Malcolm Binns Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

One of the cycles I thought might be gone forever has returned, albeit in the ungainly form of ten discs shoehorned into a fifty disc period music door-stop box.  No matter, I had to have it, and given that the box is labeled a "limited edition", I figured I ought not dilly-dally and so I snapped it up.  I've never heard a note played by Malcolm Binns, and given that this set never made it to CD in complete form, I've read next to nothing about this set, so I had no real expectations.  The set is HIP, of course, and Binns uses a bevy of ancient instruments, which handicaps the set for me.  Paul Badura-Skoda's awesome cycle and Penelope Crawford's awesome never-to-be-a-cycle recordings aside, I'm not wild about period LvB sonatas.  (Add Andras Schiff's recent Schubert, and that more or less rounds out the period non-organ keyboard recordings I really like.)  But who knew if this one could knock socks off?

Disc 1 is devoted to but two sonatas: Opp 2/1 and 2/2.  Binns plays the first sonata at a comfortable pace.  It's not too slow, it's not too fast.  The first three movements all chug along nicely enough, with nice clarity and articulation, and a not unpleasant sound.  Dynamic nuance doesn't match a modern grand, but that's to be expected.  The final movement is more energetic, more vital, but the period instrument prevents Binns from imparting sufficient heft.  My modern ears want more oomph.  That written, it's good.  2/2 finds Binns doing more of the same.  The opening movement, with repeat, tips the scales at 11'03", surpassing even Ikuyo Nakamichi's neverending opening movement.  Binns never sounds sluggish, though.  He plays with a bit of pep, though the movement  goes on too long.  The Largo starts off slow, slow, s l o w, and between the twang of the strings and the mechanism noise, it almost sounds as though Binns is playing on a broken piano.  The effect isn't unpleasant, but the sound can't muster drama or feeling enough to overcome the period sound weakness.  (Others, I know, would love it for exactly the reasons I complain.)  I gotta say, though, that the Scherzo comes off really well.  Light, fun, relaxed, it cruises right on by.  The Rondo is quite similar, and the middle section has playing that approximates intensity.  So, a good opening disc.

Disc 2 starts off with Op 2/3, and the Allegro con brio sounds too slow for my liking.  Perhaps the keyboard mechanism prevents swift and fluid playing, but whatever the cause, the pace seems off, and some playing a bit clunky.  But then Binns will ratchet up the speed and intensity in faster passages to a nice degree, but that just renders the movement qualitatively mixed.  The Adagio is taken at a tense pace for a slow movement, and Binns' right hand playing is clean and effective, but the tolling bass notes are just too wimpy.  The Scherzo is ever so slightly leisurely in the outer sections, but vibrant in the middle.  Nice.  The Allegro assai offers more of the same: slightly leisurely for the most part, Binns cranks it up a bit in faster sections.  Op 7 concludes the discs, and it comes in at over 33 minutes, yet the opening Allegro molto e con brio is surprisingly spry and weighty.  The Largo suffers from the same lack of low register heft that 2/3 did in its slow movement, and the mechanism noise becomes too much a part of the music.  Some of the stop-on-a-dime chords sound really cool, though.  The Allegro and Rondo both have more of the comfortable (if not leisurely) on the outside, driven on the inside thing going on.  The Rondo really ratchets up intensity effectively.  Another good disc.

Disc contains the Op 10 trio.  Binns launches 10/1 with satisfying ascending arpeggios and maintains a generally peppy feel throughout.  The bass sounds a bit undefined sometimes, but otherwise there are no issues.  The Adagio molto is suitably slow, with some passages very carefully played with utmost clarity, and nice uses of the (I'm assuming) moderator pedal.  Binns jumps to life in the vibrant, groovy Prestissimo, and if it lacks the digital wizardry of the showiest versions out there, it is good fun.  10/2 opens with a slightly leisurely Allegro, and jaunts along joyfully to the end, light but not slight.  The Allegretto is a perfectly suitable, middle of the road take, and then, as with 10/1, Binns saves his best for last, ending with a vivacious, repeat filled Presto.  10/3 starts with a slightly leisurely, and at times quite deliberate sounding Presto.  It's good, but it doesn't really flow, at least not ideally.  The birds achirpin' add a bit a naturalistic fun to the proceedings.  The Largo is pretty straight-forward, and doesn't generate much in the way of drama or intensity.  Both the Menuetto and Rondo display the by now familiar leisurely in the outer sections, more vibrant in the middle section approach.  Ultimately, more is needed for this sonata.  Still, I'll call it a good disc. 

