The Italian Invasion

Started by Todd, May 30, 2015, 10:20:10 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Todd




Rarely do I focus on the liner notes of a recording.  I just don't care.  Most of the time, I don't even read them, and now that I buy more downloads than optical discs, I either don't get notes or never even look at them.  For this physical media purchase, though, I decided to take a peek.  Maurizio Baglini penned notes extending to fourteen booklet pages for Schumann's Album für die Jugend.  He provides a separate written description for each of the sixty-two tracks on the two discs, in addition to a short essay preamble.  Baglini put a lot of thought and effort into this recording, and it shows.  While the music remains simple and direct, Baglini's playing does occasionally veer into the romantic and perhaps slightly overcooked when it comes to high level dynamics.  On the flip-side, the quiet playing he coaxes from his Fazioli is quite beautiful and at times sweet.  Overall, this recording of these works is probably the most enjoyable in my collection, more so than even Michael Endres'. 

If and when Baglini finishes his Schumann cycle, assuming the quality level stays the same as the releases to date, it will be my preferred complete set among the three I will own - le Sage and Ciocarlie being the others - and it is much better than my memories of the Demus set I offloaded years ago.

SOTA+ sound.

The recording more than makes up for the terrible trousers and boots pictured on the cover.  (Seriously, dude.)
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Todd




Giuseppe Albanese is a pianist I feel compelled to watch and listen to just to hear what he does next.  He started his DG Italia career with a disc of Austro-Germanic fare, then switched to Liszt - ranging from one of the most dazzling recitals from the last decade to a somewhat disappointing set of concertos - then moved on to this, a disc of transcriptions of dance or dance-themed pieces.  As an artist, he places a premium on showing off what he can do, which is fine, because he can do quite a lot. 

Before settling in for a complete listen to this disc, I started by listening to Herbert Schuch's recording of Weber's Invitation to the Dance, heretofore my reference for this piece.  (Weird, I know, to have a reference of this piece.)  In it's 8'19", Schuch packs rhythmic snap, clean articulation, lightness and weight in perfect measure, in a performance that flows and sounds lovely.  Albanese opts for the Carl Tausig transcription, and thus for something rather different.  The opening is more relaxed, more precious, and more focused on minute effects than rhythmic snap.  And what effects.  The trills, glissandi, and dancing figurations sparkle with the Fazioli's high end.  And then a grand arpeggio leads to the main dancing theme, lazy and lilting.  Albanese just can't but show off the upper registers of the playing, just as he cannot help but show off the swelling dynamics the instrument can generate.  And he also, because he can, shows how to play with not one, not two, but seemingly three or four dynamic ranges at once.  He can only pull off this prestidigitation by adopting his tempi of choice.  (Or maybe not; maybe he could do it playing crazy fast.)  It is garish virtuosity of the highest, most cultured sort. 

Next up is Ernst von Dohnanyi's transcription of the waltz from Leo Delibes' Coppelia.  As undanceable as a waltz can be, Albanese hams it up again.  Given the nature of the music and transcription, hoping for something more doesn't seem reasonable.  He uses the Magic Merlin Fazioli for this piece, and the Debussy transcription to come, and the sonic differences between instruments are subtle but noticeable. 

Next comes Mikhail Pletnev's transcription of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite.  Pletnev's version seems to be comparatively popular among virtuoso pianists, and with good reason.  Here Albanese takes full advantage of the quick upper register decays and the low register heft, and he plays with enough rhythmic good sense to fully support his glittering and punchy playing of the music.  And if one wants to hear a piano fill a listening space as well as nearly any orchestral recording, this is it, in the Pas de deux.  Seriously, this would make as good a test track for super-speakers as any piano recording I have ever heard.

Next comes the transcription of Stravinsky's The Firebird by none other than Guido Agosti.  Here, the instrument and Albanese's ability to generate a massive and flawlessly controlled sonority generate excitement and heat sufficient to singe one's ear hair, whether using speakers or cans.  Just when one thinks the opening Danse infernale is where it's at, along comes the Berceuse that makes one want to hear what Albanese might do with Messiaen.  Yep, the Finale is a quasi-almost-actual-orchestral transcription.  Nice.

At this point in critical listening, it was time to take a little break and switch to Yukio Yokoyama playing his own transcription of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.  Unabashedly pianistic, bright, and colorful, Yokoyama writes to his cool strengths, as he shudders out some passages, and dispatches runs and forte chords with precision, speed and accuracy.  It loses the atmospheric effects of the proper version, but how could it not?  Albanese uses Leonard Borwick's transcription, and this one does a better job of creating a languid, hazy atmosphere, though the radical nature of the original is lost.  As the piece progresses, Albanese's massive sonority again takes on a more orchestral than it should sound, and his wide dynamic range helps immensely, as does the warmer sounding piano. 

