pollini’s famous account for
‘resurrection’ recital after he had announced Naxos 8.574131 virtuosity.
his death was the final straw. Overall, this is perhaps the most
Yet such diversionary tactics veiled the This is a single disc with a playing time of 86 sophisticated and thoughtful recording of
true inner nature of Gulda’s artistry. From minutes, comprising sketches, miniatures, the Chopin Etudes in recent times. Although
the start of his career, when he won the transcriptions and arrangements. It begins, Bach’s tempi are generally relatively rapid,
Geneva Competition in 1946, he was greatly though, with the Dittersdorf Variations WoO66, this does not affect the emotional power she
admired by Alfred Brendel, Nelson Friere heard in a charming performance. Nice also to projects (the E-flat minor Op 10/6 a case in
and Martha Argerich (Brendel was lost in have the Dressler Variations. point). She has a lovely singing left hand in
wonder at Gulda’s performance of Ravel’s Some of these pieces are almost over the E minor from Op 25, and by highlighting
Gaspard de la nuit, admitting he could never before they begin, such as the delightful the right-hand’s ‘decorations’ she makes it
equal such a natural command). Indeed, 23-second Pastorella. The British Library’s sound more Debussian; we also hear that
the proof of such admiration is gloriously Kafka Miscellany furnishes six miniatures from proto-Impressionism strongly in the C-sharp
manifest in the present album. In Beethoven’s sketchbooks. The Canonic Sketches are tiny, minor (Op 25/7).
Fourth Concerto, Gulda joins those pianists but even tinier is the snippet of an Allegro in If ever there was a set of Etudes that
who, in Charles Rosen’s words, ‘appear to do C major. Half-formed ideas from Beethoven’s proved these are not just studies, this
nothing and end by achieving everything’. It is mind, a window into his creative process; and is it; how lovely to have the Nouvelles
difficult to imagine a more serene and tonally how lovely to have Beethoven’s transcription Etudes, too. Excellent booklet notes by
translucent reply to the orchestra’s gruffness in of a canon by Mattheson, played with elegant IP contributor Jeremy Nicholas. A major
the central Andante. delicacy by Gallo. release.

