Peter Rösel Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

Peter Rösel, a formerly East German and now just German pianist whose name I only discovered upon learning he recorded an LvB sonata cycle, ended up recording the cycle for King Records International, which, despite the company's name, means it's an all Japanese affair.  That means no notes I can read, and it means a high price tag.  Generally speaking, Japanese cycles tend to sound pretty good, though, so there was that to (hopefully) look forward to.  The cycle is in eight volumes, with the last volume being a twofer, and it was recorded between 2008 and 2011.  How is it?

Volume one opens with Op 49/2, and Rösel takes a broad tempo, plays with warmth and some delicacy and wit, though it is hard not to think he tries to make more of the work than it is, though he does so successfully.  It's a gentle but serious opener.  Op 31/2 follows, and here Rösel shows more intensity and power, though he never just lets 'er rip; rather, he keeps everything under firm, unshakable control.  His left hand playing is clear and rock-steady throughout, and his sound is "big".  The second movement is pushed a bit more than normal, making the movement tenser than usual.  Nice.  The final movement is quick and potent, as it should.  Rösel passes his first Op 31 test.  Next is the Hammerklavier, and the first two movements are taken at a conventional tempo, and Rösel goes for the big, quasi-orchestral sound to superb effect in the first two movements.  The effortlessness of his playing adds to the allure.  The slow movement is played at a nicely taut pace, making for another tense slow movement, if not a desolate one.  The final movement starts with a nice Largo and moves into an energetic, powerful, and fast fugue.  It is not the clearest I've heard, but it scores extremely high on the excitement scale - well it would if one existed, that's for sure.  Disc one is superb.

Volume two starts with Op 14/1, and the outer movements are swift and taut and again display nice left hand clarity and solidity underpinning the melodies, and the slightly swift-ish slow movement displays a nice bit of tension.  Op 109 is next, and the opening movement is quick and very firmly played, and the second is fast and generally quite powerful, and rather effective, and segues to a final movement that immediately sounds calmer, more serene, more transcendent.  The transition between variations are a bit abrupt, but each is played almost as its own little sub-movement.  The fifth variation is, maybe, just a hint too intense and harsh sounding, but then again, maybe not.  The sonata ends as serene as one could hope for, concluding a journey of a performance, but still I can't say that it rates with the best of the best.  Perhaps the best of the rest?  Op 10/2 comes next, offering about as well programmed a contrast as one can imagine.  Rösel plays with what sounds like joy, but he also imbues the work with some nice heft.  The second movement is taken slow and close to too stiff, and the final movement sounds more serious than the opener, but is still light-ish.  The disc closes with Op 57, and given what came before, I was expecting Rösel to deliver a big, beefy, at least occasionally thundering version, and sure enough he does.  No wimpy sonata this.  That written he does not really let loose, instead maintaining absolute control, and his strong left hand playing results in some unusually prominent repeated bass notes.  It also results in some palpable low end energy if the volume is turned up loud enough – as it should be.  Disc two is superb.

The third and fourth discs, recorded a year or so later than the first two volumes, were recorded in a more distant, resonant fashion, and the piano takes on a more metallic tone, too, but the same basic traits from before largely persist.  Volume three has Op 10/1 starts things off, and the ascending arpeggio is fast and sure, and there is again fine independence of hands; the slow movement again is not too slow, but it sounds a bit colder than what came before; and the final movement is swift, a bit lighter, and high on the excitement scale.  Op 31/1 follows, and again Rösel goes for the fast, high energy, and here fun, but not lightweight, approach.  The second movement opens with nicely executed trills playing against a lumbering, almost goofily so, left hand accompinament (to good effect!), switches to mock seriousness, and back, before the more serious middle section.  The trills and melody of the final section are tighter and cleaner, as is the left hand accompinament, again to good effect.  The final movement is a corker, again displaying speed, but also here sly wit, along with gobs of fine dynamic control.  Rösel nails his second Op 31 test.  Op 14/1 is next, and it is suitably light and fun, with wonderful runs, singing melodic lines, and jaunty chords.  Op 53 finishes off the disc, and the opening few chords are a bit subdued and slower than expected, but also clearer than normal, but Rösel picks up the pace quickly enough, but he never rushes, preferring instead to cruise along at a comfortable, natural tempo, speeding up where appropriate, and playing forte passages with fully satisfying but not bruising weight.  The slow movement is perhaps a bit cool, but sounds contemplative, and the final Rondo opens softer (but not soft) and slower (but not slow) than expected, but quickly transitions to thundering climaxes, speedy and articulate fast passages, and subdued and attractive slow passages, all with Rösel's absolute command.  This here's one fine Waldstein.  Disc three is superb.