The disc closes with Ravel's La Valse.  There are other virtuosic performances in the catalog, but none with as much power or garish but effective nonchalance.  Albanese makes a meal of the piece, rushing, swelling, pounding, whispering, even strumming the strings.  There's fin de siècle excess aplenty, and Albanese never sounds rough or unready.

This recording is most decidedly not one for those seeking deep piano playing.  It is a very fine recording for those who, at least from time to time, want to revel in virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity.

SOTA++ sound from the Fazioli Concert Hall. 
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

Roy Bland


Mandryka

#143
Quote from: Todd on June 06, 2015, 09:00:54 AM



Disc 5.  Michail Lifits playing Mozart.  Okay, Lifits is not Italian – he's Uzbek – he just happens to record for Decca Italy.  After listening to an excerpt from this Mozart disc on YouTube, I had very high expectations for Mr Lifits, and getting to hear the entire disc I must say that my expectations were more than met.  The first thing one notices when listening is Mr Lifits' lovely tone.  No ugly notes are to be heard, and through perfectly judged pedaling and smooth legato he summons beauty after beauty.  Throughout the disc he mostly eschews dazzling virtuosic displays and instead opts for a dazzling tonal display.  Yes, he can play with remarkable clarity and precision when he needs to, but that's not what this disc is about.  Okay, he does play some passages a bit slower than normal, which when combined with his overall style, may sound too precious to some, but not me.  The disc includes sonatas K282 and K311, along with the K397 Fantasy, the K573 Variations, two Rondos (K485 and K511) and the Adagio K540.  Every piece sounds just splendid.  This is easily the best disc of the Italian bunch so far.  (I hasten to add that this does not diminish my enthusiasm for Ms Benelli Mosell.)  I have his Schubert twofer ready to go. 

Sound is superb.


Very nice indeed and as you said, chichi but nice, and  the sound is superb. I also have his Schubert lined up.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

Quote from: Todd on April 15, 2017, 07:45:45 AM


Maria Perrotta's Schubert.  Perrotta has varied qualitatively in her prior three Decca Itlay discs, sounding sublime in late Beethoven, excellent in Bach, but not so hot in Chopin.  Fortunately, the Schubert is much closer to the Beethoven.  Looks like she might be a Germanic core rep type pianist.  Ain't nothin' wrong with that.

Anyway, Perrotta starts off with D784, and hers is no wimpy version focused on beauty.  She brings out the anger and the bite in the sonata, especially the first movement.  No, she is not as hard hitting as someone like Lupu or Dalberto, but she shows she has got power.  She also displays a wonderful cantabile style when appropriate.  She follows with D960.  She omits the first movement repeat, which is a strike against it, and the bass trills aren't the deepest or darkest, but she plays with both tonal beauty and tenseness.  There's more than lyricism here.  As often happens with versions where the first movement repeat is excluded, the Andante sostenuto becomes the true heart of the work.  It is not particularly dark or bleak, but rather sounds quite beautiful and displays a sort of grim, accepting mien, a Schubertian take on Es muß sein, if you will.  The Scherzo is quick, lovely, and maintains some of the tension audible in prior movements.  The final movement is brisk and ratchets up the tension until finally some D784 style power erupts.  A strong ending to a strong performance.  The disc wraps up with the relatively rarely recorded Grazer Fantaisie, D605a.  The works makes for a nice contrast, being lighter, funner, and filled with moments of wonderful lyricism.  Being live, the recording lacks the sheen of perfection, and perfectionism, that Michael Endres brings to his effort, but that is more a difference of style I would think.  I do think it may have made more programmatic sense to put this work between the two sonatas, and end with the big one, but I'll take it as is.

The recording was taken from a single recital last year, and it shows.  Lots of audience noise intrudes, and Perrotta can be heard vocalizing on multiple occasions.  (Turns out I prefer female vocalizing to male vocalizing.)  There are also some passages of less than perfect command.  None of that really matters, though.  Sound quality otherwise is not quite SOTA, but is superb and fully modern.  This is Perrotta's second best disc.

Now, when will Perrotta record some Mozart?

Excellent D960 - I'll revisit the Chopin later, I may have been harsh, and I'm going to have to get the Beethoven by hook or by crook.

By the way, I decided to explore Italian pianists after being so impressed by Lucchesini's Chopin op 58.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Roy Bland

#145
Italian RAI orchestra and "new music" post WWII (too long for translation) my father worked  administratively in it

https://www.academia.edu/28830821/Le_Orchestre_Sinfoniche_della_Radio_Italiana_e_la_Nuova_Musica_cronistoria_di_un_viaggio_oltre_le_modeste_conoscenze_di_una_abusata_tradizione_

Roy Bland

Surely a great connoisseur of German music as a political thinker absolutely unacceptable

https://pierobuscaroli.it/