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 REVIEWS • CDs

‘Aufenthalt’ (Schwanengesang), although

the climax is a touch laboured.
Avramovic tries to put too much into
one recital: Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No
14 is the odd one out. There’s no doubting
Avramovic’s virtuosity, and he can tease
the high-register passages along with the
best of them, but after such sustained
interior playing this technical display
feels misplaced, its outgoing passages
Spectral Visions of Goethe studio-bound. Nevertheless, Avramovic is
Music by Schubert/Liszt, a sensitive talent to be cherished.
Schubert/Czerny and Hughes Dufourt Bach
Jean-Pierre Collot (pf) The Well-Tempered Clavier BWV 846-
Winter & Winter 910 262-2 893 – Book II
n rás S hi (pf)
Hearing spectralist composer Hughes Naxos 2.110654 – DVD / NBD0105V –
Dufourt’s version of Rastlose Liebe against that Blu-ray
of Liszt’s is instructive. Both composers bring
the song into the world of the piano; both, in Recorded live at the BBC Proms in 2018,
different ways, illuminate the original. Dufourt this release follows hot on the heels of
goes further than Liszt, stretching the musical Book I (reviewed in IP March 2020). Once
surface to create nightmarish visions. Liszt’s more, chi� uses a tein ay, its clarity
version lasts just under two minutes; Dufourt’s and pro ection more suitable for the Godowsky
over six. The differences are even starker acoustic space than his usual sendorfer. 53 Studies on the Chopin Etudes,
with An Schwager Kronos. Dufourt’s reading The process of performing the piece Volume 1
is dissonant and bleak, Czerny’s granitic. complete in one span is perfect for chi� s Konstantin Scherbakov (pf)
Collot – perhaps best known for his recording interpretative outloo introspective, non Marco Polo 8.225372
of Barraqué’s Sonata – pinpoints the beating interventional, pure. Even more than oo
heart of each. , there is delicious inevitability. edal use Godowsky produced a total of 53 studies
Dufourt’s reinterpretations of Schubert are is minimised, making its rare appearances on the Chopin Etudes, of which this is
presented in ascending order of duration, all the more e�ective the same is true of the first instalment – and Volume 14
leading to an Erlkönig of 27 minutes. moments hen the music dances. in Scherbakov’s survey of Godowsky’s
Meerestille requires intense concentration his is a glorious supplement to complete piano music.
in both the Liszt and Dufourt versions, chi� s studio version, embodying all the Taking the first study on Op 10/1, the
and Collot succeeds magnificently. freshness of his E recording but ith core of Chopin is there but expanded in
Collot’s Schubert/Liszt Erlkönig is the the added frisson of a live event. he lu texture; soon, new descending, bell-like
least satisfactory of the Romantic era ray clarity is magni�cent. gestures appear. Similarly, in Op 25/1 there
transcriptions, rather unsteady of pulse and COLIN CLARKE are countermelodies everywhere: the
low in narrative impulse. left hand concentrates on Chopin, while
The Liszt version of Gretchen am Spinnrade the right freestyles and often freewheels.
is imbued with transcendent calm. A very Serbian pianist Nikola Avramovic, All of this feels like Scherbakov’s home
special disc. a resident of Shanghai, needs more territory. He sparkles in the overtly
exposure. This is a fine disc of a major virtuoso numbers, but it is in the slower
talent and a notable debut. Schumann’s ones that Godowsky’s additions become
elusive Davidbündlertänze is thoughtfully most fascinating, not least in the
rendered, capturing the capricious snaking lines of the E-flat minor from
qualities of this music while underlining Op 10, written for the left hand alone.
Schumann’s many mysteries. Scherbakov plays Godowsky’s second
Chopin’s Ballade No 4 coaxes itself version of Op 25/2, which becomes the
magically into existence. It is beautifully glistening Chopin waltz we never knew.
shaped, from phrase to totality, leaving Similarly, Godowsky’s second version of
Avramovic room for rubato without losing Op 25/4 is the Chopin polonaise that got
trajectory. Clarity is evidently a priority, away. Godowsky’s illuminations have an
Debut: Works by Schumann, Chopin and as Avramovic’s sustaining pedal work is integrity all of their own.
Liszt expert, allowing for utter cleanliness in Scherbakov’s integrity is never in doubt,
Nikola Avramovic (pf) the left-hand scalic ascents. There is a real his quest for completeness laudable.
Genuin GEN20684 sense of excitement to the Schubert/Liszt Unmissable pianism.

66 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 CDs • REVIEWS

Brilliantly The recording (Stoller Hall, Manchester) but more convincingly so than in the Concerto
evocative: is excellent, capturing the richness of Hicks’ – perhaps reflecting Vogt’s strength in playing
Tom Hicks sound, but the accompanying booklet notes the piano rather than directing from it. Ondine’s
are disappointingly minimal. sound, as always, is splendid.
COLIN CLARKE

