Janacek Piano Works

Started by Holden, July 04, 2009, 06:25:44 PM

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Scarpia

#40
Quote from: Guido on May 08, 2010, 11:14:23 AM
Definitely! Made no impact on me the first time, but I kept listening and it soon became fairly clear that these were amongst the most touching and brilliantly written piano miniatures ever composed. I recommend the other set of miniatures On An Overgrown Path unequivocally also.

Not sure about your recording, I have Kvapil whom I love.

I think you are confusing Overgrown Path with In the Mists.

In any case, after continuing from part I to part II (plus supplementary movements) I have a more positive impression.  One that made a particular impression is the second piece from the three supplemental movements.  Perhaps another recording would help as well.

RJR

I attended a Master Class piano recital at McGill University, Montreal, Redpath Hall, several years ago, presided by Anton Kuerti. One of the students played a piece by Janacek and everybody was impressed with the music, including Mr. Kuerti.

SonicMan46

Quote from: RJR on December 28, 2010, 04:03:25 PM
I attended a Master Class piano recital at McGill University, Montreal, Redpath Hall, several years ago, presided by Anton Kuerti. One of the students played a piece by Janacek and everybody was impressed with the music, including Mr. Kuerti.

Well, the facts would help?  :-\   What piece was played, who was the pianist, and why was Mr. Kuerti pleased?  Thanks for any further clarification -  :)

Todd





Sarah Lavaud.  In the Mists sounds basically conventional for the first three movements, if a bit tense and dry.  The longer than normal Presto, though, is unlike any other version I've heard.  Lavaud presents it is a blend of modernism in the Stravinsky or Prokfiev mold, and a stern, Debussy-influenced style, with some purposely stiff, pointed playing tossed in, to boot.  The piano sonata falls into the modern camp, and is not as emotionally intense as some pianists manage.  It sounds a bit cold, a bit detached, especially in the second movement.  The sonata also has a few transitions that sound a bit too abrupt.  On an Overgrown Path remains in the modern style that Lavaud seems to prefer here.  The clarity lends itself to a somewhat clinical feel, though The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away! evokes suffering and desperation nicely enough.  The music definitely sounds a bit different that normal, but Lavaud's emphasis on some details yields some interesting insights.  Lavaud includes five of the Intimate Sketches and Un Souvenir as the filler for her disc, and the style is much the same as what came before.

The disc does not contain the best Janacek playing out there, but Lavaud's playing is unique and individual.  (Her teacher Francois-Rene Duchable may have had a really deep impact in this regard.)  I'd like to hear her in French repertoire, Ravel and Debussy especially, as well as Bach and Handel. 

Ms Lavaud plays on a Stephen Paulello piano.  She uses the smaller, SP 287 grand (as in 2.87 meters in length), which has 88 keys and a metal frame.  It uses nickel plated strings.  (The bigger SP 300 uses straight strings, has a barless frame, and 102 keys.)  The piano lacks some of the brilliance of a Steinway, but it sounds clean, clean, clean, and it can stop on a dime.  Some notes end with almost disconcerting speed.  It's an intriguing effect.  Notes can be sustained, as well, of course, as the ending of the sonata that fades away to silence attests to.  Perhaps the piano, especially the fast decay, contributes to the overall feel of the disc.  And perhaps the recording venue and technique contribute to the sound more than normal. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

king ubu

Any opinions on Alain Planès' Janácek disc? I'm not very familiar with Janácek's music yet, but I enjoy this:

[asin]B0031B7ET0[/asin]
Es wollt ein meydlein grasen gan:
Fick mich, lieber Peter!
Und do die roten röslein stan:
Fick mich, lieber Peter!
Fick mich mehr, du hast dein ehr.
Kannstu nit, ich wills dich lern.
Fick mich, lieber Peter!

http://ubus-notizen.blogspot.ch/

Todd





Slávka Pěchočová.  Ms Pěchočová, or rather, Dr Pěchočová, is a Janáček specialist, having earned her PhD in Janáčekology.  The important question is whether all that academic specialization pays off.  It does.  Ms Pěchočová's playing has a more standard approach and sound than Ms Lavaud's set, and in most ways the music benefits.  The sonata that opens the disc sears in the first movement, and sounds desolate in the second movement.  It is quite effective.  Pěchočová the moves on to the the first two books of On an Overgrown path, and here she lavishes attention on some details like Lavaud, but keeps a more lyrical sound.  As appealing as the playing can be at times, I found my attention drifting here and there, not something that usually happens, and The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away! has bite, but lacks a sense of desperation or sadness.  The second book offers more of the same.  Reminiscence is nice enough, and In The Mists finds Pěchočová playing with more fire, rather like the opening sonata.

Overall, I prefer this set to Lavaud's, but not by as much as I probably ought to, and it does not match up to Firkušný or Schiff, but that's not an easy thing to do.

Sound for the SACD layer is excellent, but very, very close, almost claustrophobically so.  There is quite a bit of pedaling and breathing noise.  It doesn't really best Schiff's sonically, or even Firkušný RCA recordings by very much, for that matter.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

George

Quote from: Dancing Divertimentian on March 02, 2010, 08:17:02 PM
Thanks, dirk - forgot to mention that. Yes, it's on Nonesuch.

Here's a pic I found:




Maybe Moravec's passing will prompt a CD release of this.
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Dancing Divertimentian

Quote from: George on August 25, 2015, 05:54:23 AM
Maybe Moravec's passing will prompt a CD release of this.

Yes, that would be super!


Veit Bach-a baker who found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern which he took with him even into the mill and played while the grinding was going on. In this way he had a chance to have the rhythm drilled into him. And this was the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants. JS Bach

MusicTurner

#48
An old thread ... additional remarks:

Postnikova/Erato is absolutely unique in the Sonata I.X. 1905.

Kayahara (membran etc.) is quite uninteresting in Janacek, IMO.

I'll be getting the Schuch/Oehms recording of the Sonata; he is apparently a very original or 'emotional' pianist, though I haven't heard much of him before;might be good, or might be irritating.