Disc 4 opens with the Pathetique, and once again, when compared to a modern grand, the opening chords of the Grave lack power.  One never gets a second chance to make a first impression, and all that.  Binns then proceeds to play the Allegro is his customary style, and then goes back and forth.  The Adagio cantabile, losing a bit of the cantabile due to the instrument, is pretty straight-forward.  The Rondo sounds quite pleasant, with a bit of (near-) bite in a few places.  Overall, the performance is decent, but is that enough here?  Both Op 14 sonatas fare well from Binns' comparatively relaxed approach, and both are tuneful and light and enjoyable.  Op 22 rounds out the disc, and here Binns comes alive.  The Allegro con brio bristles with energy, has clean and steady left hand playing, and generally boogies.  The Adagio moves along at a nice pace and doesn't delve deep, which isn't really needed here, and the movement serves as a perfect contrast for the opener.  The Menuetto follows the standard Binns approach, but everything is tightened up and intensified, to very good effect.  The Rondo wraps up the sonata in suitably vibrant and fun fashion, with a nicely stormy middle section, and some hefty chords and edgy-ish sforzandi.  It's probably the strongest sonata, comparatively, of the set so far.  A good, long (82'+) disc.

Disc 5 opens with Op 26, and here the limitations of the fortepiano used are evident in the comparative lack of tonal variety.  Dynamics are fine, if limited, but a sense of sameness creeps into the variations.  On the plus side, they are nicely done, if not comparable to the best (or second best or eighth best).  The Scherzo comes off as satisfyingly vigorous; Binns does a good job of imparting a sense of seriousness, if not scale, to the funeral march; and the Rondo, though not of the blazing fast variety, is vigorous enough.  27/1 in contrast, benefits from a fortepiano here, with the softer sound pleasing the ear in the Andante, but offering enough heft and edge in the faster passages.  The Allegro molto e vivace manages to sound vigorous and yet easy on the ears, though it could be faster and more precise.  The quick decay of the fortepiano used adds a nice dimension to the Adagio.  The concluding movement possesses nice energy, but again could benefit from more speed and cleaner playing, and the instrument sounds less than ideal in the loudest passages.  Overall, a very nice recording of the first quasi una fantasia.  The Adagio sostenuto of 27/2 also ends up benefiting from the decay of the fortepiano used, which while not producing a hazy sound, ends up producing what I will describe as a "shadowy" sound that works well.  Binns belts out some striking, if perhaps slightly labored, sforzandi in the leisurely paced Allegretto.  The Presto agitato is played fast, and the dynamic shelving, whether due to the moderator pedal or some other device, or some combination of machine and playing, sounds both intriguing and a little off-putting.  (Is the instrument working properly?)  Anyway, another nice recording.  The long disc (82'+ again) ends with Op 28.  The Allegro sounds like an Adagio to start, so perversely slow is the playing.  It might be able to work with a modern grand and lots of sustain and rubato, but here it doesn't.  Binns does pick up the pace just a bit as the movement progresses, and he plays the middle section in reasonably stormy fashion, but the movement never really works.  The darker than normal mien is intriguing, though.  The Andante, in contrast, is taken at an animated clip, probably closer to Allegretto, and it remains slightly tense throughout.  The Scherzo is more conventional in approach, and the Rondo is suitably lyrical with a nicely energetic middle section.  While this Pastorale is not really my cup of tea, it is definitely one filled with individual ideas.  Others may very like it far more than me.  All things considered, another good, or good-ish disc.