PIANO CONCERTOS

Beethoven
Triple Concerto in C major Op 56;
Symphony No 7 in A major Op 92
Brahms Daniel Barenboim pf , nne ophie
Piano Concerto No 2 in B-flat major utter vln , o o a vlc West Eastern
Op 83; Variations and Fugue on a theme ivan rchestra arenboim
of Handel Op 24 Deutsche Grammophon DG 4838242
Lars Vogt pf oyal orthern infonia ogt
Ondine ODE 1346-2 It would be hard to gather three higher-profile
TOM HICKS
soloists than Mutter, Ma and Barenboim for
HAIKOVSKY PIANO Following their not unimpressive coupling of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, still something
Brahms’ First Concerto and the Four Ballades of a Cinderella amongst his orchestral output.
Op 10 (reviewed in IP January 2020), Lars For anyone still unconvinced of its musical
Vogt, the Northern Sinfonia and Ondine merits, this new account is as fine as any, the
have followed-up with the Second Concerto playing of the three soloists absolutely ideal
(2’43”)
and Handel Variations. Once again there is for ensemble and intonation. Their mutual
(3’00”)
(3’54”) beautifully phrased playing from Vogt and his understanding shines through in an account
IRELAND SARNIA: AN ISLAND SEQUENCE ensemble, directed from the keyboard. Some that is simply a joy to hear. The concluding
TCHAIKOVSKY THE SEASONS
may prefer a slightly weightier orchestral Rondo all Pollacca catches perfectly what
Ireland sound, particularly in the strings, but the Mutter calls the ‘underlying mood of life-
Sarnia: An Island Sequence; ‘The Island more intimate ambience works well here. affirming celebration’. The brief central Largo,
Spell’ from Decorations Vogt’s tempi, however, are another matter. which dovetails into the finale in a similar
Tchaikovsky The opening horn call is taken too slowly and manner to the contemporaneous Fourth
The Seasons Op. 37a the movement (Allegro non troppo) does not Concerto, is ideally shaped, contrasting
Tom Hicks (pf) quite flow as it should – as if the brakes were beautifully with the outer spans. The Allegro’s
Chatelet Records CHA001 constantly being applied. That might have hushed opening is finely achieved, setting the
worked if there was more fire in the succeeding tone for the rest of the performance.
A rare outing for Sarnia by John Ireland, whose Allegro appassionato but only in the final stages Issued to mark the 250th anniversary of
piano music is well worth investigating (his do we truly hear appassionato playing. The Beethoven’s birth, the recording of the Triple
concerto is a real gem). Written on Guernsey, Andante is beautifully done, however, serene in Concerto also marked another milestone,
Sarnia was Ireland’s last major work for piano. the outer sections, heaving with emotion at its the 20th birthday of the West-Eastern Divan
It is beautifully evocative, most effectively so heart. The Allegretto grazioso finale flows along Orchestra, the barrier-breaking brainchild
in the central ‘In a May Morning’. The final nicely but could have had a touch more zip. of Barenboim and Edward Said. Whatever
‘Song of the Springtides’ displays openness The Handel Variations opens with the one’s view of Barenboim’s and Said’s initiative
and freshness. While Bebbington (Somm) is same unhurried grace with which the from a political standpoint, there’s no denying
more expansive in all three movements, Hicks concerto ended. Vogt’s traversal through the excellence of the orchestra’s playing and
loses nothing in expressivity. the 25 succeeding variations is very neatly musicality, exemplified in this fine account
‘The Island Spell’ is a brief movement and imaginatively achieved, relishing the of the Seventh Symphony. This would not be
from Ireland’s 1912/13 suite Decorations. An constantly changing moods and cut and thrust my first choice recording of the symphony – it
almost Impressionist study in shadings, Hicks’ of the theme as it is elaborated, developed is not quite as vividly conceived as those by
account is brilliantly evocative. He gives a and transformed almost (but not quite) out Kleiber, Chailly or the late Charles Mackerras
joyous reading of The Seasons by Tchaikovsky, of recognition. It is a wonderfully weighted – but as a foil to the Triple Concerto, it more
revelling in a sense of discovery and nostalgia. interpretation, again frequently broad in pulse, than passes muster.

