Massimiliano Damerini Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

Massimiliano Damerini was a name I'd only ever read, specifically with respect to his Schubert recordings and the fact that he was a composer, and then only rarely.  It was brought to my attention that he recorded a complete LvB cycle, which of course mandated listening.  While the cycle is available for download, I opted to go the streaming route for the time being.  Unsurprisingly, Damerini was trained in Italy and did the touring and festival thing.  To this point, Italian pianists have either really knocked it out of the park – the stupefyingly great Lucchesini, along with second tier denizens Pollini and Zaccaria – or they have been notably subpar – Ciccolini, Leotta, Ciani (mostly due to worst ever recorded sound), and the grotesquely and so offensively bad he's comical Schwartz.  One always wants the former and not the latter, but only scientific listening can determine the overall quality of the cycle.  So, time to don a white coat and pocket protector.

Volume one contains the first four sonatas.  Dry, closely miked, with incisive playing, Damerini brings tension, subtle rubato, and voicings sometimes reminiscent of Cyprien Katsaris to the opening Allegro of 2/1. He slows down for the Adagio, and plays in a way that while not blocky, nonetheless doesn't flow with the best of them.  That's fine, especially with clarity so obviously the tradeoff.  The outer sections of the Menuetto are slow and striking, with the trio sounding a bit lighter, though still slow.  Slowness pervades the not at all Prestissimo, which is more an Allegretto or maybe a Presto, though Damerini does fluidly move between slower than normal and normal tempi, which is a nice touch.  Drama, intensity, and clarity are in ample supply, though.  2/2 starts off with a reasonably peppy Allegro vivace, with clarity again a prime focus.  Too, the movement between faster and slower playing persists, but it also sort of undermines the music, making the playing sound slightly untidy, unsteady.  The Largo is slow and steady to start, with heavy/plinky left hand playing underlying reasonably attractive right hand playing and a sort of slow grind intensity.  The Scherzo is all zip and pep in the outer sections, offering a striking contrast in style, with a slightly urgent middle section, while the Rondo gently sings except in the middle.  Op 2/3 starts with a slightly slow Allegro con brio, and it has more tempo undulation, though it all falls withing normal bounds.  As the movement progresses, the at times too heavy, too sluggish playing starts to drag.  The Adagio, very well paced, has decent drama and beefy left hand playing.  The Scherzo has that slightly slow but nearly ideally clear thing going on, while the Allegro assai, while bright and plucky, ends up a bit slow for maximum listening enjoyment.  Op 7 starts off with an Allegro con brio characterized by potently pointed playing, insistent rhythm, and unceasing forward drive.  Not subtle, perhaps, and also not note perfect, but vigorous and bracing.  The Largo is properly paced, with nice dynamic contrasts, but it sounds perhaps a bit cold.  Maybe.  The Allegro is nice and clear, has a nice amount of spunk, but it also has that lingering sense that it is just a bit too slow here and there and that it could flow better.  Much the same holds with the Rondo.  To be sure, it's nice enough, but it is unclear if nice enough is enough.

Volume 2 opens with Op 10/1, which starts  with a potent chord and aggressive but not particularly fast ascending arpeggios, and then alternates between this style and a hard hitting but slightly too slow Allegro with not quite enough brio.  The Adagio molto, nicely paced and supremely well accented, is wonderfully clear but rather cold.  The slightly too slow Prestissimo otherwise displays ample boogie and drive.  10/2 follows more or less the same overall style, which means that the music comes off as too stern in some places, though some lightness pops up.  10/3 launches with a well-paced, potent Presto, driving forward with hints of relentlessness.  Some playing sounds slightly untidy, but the spirit is spot on here.  The Largo offers maximum contrast in style, being slow, drawn out and dramatic but subdued to open, and while the climax could pack a bigger punch, the overall feel is superb.  The outer sections of the Menuetto are laid back and subdued while the middle section is punchy, and the concluding Rondo uses more tempo undulations, but everything jells.  Damerini delivers a rock solid take.  The volume ends with Op 13, and here, predictably by this point, the Grave has real heft and drama while the Allegro has energy and drive but also comes off just ever slightly slow.  Damerini's rubato is distinctive but not always maximally effective, but it never sucks.  The Adagio is slow, poised, dignified, and has nice cantabile playing in the outer section, with some fire in the middle.  The Rondo is bright, clear, nicely accented, and suitably oomphy.  Nice, even if a relative qualitative step down from the preceding sonata.

