Clavier Companion - January/February 2012 - 54

CD & DVD Reviews
Steven Hall, Editor
Steven Hall has a wide range of performing experience as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe, and Taiwan. A German reviewer wrote, “He proved that he need not fear comparison with the greatest in his field.” He has released two compact discs featuring the Ibach piano on the ACA label. Hall completed his D.M.A. in Piano Performance as John Perry’s teaching assistant at the University of Southern California and is a founder and faculty member of the Brandeis Piano Conservatory in Dallas, Texas. He is the president of BPC Recording Company and serves on the boards of the Lennox International Young Artist Competition and the Dallas Music Teachers Association.

COMPOSER Boris Papandopulo: Piano Music Nicholas Phillips, piano Albany Records Troy1274 [Total Time 69:32]
Nicholas Phillips offers a unique contribution with this fine recording of piano music by Croatian composer-pianist Boris Papandopulo (1906-91). Papandopulo’s style is eclectic, characterized by appealing folk elements in the early works and more dissonant satire in the adventurous later works. Early pieces include a neoclassic four-movement Partita (1931), a virtuosic Scherzo fantastico (1932), and a three-movement Sonatina (1942). All contain attractive elements of Croatian nationalism: folklike melodies, asymmetrical dance rhythms, and driving motoric writing. The later works, Eight Studies (1956) and 10X1: Ten Musical Impressions Each Lasting One Minute (1989), exude a variety of engaging twentieth-century “isms,” and are at times reminiscent of Prokofiev at his wittiest. Phillips capably approaches these little-known works with a clear, crisp touch, rhythmic vitality, and the perfect amount of wry humor. For those interested in discovering new music, Papandopulo is certainly worth a second look. V.C.M.

COMPOSER J. S. Bach: Keyboard Concertos Alexandre Tharaud, piano Virgin 50999 070913 2 [Total Time 74:46]
It is unfortunate that Tharaud is so little known in the United States, as he is supremely gifted. Previous releases include ravishing piano renditions of music by Rameau, Couperin, Bach, and Scarlatti. For these Bach keyboard concerti Tharaud performs on a Yamaha grand. He is joined by the Canadian group Les Violons du Roy, an ensemble utilizing modern string instruments with Baroque bows. The string playing is precise, without vibrato, and marked by stylistic sensibility. This unique acoustical combination might not suit everyone’s taste, but the musicianship is stunning. Tharaud performs with refinement and verve throughout, adorning slow movements with imaginative ornamentation and exquisite phrasing. Fast movements are brisk yet elegant, and artfully articulated. In the Concerto for Four Keyboards Tharaud uses multitrack recording to play all four parts. A surprising textural clarity and uniformity between the various keyboard parts make for an altogether exceptional experience. S.P.

This issue’s contributors:
Vanessa Cornett-Murtada is the Director of Keyboard Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where she teaches courses in piano and piano pedagogy and directs the New Music Ensemble. She has lectured across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Eric Hicks is a private piano teacher in Austin, Texas. He received his degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, SUNY at Stony Brook, and the University of Texas at Austin. Laura Melton is the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She has been a frequent recitalist and clinician throughout North and South America, Asia, and Europe and has recently recorded CDs for Naxos and Albany Records. Denise Parr-Scanlin is an Assistant Professor of Piano at West Texas A&M University and teaches piano and chamber music at the Lutheran Summer Music Festival. She has performed and adjudicated in the U.S., Europe, and Asia and appears on the Naxos recording of the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Sam Jones. Stephen Pierce is Assistant Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado and has previously taught at Oberlin Conservatory. He has performed in the Czech Republic, Canada, the United States, and South Africa, and has published in Clavier Companion and Music Research Forum. Sin-Hsing Tsai is U.C. Foundation Associate Professor of Music at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and has performed in Asia, Europe, and North and South America. She is a Steinway Artist.

COMPOSER Schubert: Piano Sonatas D840 & D850 Shai Wosner, piano Onyx4073 [Total Time: 76:23]
On this CD, Shai Wosner investigates Schubert’s treatment of folk elements, selecting only works composed outside Vienna during the composer’s visits to the AustroHungarian countryside. Beginning with the twomovement unfinished Sonata in C Major, D. 840, Wosner creates eloquent characterizations of the themes, taking pleasure in the harmonic surprises without rendering them theatrical. In his excellent liner notes, Wosner draws comparisons to the “Wanderer” character; indeed Winterreise is evoked in the andante movement’s recitative-like passages. Wosner’s delectable performances of the Six German Dances and the Hungarian Melody are engaging. (Interestingly, the latter is the basis for Schubert’s expanded four-hand version Divertissement a l’hongroise, D. 818.) Although, in the Sonata in D Major, D. 850, one might quibble with some of his rhythmic interpretations and the overly articulated first theme of the second movement, Wosner’s playing is beautiful. This CD is a welcome addition to the library of Schubert recordings. D.P.S.

COMPOSER Brahms: Fantasies, Intermezzos, and Haydn Variations Christopher Atzinger, piano Katherine AnandaOwens, piano MSR Classics MS1235 [Total Time 52:15]
Christopher Atzinger proves to be an excellent pianist, using Brahms’s contrasting Opp. 116 and 117 and the two-piano Haydn variations to implement his well-intentioned musical plans. Atzinger’s collaboration with pianist Katherine Ananda-Owens exhibits a fine display of a meeting of musical minds, both in conception and in the quality of their ensemble. Atzinger demonstrates a firm grasp of the art of contrast in the fervently passionate fantasies and the serenely intimate intermezzos that comprise Op. 116 and 117; his musical thinking is apparent in the phraseology and pacing of these works. For instance, in Op 116, No. 1 (Presto energico), he uses a broad rubato that teeters on the brink of actually changing tempo, while in Op. 116, No. 5 (Andante con grazia ed intimissimo sentimento), he employs an unusual gigue-like pace. The overall recording, while good, is less than satisfying due to the close microphone technique. E.H.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012

CLAVIER COMPANION

Clavier Companion - January/February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clavier Companion - January/February 2012