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 REVIEWS • CDs

CHAMBER MUSIC The New Englander Amy Beach (1867-1944) –

prodigy pianist, self-taught composer – lived a
life steeped in Brahms, Wagner and Debussy.
Befitting her allegiances, her F-sharp minor
Piano Quintet (1907) is a symphonic half-
hour of fibre, passion and expressive intensity.
Harmonically vibrant sonorities dress each
melody, reaching an apotheosis in the finale
underpinned by fugue.
In Florence, the Brazilian Henrique Oswald
Adams (1852-1931) came into contact with the
Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?; Liszt-Wagner circle, notably the pianist
China Gates Brahms Jessie Laussot. His Piano Quintet in C major
Yuja Wang (pf) Los Angeles Philharmonic Trio in E-flat major Op 40 (1895) is a muscular affair, Mendelssohn and
rchestra ustavo udamel Bruch Schumann lurking in the wings, the French
Deutsche Grammophon DG 4838289 Eight Pieces Op 83 school standing by (Saint-Saëns behind
Schubert the scherzo). A fest of virtuoso pianism
Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? Notturno D897 and imaginative string writing, its organic
(2018) is not John Adams’ first piano Ivan Martin pf atalia omei o vln uri construction, spiritual depth (Adagio) and
concerto – the marginally longer Century Zhislin (vla) driven energy ( finale) make its absence from
Rolls (1997) or the earlier, briefer Eros Orchid Classcs ORC100098 the repertory mystifying.
Roll (1989) vie for that honour – but it is Two premiere recordings – a sweet-toothed
arguably the first not primarily influenced Familiar chamber music in unfamiliar guises. Brazilian Poema by Marlos Nobre (born 1939),
by the sound of the pianola (or player- Gone is Brahms’ waldhorn, Bruch’s clarinet and and Beach’s early violin Romance (1893) –
piano) that suffused the two earlier Schubert’s cello. We may occasionally miss the complete the album: songful, untroubled
concertante scores. Not that Must the Devil timbre of the originals, but, rather like paintings cameos to while away an evening.
Have All the Good Tunes? is out of step with sharpened into steel engravings, there are Clélia Iruzun is a sterling advocate with
Adams’ earlier works, though it sits more enticing new perspectives, clarifications and impeccable phrasing, tone and timing. She
surely within the traditional fast-slow-fast blendings to discover. The trio’s radiant playing, digs deep, her sensual bass, glowing treble and
concerto format, the piano the central captured by producer John Fraser at All Saints’ cantabile mid register enhanced through some
protagonist interacting with the orchestra East Finchley, offers a wondrous journey of particularly fine sound engineering (Oscar
in a kaleidoscopic array of sections and insight. Connoisseur stuff. Torres). Tight playing, too, from the Coull
textures that together form a coherent and These are richly dreaming performances, Quartet, pursuing colour, tension and musical
impressive whole. transporting us to faded places and evoking debate with alacrity.
To be sure, Must the Devil Have All the forgotten memoirs. Bruch’s tenderly, smokily
Good Tunes? is not the deepest or grandest shaped Three Pieces (1910) conjure old age and
of piano concertos but it is a well-put- the breath of empires in twilight. In Schubert’s
together work, another manifestation of late Notturno time stands suspended, notes and
Adams’ recent focus on the concerto form, lines musingly placed. The Brahms Trio is given
as seen in the creation of Scheherazade in its 1884 viola revision, the second and fourth
2 (termed a ‘dramatic symphony for movements finding a bucolic bite while the
violin and orchestra’ by the composer), a first and third linger and yearn. An album to be
saxophone concerto (2013) and Absolute savoured, not for people in a hurry.
Jests ( for string quartet and orchestra,
2012). Twentieth-century gods hover over
the three movements, Prokofiev perhaps Clara Schumann
foremost in the opening movement (‘Gritty, Piano Trio in G minor Op 17
Funk, but in strict tempo’), Debussy in the Fanny Mendelssohn
central span (‘Much slower, gently relaxed’) Piano Trio in D minor Op 11;
and Stravinsky to a point in the final String Quartet in E-flat major
‘Obsession/Swing’. It is terrifically played The Nash Ensemble
by Yuja Wang, wonderfully supported by Hyperion CDA68307
Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Orchestra. Wang completes the album Reflecting on the transitional German
with a lovingly flowing rendition of China Treasures from the New World kammer period between Beethoven and
Gates (1997), a reminder in four-and-a-half Works by Beach, Oswaldn and Nobre Brahms, this album glimpses 1840s life
minutes of Adams’ minimalist roots. Clélia Iruzun pf oull uartet and women in Dresden and Berlin. Clara
GUY RICKARDS Somm Recordings SOMMCD0609 Schumann (Wieck), serious and orderly, was