Disc 6 contains the critical Op 31 sonatas.  31/1 starts with a slightly slower than normal Allegro vivace, but the slower tempo is offset by really nice clarity and a few repeated instances of left hand chords assuming a more prominent, but not overwhelming, sound than normal.  The Adagio grazioso, at just shy of thirteen minutes, is of the slow variety.  It opens with a slow, plinking left hand supporting prominent trills and sluggish but pleasing melodies.  Binns maintains the slow, slightly oafish playing throughout, and it is fun but also, ultimately, too low wattage.  (And what is the deal right before and during the final return of the opening material – it sounds like a cricket got in the studio, or part of the mechanism needs some oil.)  The Rondo ends the sonata in relaxed, tuneful fashion, with a lovely bird accompaniment right before the coda.  31/2 starts off with a slow, low energy, moderate drama Largo, and moves into a moderate energy Allegro, with often undernourished left hand playing.  The Adagio is also slow and low(-ish) drama.  Sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's kind of a snoozer.  Things pick up with the Allegretto, which is more conventionally paced, and displays nice energy and dynamics.  It's not enough to save the sonata as a whole, though.  31/3, fortunately, comes off better.  The Allegro, while not especially fast, has enough energy and boogie and sense of fun to satisfy.  The Scherzo keeps the good times going.  Binns then plays the Menuetto in true grazioso fashion, blending the aural equivalent of wit, tenderness, and wistfulness in the outer sections, and a glumly playful feeling in the middle.  Binns plays with real verve and drive in the Presto con fuoco.  Everything sounds just right.  This matches Op 22 as one of the peaks of the cycle.  Overall, a decent disc, but an ungreat Op 31.  That means this is an ungreat cycle.

Disc 7 opens with the Op 49 sonatas, and the Schiedmayer instrument from the 1770s/1780s represents everything I hate about HIP keyboards.  It sounds somewhat like an out of tune clavichord-harpsichord hybrid prepared by John Cage and encased in a water-damaged, cheap wooden box.  It just pissed me off to have to listen to it.  The sonatas may or may not be well done.  I turned down the volume and powered through.  YMMV.  Op 53 returns to the same instrument used for the Op 31 trio.  The not so fast playing also returns.  The opening movement sounds decent and has nice energy, but the big middle period (and late period) Beethoven sonatas benefit immensely from modern pianos, and the Waldstein ends up sounding too small and too, dare I say it, drawing room-ish, at least here.  Everything is nice enough, the Introduzione, especially, sounding a bit plaintive, but I need more oomph.  Op 54, by way of contrast, has more than enough oomph in the opening movement in the triplets theme.  The movement contrasts quite nicely throughout, and the second movement is more vigorous than I would have anticipated.  It's a really good performance.  The long disc ends with Op 57.  A relative lack of oomph again hampers the playing, though to Binns' credit, the outer movements are more intense than initially expected, and the Andante maintains tension nicely.  The Dulcken instrument used is roughly contemporaneous with the awful pseudo-instrument used for Op 49, but I have no complaints here.  The dreadful sounding Op 49 aside, a good disc.

Disc 8 opens with Op 78, and it fits the standard Binns style.  Somewhat leisurely tempi mixed with nice dynamics and clarity and occasional moments of moderate intensity characterize the opening movement.  The Allegro vivace is more vibrant and speedier, and downright playful about midway through, but nothing is pushed too hard.  Nice enough.  Op 79 offers more of the same in the opening and closing movements.  The real draw here is the uncommonly beautiful Andante.  Restrained and ruminative, and with some notes sounding almost cimbalomesque, the music takes on a transcendent late Beethoven feel.  (Did Binns use the moderator pedal the whole time?)  Op 81a displays all of Binns' traits.  The most successful movement is the jubilant sounding conclusion, even with some belabored sounding passages.  The instrument and style combine to make the sonata compact and more intimate than normal (IE, on a modern grand), which is intriguing, but ultimately not what I'm after.  Op 90, played on a Muzio Clementi instrument, opens in surprisingly heavy, ponderous, but not intense or dynamically satisfying fashion.  The faster music generates a bit more intensity, but the overall feel is dark and brooding.  The second movement sounds nicely lyrical, though the shorter sustain on the instrument when compared to a modern grand is all too obvious.  A very nice disc.