Big, beefy volume three includes a half dozen sonatas.  That's nearly two hours of LvB goodness.  Oh yeah.  Op 14/1 starts things off with a serious/light Allegro that is well paced and punchy-ish.  Seriousness pervades the Allegretto, which results in it sounding heavier or deeper, according to taste.  The Rondo fits right in with the pattern to this point, though Damerini throws in some subtle but striking diminuendos.  The Andante lightens things up a bit and nearly sound actually light as opposed to light-serious, with each variation decently distinctive.  The Scherzo sounds almost puckish, though perhaps in a studied fashion.  Op 22 starts off just a bit slow, almost tricking the listener, because then the tempo shifts come into play and Damerini speeds up.  Clarity and nice dynamic contrasts carry through the entire Allegro con brio.  The Adagio may not be the last word in expressive, but the darkish, heavyish left hand playing gives it a dark hue.  The Menuetto is quite energetic and nearly fun, and the Rondo more generally lyrical than other movements to this point, though some of the middle section playing displays that heavyish playing that simultaneously makes the listener want more energy while admiring the emphatic playing.  Damerini's penchant for slowish playing works well in the opening Andante theme in Op 26, setting the stage for nicely varied, well, variations.  The first, with its bouncy rhythm makes for a fine contrast, with the slow and bold second offering contrast after that.  Rinse and repeat to the coda.  The Scherzo, befittingly, lightens the mood and bounces and swerves nicely.  The Funeral March is slow and emphatic and somewhat restrained in feel, though some nice forte thwacks smack the listener's ears.  The concluding Allegro has a more relaxed feel, as though a heavy burden has been lifted, which is nice, the somewhat scruffy coda notwithstanding.  27/1 starts with a first movement with a leisurely, slightly heavy Andante in the outer sections, and a fiery Allegro middle section with one notable, almost instantaneous diminuendo that is so quick and exact that one wonders if it was knob twiddling.  More likely, it's effective playing.  The slightly slow, heavier than normal Allegro sort of growls along.  The Adagio is nicely paced but not particularly expressive, while the Allegro vivace bops along in okay fashion, though some playing sounds blocky.  27/2 starts with an Adagio sostenuto that is nicely paced, quite clear, and kind of just there, with no great expressivity.  The Allegretto is nicely accented and has nice dynamics contrasts but that's it, while the Presto agitato has bolder dynamics yet, and decent energy given the tempo.  There are hundreds of recordings of this work, and it hard to say this cracks the top fifty percent. 

Volume four starts off with an Op 28 where the opening Allegro focuses not on flowing feel but rather sounds agitated and tense, though it's not rushed.  Pastoral it is not.  The at times almost teeth-gnashing-inducing tension works very nicely, though.  The relative tension barely lets up in the Andante.  One may want more flowing playing in places, but the offset is clarity and rhythmic surety.  The Scherzo finds Damerini introducing serious pluckiness to the mix.  The Rondo, in contrast, opens slowly, with nearly lumbering playing.  The climax is punched up a bit, and the coda is fiery and quick.  Overall, not bad, not bad at all.  31/1 starts with a clear, incisive Allegro (light on the) vivace.  There's some seriously toned levity, and all the notes get hit, but the spirit of the music is basically AWOL.  Things improve markedly in the Adagio, with light trills and plinky accompaniment.  A few minutes in, Damerini speeds way up, approaching fellow Italian Zaccaria in terms of speed but not mien.  While he backs off on tempo, he keeps a satisfying overall feel for the movement.  The Rondo, sounding very much like it was recorded in a different session, sort of splits the difference in feel between the two preceding movements, yielding a mostly fine movement.  31/2 starts with a relatively swift but bland Largo, while the Allegro is weighty and slowish.  Damerini delivers enough drama, but his clarity is sacrificed somewhat.  (Things are not helped by an unhealthy sounding piano.)  The Adagio is back to clear playing, just about right tempo choice, nice dynamic contrasts, and a somewhat cool mien.  The Allegretto has the right level of drama and energy and a just so tempo and ends the piece on a strong note.   Damerini starts the Allegro of 31/3 in a punchy manner, tosses in a couple slightly indiscreet, random accelerandos, and then plays in sufficiently but not ideally energetic fashion.  Intrinsically puckish playing obviates any limits to full enjoyment, though.  The Scherzo is one of those rare takes that is purposely  slow from the start, but it succeeds in mood.  The Menuetto sounds more or less conventional, and the Presto con fuoco has enough bubbly energy and rhythmic snap to satisfy. 

Volume five starts off with the op 49 sonatas, and Damerini maintains his slightly slow and /or slightly heavy approach, and that does no favors for either of the little works, though neither are bad.  Op 53 starts off with beefy, unpianissimo playing and then the rest of the Allegro con brio that does only a ho-hum job of delivering on the brio.  He does deliver nice dynamic contrasts, and his clarity is pretty good, but it's quite forgettable.  The Introduzione comes off better, unsurprisingly, but sounds too cool to convey any emotional impact, also unsurprisingly.  The Rondo alternates between modestly satisfying energy and drive and too heavy and sluggish playing.  An unfavorite.  The opening movement of Op 54 seemed like something where Damerini would do better, and he does.  The first theme is tuneful and attractive enough while the second theme is gruffer, though not as dynamic as one might expect.  The Allegretto sounds gruff and too slow, at least until the coda.  Meh.  Op 57 finds Damerini playing with a brisker tempo and ample dynamics in the Allegro assai, which when combined with the dry, metallic sound works rather well.  The Andante theme is about the tempo one would expect, and the variations all display an almost too serious yet comparatively unexpressive mien.  The last movement reverts back to ever so slightly too slow and sounds somewhat constrained to open, and as the movement progresses, it picks up a pretty decent head of steam, with a few errant notes along the way.  It's the highlight of a non-highlight disc.