68 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 CDs • REVIEWS

Robert’s long-lived wife. Fanny Mendelssohn Crawford-Phillips offers a masterclass in Duvall is a long-time collaborator of Höstman,
(Hensel), more fantastical, was Felix’s short- discretion at the service of presence. Splendid. and understands her often understated art.
lived older sister. ATEŞ ORGA The disc begins with ‘Allemande’, a stripped-
Clara’s G minor Trio (1846) is a cultured down version of the Baroque dance, featuring
offering, deftly crafted, with a touch of fugato CONTEMPORARY/JAZZ a spasmodic pulse that intermittently
in the finale naturally integrated within energises the generally static landscape. The
argument and texture. Contrastingly, Fanny’s title-track, ‘Harbour’ – the longest piece at 25
posthumously published D minor essay (1847) minutes – is a denser, more eventful work. The
is less predictable, oscillating between modes characteristic meandering, looping lines are
and moods variously tempestuous and tender, tremulous rather than static, and sometimes
rough and refined, entreating and ebullient. explode in turbulent, emotional passages.
The dolcissimo of the middle movements is Subsequent tracks return us to atmospheric
special, Hölderlin’s words never far away – ‘I minimalism. ‘Late winter’ for left hand is a
was raised by the sounds/ Of rustling groves/ still, monochrome landscape, its harmonies
And learned to love/ Among flowers. I grew resulting from use of the sustain pedal.
up in the arms of the gods’. Her early E-flat ‘Yellow bird’ is more mobile yet enervated
Quartet (1834), based on an unfinished piano Anna Höstman compared with Messiaen’s celebrated musical
sonata, drew Felix’s disapproval. But she left Harbour representation of birdlife. ‘Darkness… pines’
its unconventionalities, oddities and poetics Cheryl Duvall (pf) is relatively chordal, though lacking harmonic
unchanged, their spell enduringly personal Redshift Records TK473 progression or resolution. The varied
and distinctive. repetition of ‘Adagio’ is haunting and Feldman-
Unsurprisingly, the Nash excel in this Canadian composer Anna Höstman, born like. Höstman’s pieces reveal an intensely
repertory, seeking out corners, rising to the 1972, likes thin, often single-voice textures, atmospheric, richly rewarding sound world,
climaxes, responsive to passion without as can be heard in these atmospheric pieces beautifully interpreted by Duvall.
sentimentality or theatrics. Pianistically, Simon from 2012-19. Toronto-based pianist Cheryl ANDY HAMILTON

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www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 69

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 BOOKS • REVIEWS

and at worst malevolent’. Still, a few historical interviewees have to convey is to warn off
instances of horror film-style reality did occur. aspiring piano teachers: ‘I do not advise
Russian-born Isabelle Vengerova (1877- pursuing teaching classical music. You cannot
1956), a mainstay of Philadelphia’s Curtis make a proper living’; and ‘Unless one can
Institute of Music, was immortalised in the teach at the college level, the earnings do
memoir Tyranna: The Legend and Legacy not keep pace with the cost of living’ are
of Isabelle Vengerova (David Daniel Music emblematic hints.
Publications, 1995) by pianist and teacher Another voice of experience states, ‘For
Joseph Rezits, cited here. Even decades after those who have the calling to teach, I say
her demise, Vengerova’s furious insults, hurled do it in your spare time as a hobby and do
furniture and banishing of hapless pupils something else to pay the bills. This way you
resounded in the memory. don’t have to be under pressure to carry a
To balance this unhappy, atypical example, certain load of students to pay the bills.’
Stolz interviewed 20 American piano With these caveats in mind, the suggestions
teachers based in Washington DC, New York, turn to more constructive approaches: ‘I
Pennsylvania and Louisiana, but with a larger would really make sure teaching is what you
geographical scope, with half born in Russia, want to do and that you are not just doing
A Portrait of Contemporary US Teachers Lithuania, Poland, South Korea, Australia and it out of necessity. Doing it out of necessity
of Piano: A Musical Journey Canada. The anonymous interviewees, mostly creates an army of frustrated people and that
Barbara Ann Stolz female and ranging in age from 30 to over 90, is projected to the students… To perform, you
Lexington Books, 294 pages had studied in the former Soviet Union, Austria, must have something to say. To teach, you
Lithuania, Israel, the Netherlands, Ukraine and must have a vocation.’
the UK, further internationalising the book’s Indeed, piano instruction is decidedly not an