Volume four opens with Op 49/1, and as with its opus mate, Rösel plays it slow and somewhat (too?) serious, though his approach largely succeeds.  Op 7 is next, and Rösel opens a bit on the slow side for an Allegro molto con brio, but he does this to contrast the lilting sections with the more pointed sections, which he takes quicker, and where he ratchets up the well controlled volume.  The Largo is nicely paced, but the gran espressione seems not so gran a lot of the time, tending toward the merely somber.  The Allegro is a bit relaxed, in a pastorale-y way, with even the rumbling bass notes in the fast section a bit tame, though it ends on a tense note, as it were.  The Rondo, though, is an unalloyed success, swift and energetic start to finish.  Op 26 starts with a strongly played theme and variations, but as with Op 109, the transitions between variations is a bit abrupt, though each one is nicely characterized.  The Scherzo is quite fine, and the funeral march, while somber, unfortunately doesn't have much heft or depth.  At least the closing movement is snazzy.  The disc ends with the Mondschein, and here Rösel plays it more or less conventionally: hazy, but not too hazy or slow opener; nicely paced, not too deep middle movement; strong, quick, energetic closer.  Disc four is good.

Disc five, which is sonically closer to the first couple discs, opens with Op 54, and Rösel starts off a bit slow and restrained, and alternates between the more lyrical sections and the more intense sections nicely enough, but he never really attains the degree of tension and contrast I like, and much can be said of the second movement, which sounds almost too carefully done.  The opening bars of Op 2/3 are again a bit slow, but Rösel picks up the pace soon enough and delivers a reasonably high energy opening movement.  The Adagio is slow but tense, with bass notes that toll out nicely.  Both the Scherzo and ending Allegro are taken at controlled tempi, but man, the individual voices are clean 'n' clear throughout, and Rösel hammers out some chords with authority.  The Pastorale manages to sound ever so slightly leisurely in terms of tempo while at the same time displaying a sense of urgency, all mixed with a wide dynamic range, from near whisper-quiet pianissimos to beefy fortes in the first two movements.  The Scherzo is fast and tense start to finish, and the closing movement is more lilting in nature in the slower passages and thundering in the faster sections.  Overall, a most enjoyable rendition.  The disc closes with 81/a, and it displays the same traits as described in other sonatas, but the playing seems a bit cool and detached.  It is well executed, some slightly stiff chords in the slow movement being the only thing that I didn't care for, though clearly Rösel played the notes exactly as he intended, but it just didn't get me involved.  Disc five is excellent.

Volume six opens with the Pathetique, and Rösel plays it a no-nonsense, classical style, albeit one with some nice heft, and once again some nicely delineated left hand playing.  Tempo, dynamics, overall feel – all are just dandy.  31/3 is next, and out of the gate Rösel plays it with verve a light, fun touch in the opening movement.  The second movement takes the good times to an even higher level.  The Menuetto is played in a slightly more relaxed, and definitely grazioso manner, offering an excellent contrast to the two prior movements, and the Presto con fuoco is a rollicking good time, underpinned by a steady left hand.  Rösel aces his final Op 31 test.  Op 90 starts off a bit slow for the first few bars, which, after happening so frequently strikes me as something of a mannerism, though not a bad one.  Rösel again offers fine dynamic and tempo contrasts, and his left hand clarity underpinning the desperate, ascending playing of the right, and in particular the balance of the two elements, offers something unique in my listening experience.  The second movement is nicely lyrical, though a few times Rösel's phrasing interrupts the smooth cascade of notes, mostly to excellent effect.  Op 101 closes the disc, and Rösel adopts a nicely transcendent feel in the opening movement, though he also plays with vigor.  The march in the second movement has a nice, sharp rhythmic sense, and is punctuated by some very weighty bass chords, and the clarity and exactness of some of the playing is striking.  The Langsam portion of the last movement again assumes a nicely transcendent feel, but where Rösel really shines is in the Geschwind portion, with the fugato writing nicely illuminated, and he effectively marries middle period heft and late period style.  This is one of the highlights of the cycle.  Disc six is superb.

Volume seven starts off with Op 78, and Rösel plays both movements at a nice, brisk, but not rushed tempo, but his demeanor may be just a touch too serious.  (The more compressed sonics probably contribute to this.)  Op 79 is much the same, and here the middle movement, in particular, is more intense than normal.  Quibbles about possible excess seriousness aside, both works are quite nice.  Op 22 is next.  The opening movement has just about a perfect tempo, nice dynamics, and if it sounds a smidge heavier than ideal, that's quite alright.  The Adagio, though, is just a bit too intense for my ears.  It's definitely more an Andante or even Allegro to me, and it sounds just shy of unrelenting.  The Menuetto and Rondo are both much like the opener.  So, a somewhat heavy-hitting Op 22, a sonata I tend to prefer a bit on the lighter, more "classical" side.  Perhaps that's why I dig French pianists so much in this work?  Op 10/3 followed, and given Rösel's approach, I figured this should be a high point of the cycle, and I was right.  The opening movement is fast and intense, and the great clarity makes the movement even more substantial than normal.  The Largo, here taken at an Adagio pace, is taut, with some powerful playing, though at times it sounds almost like the engineers slightly altered the perspective and balance.  No matter, there is anguish and drama and intensity in good measure.  The last two movements both offer more energetic, livelier, lighter follow ups, and Rösel plays both superbly, just about perfectly.  The disc ends with 27/1, and much like it opus mate, Rösel plays it pretty straight, but here the result is comparatively better, owing partly to the fine clarity, the extra oomph in the bass registers in climaxes, and a strangely effective heftier-than-it-should-be sound.  It's perhaps a little too serious to truly be a fantasia, but then it is a quasi-fantasia, so maybe that's why it works.  Disc seven is excellent, and definitely better in the second half.