Disc 9 starts in on the late sonatas proper.  Op 101 opens with a slow Allegretto ma non troppo, and while it has hints of late LvB transcendence, it falls short of what Binns achieves in Op 79 (!), and it also has a few overemphasized, stiff sounding notes.  Still, not bad.  The march opens with a slightly messy, congested bang of (necessarily) limited dynamic punch, and the march remains kind of wimpy, and the fast decay and small sound of the Erard just never makes the movement ignite for me.  The Adagio, on the other hand, achieves near or actual sublimity as with the Op 79 Andante, with the 'plucky' sound of the instrument doing a fair amount to contribute to the feel.  The final movement packs the punch lacking in the funeral march.  The plucky sound does not really work in the fugue, though, and the playing, while solid, does not seem the last word in powerhouse control.  Not a top forty choice for me.  106, played on a more satisfying sounding Haschka instrument, starts with a slow, almost twelve minute Allegro, but somehow Binns never sounds slow at all, nor heavy, nor lethargic.  To be sure, it lacks the vastness of Gilels or the heroic athleticism of Korstick or Goodyear, and it lacks, say, Pollini's absolute command, but it sounds big enough, powerful enough, and energetic enough to make even some modern instrument fans happy, including this one.  The Scherzo continues on in a similar manner.  The Adagio, reasonably taut at around seventeen minutes, is most definitely of the tense, biting variety.  Even when the playing usually becomes more desolate later in the movement, Binns never loosens up.  Sweet.  The Largo opens up the finale is just swell fashion, even if it might be a bit faster than it should be.  (Not a complaint!)  The fugue ends up showing off, perhaps even better than the opening movement, the appropriateness of the instrument for the piece, what with the comparatively beefy lower registers and clean, clear middle and upper registers.  It sounds nearly modern.  Binns plays with great energy and pretty darned good clarity throughout.  The slow section lacks the last word in baroque-y, late LvB sound, but it's good.  This is much better than 101, and if perhaps not up there with Rosen or Pienaar among recent(-ish) acquisitions, nor with established favorites, this is one of the highlights of the cycle.  A mixed disc.

The final disc contains the final trio, and Op 109, played on a Broadwood, opens with a bracing Vivace ma non troppo and moves on to an even more bracing Prestissimo, and in both cases the combination of instrument and interpretation yields something more akin to middle period Beethoven, though of a not unpleasant variety.  Binns saves late LvB goodness for the finale.  He slows way down for the first variation, to good effect, and the third variation is nicely vigorous.  A sense of middle period Beethoven reappears in the fifth variation and in the more intense passages of the final variation – it's all nicely played but lacks that something – and the theme restatement is nicely done.  110, played on a different Broadwood, starts off better yet.  The first movement sounds both lyrical and slightly ethereal, with nicely weighty lower registers.  The second movement lumbers a bit in the outer sections, but the middle section sounds nicely vibrant.  The Adagio immediately reestablishes that late LvB sound, and the Arioso adds an element dark beauty.  The fugue sounds foursquare and formal, though in a good way; the return of the Arioso tosses in what sounds to be hints of urgency, though nothing overwrought; the repeated chords increase in volume nicely; the inverted fugue sounds stylistically like the first; and Binns ratchets up the intensity and volume, delivering a potent coda.  Very nice.  Op 111, played on an 1835 Graf, opens with a Maestoso that benefits from what sounds like a darkly timbred instrument.  The transition to the Allegro is a bit heavy-handed, but the slow Allegro benefits from the dark, weighty bass registers the instrument delivers.  It does not benefit from the slow tempo, though, which robs the music of bite, drive, and intensity.  The Arietta lacks the tonal beauty and sense of serenity that the best versions offer.  The first two variations, nicely played, fail to establish much in the way of atmosphere of any kind.  The boogie woogie variation sounds somewhat heavy and slow to start, and never fully recovers.  The ''little stars'' end up benefiting from the soft sound the Graf can produce, and as the movement progresses, the playing begins to acquire a more satisfying sound.  The trills, like the little stars, also benefit from the softer sound, and Binns creates a nicely blended sound on his way to finally arriving at a coda that approximates musical Elysium.  It is a good overall performance, but not a top choice for me.

Overall assessment time.  When compared to the two other HIP cycles I've heard, I find Binns to nestle somewhere between Paul Badura-Skoda's truly outstanding set and Ronald Brautigam's decidedly less outstanding set.  Expanding the field a bit to the near ninety sets I've heard, Binns would fall somewhere in my third tier.  His playing is never awful, rarely bad, and is usually quite good.  This is, though, a low wattage cycle.  Tempi throughout are on the slow side and the overall timing of the cycle is among the longest out there.  Slow doesn't mean good or bad by itself, but all too often I wanted more drive, more oomph, more excitement.  I also wanted more precision and control.  And I also wanted better sounding instruments some of the time.  I guess I just wanted more.  More devoted HIP fans may very well like the cycle far more than me.  Same for non-HIP fans.  I can say the the hit rate of the HIP cycles I've heard – one out of three ain't particularly good – doesn't really make me want to sample Malcolm Bilson and company's set (six pianists playing a cycle is not really a cycle in my view) or hunt down and pay exorbitant prices for Hiroaki Ooi's deleted cycle.  Who knows, that could change.