I n this perceptive study, the amateur

pianist and social scientist Barbara Ann
Stolz explores what motivates those who
message. They began teaching from the ages
of 12 to over 40, but more than half started
between the ages of 15 and 21. All had taught
instance of the old saying that those who can’t
do, teach. Most of the teachers interviewed in
this book are also performers and see the two
pursue a piano-teaching career. Stolz teaches for quite some time, with teaching experience activities as complementary. Ultimately, the
public policy at Georgetown University, ranging from 12 to 78 years, while their pupils choice to teach is due to a shared devotion for
Washington DC, and has previously authored included small children to those in their eighties all aspects of pianistic life: ‘You have to love
Criminal Justice Policy Making: Federal Roles ‘or older’. Typically, they gave lessons in more teaching. You cannot feel that you are doing
and Processes (Praeger) and Still Struggling: than one place, whether a music school, college, it because you have to earn money and every
America’s Low-Income Working Women university, personal studio or students’ homes. student is taking your energy.’ IP
Confronting the 1980s (Lexington). Among the most pertinent messages these BENJAMIN IVRY
These books appear to place her somewhat
at a distance from the world of piano teaching,
but her father was a professional pianist who
first taught her how to read music. For piano
lessons, he sent her to a ‘nun dressed in a
stiffly starched Dominican habit smelling
of laundry soap, with long, pale fingers and
wearing granny glasses’ (presumably this is
Sister Rose Cecilia who is among the book’s
dedicatees). ‘Fortunately,’ Stolz adds, ‘she did
not use her pencil for disciplinary purposes
and lessons were pleasant.’
Decades on, Stolz revisited the question
of why piano lovers become instructors after
her long-time piano teacher retired and she
sought a replacement. At the same time, she
read Thad Carhart’s much-discussed The Piano
Shop on the Left Bank (Chatto, 2001) in which
a persistent American receives lessons from a
tetchy Frenchman.
Dutifully reading the full farrago of fiction
and nonfiction devoted to piano pedagogy,
she realised that hyperbolic descriptions were The Piano Lesson (1871) by
the norm, and the ‘piano teacher depicted in George Goodwin Kilburne
literature and film is typically tepid at best,

www.international-piano.com International Piano July/August 2020 71

 REVIEWS • SHEET MUSIC

Ries D’Indy Janáček Welburn

Fantasie No 12 Op 134/1 Four Pieces Op 16 1.X.1905 (Piano Sonata) Musical Escapades
Edition Dohr 19073 Spartan Press SP1435 G. Henle Verlag HN 1174 Editions Musica Ferrum

F erdinand Ries (1784-1838)