Volume eight starts off with Op 2/2 and Rösel plays the opening movement with clarity and a good bit of verve, and he throws in some arpeggiated chords where I can't recall hearing them before.  He also once again opts to play a Largo at a pretty brisk relative tempo and keep tension a bit higher than normal, and the last two movements are much like the first, with final movement having some rather nice forte playing.  This is definitely a serious take on the work.  Op 110 follows, and Rösel offers a swift and effectively lyrical first movement, but the second movement is a bit lumbering at times.  The tempo is fine, it's just that his phrasing makes it sound heavy.  The final movement lacks the transcendent feel I prefer, and tends more toward straight-up powerful playing, with the repeated chords before the inverted fugue displaying a satisfying heft and the coda a He-Man burst of strength.  The final disc pairs Beethoven's first and last sonatas, and Op 2/1 is much like its opus mates, though a bit darker, with a somewhat brooding opening movement, a tense 'n' quick-ish slow movement, a beefy Menuetto, and a strong and stirring Prestissimo closer.  The big closer starts off with a dark Maestoso, moves to an Allegro of not a little clarity and a nice degree of intensity and plenty of vigor, and opens the second movement with a calm Arietta that gets calmer in the second half, though the beefier than normal bass registers detract somewhat from the transcendent sound I seek.   The first two variations continue on in a similar fashion, and this time the transitions between variations flow more smoothly.  The boogie woogie variation is not rushed, but certainly has drive and strength, both under absolute control.  The "little stars" section (to borrow a description from András Schiff) is a bit flintier and brighter than many others, though the dynamic contrasts are quite fine.  The chains of trills are also quite fine, and Rösel varies the volume between right and left in marked fashion, and his discreet but ever so slightly more prominent than normal bass notes serve as nice accents.  The work never quite achieves the late LvB sound I want, but it is well played, and it is most definitely serious.

And that is probably the best single word to sum up Rösel's Beethoven: Serious.  No frilly, fluffy, foofy Beethoven here.  Rösel plays with superb technique, emphatic and clear and potent left hand playing throughout, and if his tendency to play slow at the beginning of movements so as to maximize contrasts later is a mannerism, it is a mild mannerism that occasionally yields excellent results.  Those seeking prettier Beethoven, or light Beethoven, should definitely look elsewhere.  While listening, I tried to figure out how to describe him stylistically, I tried to determine who he reminds me of.  The best I can come up with is that he is a mix of Emil Gilels and Alfred Brendel and Claude Frank.  In terms if overall quality, he's roughly on par with Ichiro Nodaira, whose cycle I picked up from Japan last year, meaning that he does some things extremely well – especially the ever so important Op 31 trio – others not quite as well, but he's certainly never bad, and the cycle straddles the border between second tier and middle tier status, using my informal five-tier system.  So, I'm definitely glad to have the set, and I will return to some sonatas repeatedly.  I have a suspicion I will even sample some of  Rösel's other recordings, primarily from Berlin Classics, especially given that they have been reissued in handy boxes.  He strikes me as a Germanic core rep type of guy, so perhaps his Brahms is next.

Sound is variable, as noted, but generally very good or excellent, if not SOTA.

[Mandryka]

Thanks for posting this. I'd registered him as a fine pianist through a disc of Brahms songs with Peter Schreier - Schoene Magelone, and this will prompt me to explore a bit more.

[springrite]

I have Rosel on a Bach/Busoni CD (Berlin Classics), which I adore. So subsequently I ordered several of his recordings. But for some reason, every time I order something by him (from BRO), it ended up being out of stock when time came to fill MY order. So I still just have that one singular CD.

[early grey]

This looks like a really interesting set of sonatas.

I would not have thought twice about the pianist except that recently I was offered a trawl through the LP collection of a sadly departed lady of enormous musical enthusiasm and among those I chose was an LP of Brahms' Piano Sonatas 1 and 2 played by Peter Rösel. I was struck by the music which I knew nothing of ( shame!, I know) and also the beautiful piano sonority and recording. You can hear the LP at

http://www.cliveheathmusic.co.uk/vinyl.php

[North Star]

I recall liking his solo Brahms quite a bit, but it's ages since I listened to his recordings. A good bit of it is on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/v/rqpCR2YGmo4  https://www.youtube.com/v/SNj7Dw2Eu9I     https://www.youtube.com/v/v_cwYuICO5w