Volume six starts with Op 78, which given Damerini's style, seems a perfect fit.  So it is.  The Adagio cantabile, a bit light on the cantabile designation, sounds serious, while the Allegro ma non troppo is moderately quick and very clear.  The playing lacks the late period depth of some, but it's more than middle period heroic music making.  The concluding Allegro vivace has nice pep and some striking accenting, but it lacks the flow of better versions.  Still, pretty darned good, overall.  Op 79 starts with a peppy Presto all tedesca, though some of the passages have a sort of jarring feel to them.  The cuckoo motif sounds somewhat hard-hitting and kind of boogie woogie in nature, and the acciaccatura is serious goofy.  The Andante just sounds serious, like a condensed late sonata slow movement.  The Vivace sounds (serious) playful, and works well enough.  Op 81a starts off serious, and too metallic, in the first movement, and in the slowest playing Damerini evokes a sense of serene contemplativeness.  The second movement sounds slow and austere, but that's it, while the last movement has nice energy and a large-scale sound, though it does not evoke any sense of celebration, or anything else, really.  Op 90 benefits from Damerini's style in the opening movement, which hits hard, and sounds a bit angry or even bitter, and definitely sounds tense throughout.  The second movement sounds lyrical, sounding like an even more depressive Schubert. 

Volume seven starts off the late sonatas proper, and unsurprisingly, Damerini goes for the slow approach in the not at all Allegretto opener.  In so doing, he does a creditable job of establishing a late LvB soundworld, though it sounds somewhat contrived.   The march sounds clear and punchy, but way too slow and enervating.  Slowness and somberness pervade the Adagio, returning to the style of the opening movement, while the concluding Allegro sounds nicely clear but less nicely slow.  Meh.  Op 106, with slightly different recorded sound yielding a smaller scale sound, starts with slowish, occasionally sloppy Allegro that sort of offers the less than best of all worlds.  At least the overall energy level is high.  The Scherzo follows a similar pattern.  The Adagio is back to sounding like most of the rest of the cycle, and that means not just sonically, but also stylistically.  Cold, metallic, and severe, the movement sometimes trudges along, but generally works well enough.  The Largo opening of the final movement is cold and severe, which is nice, while the Allegro and fugue are fast(-ish) and occasionally sloppy.  High energy and nice clarity don't really overcome the deficiencies.  Meh.

The final volume starts with an Op 109 where the first movement starts a bit slow, but sounds steady and clear and cool, with nary a hint of transcendence about it.  The Prestissimo is just plain sluggish and too heavy.  Finally, with the Andante theme of the last movement, the tempo selected sounds right, and hints of LvB goodness can't help but creep in.  Alas, the first variation sounds too slow and not particularly elevated.  The extreme clarity of the second variation, and the slow and pokey right hand playing actually works well, while in the third variation Damerini revs up nicely.  The fourth variation is actually quicker and more elevated than expected, while the last two are paced nicely enough and have enough late period gravitas to compare to middle tier performances.  Op 110 starts with a Moderato cantabile molto espressivo light on the cantabile playing, but heavy on impact.  It's muscular and elevated middle period style playing, as far as this sonata goes.  The Allegro molto, with some nifty rubato to go with the hard hitting style, continues along a similar musical path.  The first arioso in the final movement lacks for transcendence, but there's an austerity and subdued relentlessness to the playing, with hints of urgency.  The fugue is slow, steady, clear, and quasi-baroque sounding, with a gradual build up of tension.  The second arioso is somber and kind of heavy, but it works nicely.  The repeated chords build up to a reasonably powerful crescendo, and the inverted fugue is taken more quickly, and as clearly, as the fugue, and the work ends boldly.  Nice, if not top thirty nice, and the strongest late sonata in the cycle.  Op 111 starts off with a hard hitting, metallic Maestoso, and while Allegro isn't especially fast, it does hit hard.  So, nice enough, one rough patch aside.  The Arietta brings the first glimpse of true late LvB goodness in the late sonatas, and if it is not close to the most beautiful take, it sounds nice.  The first variation more or less keeps the same vibe, with the second ratcheting up tension a bit.  The boogie woogie variation has ample amplitude, but syncopation is a bit foursquare.  After that, the playing moves to slightly slow, slightly heavy playing, with clear but cumbersome little stars and less transcendence than preferred.  The chains of trills do not instill confidence nor great listening pleasure, and the coda does not really sound particularly elevated.  Better than meh, but not a top fifty choice. 

This surprise cycle has its high points and no terrible performances, but it does have its share of meh performances, and it doesn't stand out, doesn't invite multiple volume listening sessions, and it didn't create an impatience to hear the next sonata while listening.  It's fourth tier.  I suppose I could buy the downloads, knowing the cycle isn't awful, but given that I would never listen to it more than two more times in my life, streaming is the best option.