is celebrated in history as
Beethoven’s pupil and staunch
sophisticated Lisztian operatic
paraphrases that were to come.
individually each number has its
merits and charm.
Stephen Hough’s fingerings
(especially his re-distributions
between the hands) are extremely
ally. His support embraced Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931) The tragic death of a 20-year- useful for a work that could
negotiations with publishers as was the founder of Schola old Czech worker at the hands never be described as eloquently
well as help with the practical Cantorum in Paris and a of a German soldier during pianistic. But its awkward corners
difficulties of life in general, composer whose admiration for demonstrations in Brno led to and punishing outsized chords are
especially after Beethoven’s the Teutonic tradition set him the impassioned creation of worth the trouble they present:
hearing declined. As a composer apart from his more famous Janáček’s gripping and evocative we are gripped by this music’s
Ries wrote nearly 180 works, Gallic contemporaries. His sonata. Cast in two movements innate power and majesty. An
including eight piano concertos eloquently poetic Symphony on a (a third was destroyed by the authoritative and essential issue.
plus symphonies and operas. French Mountain Air (1886) has composer), this is a harrowing
His music is almost completely a prominent solo piano part and score, scorched with turmoil and James Welburn’s series of seven
overlooked in the concert hall remains his best known work. This trauma. In performance it seems solos, subtitled ‘animated pieces
today, so it is fascinating to delve quartet of delightful miniatures to be ‘extra-pianistic’, turning the for the intermediate pianist’, are
into this rarely heard Fantasie date from four years earlier. The piano into an orchestral ensemble accessible and immediate with
for solo piano from the Cologne- opening ‘Sérénade’ gives plenty and carrying the listener from the colourful, alluring presentation.
based publisher Christoph Dohr. It of opportunity to explore quasi concert hall into the troubled, Welburn’s preface emphasises
is based on themes from Rossini’s orchestral textures with variety of violently charged world outside. the ‘fun’ aspect of his music,
opera Semiramide and contains touch in a charmingly salonesque The intensity, fear and energetic which is immediately apparent
busy bravura passages which look idiom. Orchestral reminiscences angst of the first movement yields in the finger-friendly, swinging
like orchestral reductions. But continue apace in the 27-bar to the hypnotically powerful 46-bar ‘Caravan Blues’. ‘The
Ries clearly knew what works well ‘Choral Grave’, immediately despair of the second. It is music Heroic Mouse!’ is more extensive,
on keyboard, and his pianistic drawing one into a deeply that lingers long in the mind, with a certain grotesquery and
demands are always user-friendly sonorous string ensemble world. condensing a world of expression rhythmic swagger that would
and engaging. Structurally The third movement ‘Scherzetto’ into barely more than 10 minutes. not be out of place if juxtaposed
the work is unsophisticated, brings a woodwind section to life This lucid new edition from with Prokofiev’s lighter children’s
unfolding in the form of a medley in the pianist’s inner world and Henle points out that the work pieces. ‘Chimes for Clifford’ is a
that segues from one chunk of could be an impressive filigree was not originally called a sonata, subtle celebration of pianistic
Rossini to another. A stirring showpiece for a confident virtuoso reminding us that its surviving resonance whilst ‘Mosey on Down’
E-flat introduction introduces to dispatch as an encore. Finally, a movements were only finally and ‘Dansul Romanesc’ develop
six sections that present operatic ternary form etude that contrasts premiered in 1924. A fascinating further the zany humour hinted at
arias and excerpts, concluding toccata semiquaver figurations commentary sets out in detail in ‘Caravan Blues’. Perhaps most
with stirring bravura and cadential with a central intermezzo in the issues encountered by editor touching of all is the quietistic
flourishes. The textures would which tonal richness and rhythmic Jiří Zahrádka, including problems serenity set amid gently oscillating
not be out of place in Beethoven syncopation work together to of articulation, placement of left hand arpeggios in ‘Shimmering
but the spirit is very much of the produce further orchestral effects. dynamics and accidentals that Waters’. IP
19th century, so it can be seen as Overall, the set of four pieces were deemed questionable and
a precursor for the much more could not be more diverse, but controversial. BY MURRAY McLACHLAN

72 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

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Fantasy Op 77
 MUSIC OF MY LIFE

INTERVIEW BY JEREMY NICHOLAS

Global
harmony
Israeli pianist Ilana Vered
draws musical inspiration
from Eastern and Western
traditions

W
e had no record player when I
was young growing up in Tel Aviv. we don’t have so much Arab music on Israeli The first time I heard the Sibelius Violin
Both my parents were professional stations. When I started playing with orchestras, Concerto it was played by Heifetz in concert.
musicians so we went to concerts every I always had to adjust my ear because I didn’t The opening was magical! Now you hear it
second night. It was the early years of the hear an ‘A’ at Western concert pitch. played at almost every competition.
Israel Philharmonic and all the artists came I studied in Paris with Jean-Marie Darré – One thing I want to add is that I’m afraid the
for free to help the orchestra. So I grew up quite a lady! – and also with Vlado Perlemuter. whole classical world will suffer because of the
listening live to Rubinstein and Horowitz, I was 13 when I first met him on a course for virus pandemic. There will be fewer Chinese
Heifetz and Menuhin. foreign students. I did a regular course the musicians travelling, for instance, because
The recording I’d like of Rubinstein is the next year. The thing I remember most was his they won’t be able to afford it. In recent years,
Chopin Barcarolle because it was the first beautiful sound. I don’t think his recordings competitions always had nine Far Eastern
piece I ever heard him play. My parents had do him justice, although you can still hear participants to every Western-trained player.
got seats on the first row on the stage around the beauty. From early on, I had a sound like We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. IP
the piano because there was no room left in that in mind. People today don’t pay so much
the public area. I sat on my mother’s knees attention to sound. For me it’s the sound of Chopin
and looked around me at the people next your soul, of your very being. I used to turn Barcarolle Op 60
to us and next to Rubinstein. I remember on the radio and could always tell who was Arthur Rubinstein
seeing tears and people crying. From then on playing. You can’t tell young pianists apart Warner Classics 4553342
I thought this is the way everyone should play. today by their sound. You can tell by their
Verdi
You should make people cry. technique, maybe. But there isn’t a personal
Messa da Requiem
The first recording I remember was voice any more, except with a few people like Di Stefano, Peerce, etc
Toscanini conducting Verdi’s Requiem. For a Babayan or Trifonov. And Perahia – such a Robert Shaw Chorale, NBC Symphony
child, it was sensational. I can’t forget its sheer gorgeous sound! Orchestra/Arturo Toscanini
electricity: a physical thrill, not intellectual at Perlemuter would tell us of the times when RCA G010003678630X
all. It’s an amazing operatic work, and I love he spent the weekend with Ravel. It clearly
Ben-Haim
opera. The young Plácido Domingo was in the impregnated him with a certain sound – just
Five Pieces Op 34
Israel National Opera company in Tel Aviv for listen to the beginning of his Gaspard de la Gila Goldstein
three years from 1962 – he speaks Hebrew – nuit. It’s so amazing! You can hear all the Centaur CRC2506
and I saw him sing every role. I fell in love! notes, while the melody flies on top like it’s
We listened to a lot of Yemenite musicians. from another world. Most young pianists Ravel
Gaspard de la nuit
People like Mark Lavri and Paul Ben-Haim don’t do that – they smear. Perlemuter’s legato
Vlado Perlemuter
took themes from this music and made piano was also legendary, especially in Schubert,
Vox CDX25507
pieces out of them. There is even a concerto by Schumann and Brahms. So expressive. I
Ben-Haim. Later on, more Israeli composers bemoan the lack of legato nowadays. People Sibelius
took those themes and elaborated them. I also play octaves one after another using the pedal. Violin Concerto
grew up listening to a lot of oriental music on Jascha Heifetz
That doesn’t sing like a phrase. Not to me.
London Philharmonic Orchestra/
the radio. I think that’s why I hear a quarter tone I have small hands, and we were forced to
Sir Thomas Beecham
lower, because Arab music lies between the make legato wherever possible. We always did
Warner Classics 3615902
tones on a piano and my ear digested that. Now fingered octaves with 4 and 5.

74 July/August 2020 International Piano www.international-piano.com

 THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE COMPLETE

is proud to present MOZART

PIANO SONATAS
with Peter Donohoe SOMMCD 0191

“To this construction of wood, metal and ivory Donohoe brought a collaboration
which breathed constantly with supple phrasing, shaped tempi subtly, and ebbed
and flowed with dynamic rises and falls”
Excerpt from concert review of piano recital by Peter Donohoe, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, April 2018
Christopher Morley, The Birmingham Post

WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION www.somm-recordings.com [email protected]

 Chetham's & RNCM students love

Acclaimed by Ashkenazy, Lill CBE., McLachlan, Stott et al,

performed at the Birmingham Conservatoire & Cadogan Hall

Coming to the Stoller Hall, Chetham's, Manchester

lation
i d C ancel
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C ancellat
vid
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C o vid C
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Scores: 20 bravura fantasy concert studies, 200 pages in 2 volumes,

from Forsyth’s, Deansgate, Manchester, tel. 0161 834 3282.
Double CDs from Claudio Records Ltd., tel. 01273 580 250.
Other enquiries:the composer: [email protected]