James Brawn Plays Beethoven

[Todd]

I hemmed and hawed over buying this cycle for a bit after it came to its conclusion.  Until now, I'd never listened to even one sonata from the cycle, so I had to listen.  But I could just stream.  What to do?  Well, I didn't exactly spend too much time thinking about it and just ended up buying downloads and calling it a day.  There's at least one iffy cycle out there that if I choose to listen, I will stream, but Brawn's is a legit cycle, so a purchase seemed in order.  The International Man of Piano Playing took his sweet time putting this cycle together, with eleven years separating first volume and last, and the delay between releases caused the delay in purchasing.  More than one cycle with long stretches between releases has not been completed.  Mr Brawn himself, sort of a Commonwealth man of all seasons having been born in the UK and edumacated in the English-speaking Southern Hemisphere, as well as by brutish Yanks, is currently an instructor as well as concert pianist.  He worked at some extra fancy colleges in the UK and Oz, but he is now based in Shanghai, having seen the shift in the center of economic, political, and even cultural gravity. 

Brawn's cycle starts off with Piano Sonata #1.  The opening Allegro is quick, crisp, clean, and lean.  And small-scaled.  There's no kvetching about articulation or dexterity or anything pianistic at all, though one misses big dynamic contrasts heard elsewhere.  The Adagio retains the same traits and sounds nice if kinda chilly.  The Menuetto is lean and clear throughout, and the stylistic contrast is limited.  One can envision the swift, clear, pointed, but slightly underpowered Prestissimo before note one, and Brawn's playing meets expectations.  Op 2/3 follows, and Brawn's clean and lean style works comparatively better, with the Allegro con brio flying by, unburdened and unheavy.  The Adagio is taut and direct, though the tolling left hand blasts show that Brawn can crank out playing if he wants to.  A quick and punchy Scherzo is followed by a quicker and vibrant Allegro assai.  Op 57 closes out the first volume.  The Allegro assai starts off quick yet restrained, then Brawn speeds up and cranks up the volume, and plays with gusto.  While there's tension, Brawn never sounds as intense as some preferred versions.  That written, there is a jittery sense in some places that's nice.  The Andante is restrained but maintains a nice degree of tension, while the final movement is all speed and energy and drive and excitement, though big blasts and ultimate intensity go missing. 

Volume two starts with Op 13.  The Grave is, well, grave, and Brawn does not play with thunder but rather some controlled and somewhat light, and entirely ungruff and not especially refined playing.  The Allegro has some lean boogie to it, and the Adagio cantabile has ample cantabile and subdued expressivity.  The Rondo is nicely played, but the tempo, while not slow, when combined with the delivery renders something kind of meh, something often though not always undernourished, something nice but not outstanding.  From one of Beethoven's Greatest Hits to another, the Moonlight opens with a somber, dark hued Adagio sostenuto, which is quite fine, but the Allegretto is too restrained.  The Presto agitato is swift, but the opening is a blur of notes and it takes a bit for Brawn to settle into the clearer style I prefer.  So, nicely executed, but not a Top 40 hit.  The Op 49 sonatas follow.  The first is restrained and nicely small-scale and classical mien.  Hardly large in scale is the second sonata, which Brawn opts to play quickly throughout, yielding a playful second movement.  The Waldstein follows, and Brawn's style all but guarantees a crisp, quick, contained Allegro, with nice dynamics and really nice energy.  In the Introduzione, Brawn brings his A-game in terms of expressivity, and he keeps things restrained.  The Rondo starts off in the same vein, and only gradually builds up to more intense playing, while finally culminating is some super-speedy, punchy, but not massively scaled playing.  Nimbleness and articulation are the name of the game. 

Volume three starts with the second sonata, and Brawn's style works best for this middle of the first trio of sonatas.  Really, it's only marginally better than the third, with the crisp, clear, constrained playing sounding light, youthful but serious, and hyperhaydnesque.  The Largo is slower, of course, but taut, but the appassionato piece seems lacking with coolness in its place, a few big, punchy sections aside.  That's observation, not criticism.  The Scherzo is bracing and near ideally paced, while the Rondo starts off slowly and surprisingly gently, heeding the grazioso designation, with a striking, bracing middle section.  Next comes 31/2, and while the opening of the Largo is slow, the faster interludes are twitchy and the Allegro is quick, crisp, tense, but once again contained and constrained, evoking memories of Gulda, but without the same degree of executive brilliance.  He then alternates styles to the end.  The lean, clean Adagio keeps Brawn's tautness and sounds a bit austere, dry.  The Allegretto predictably sounds quick and clean, with pretty nice dynamic contrasts.  But in a field of hundreds, it doesn't stand out.  The Les Adieux closes things out, and by this time Brawn's style seems like it would deliver a clean, clear take with little pianistic emoting, and so it goes.  In fairness, the dynamic contrasts are more pronounced than in some prior recordings, but ultimately it is not one of the more expressive takes. 

Volume four opens with Op 14/1, and here Brawn's lean and clean style pays dividends in the Allegro, which is fun and bouncy.  Brawn then slows way down to deliver a slower than anticipated Allegretto, and then he finishes off with a chipper, speedy Rondo.  He doesn't try to make the piece deep and delivers something to just sit and enjoy.  The Pastorale follows, and here Brawn does a good job of maintaining an insistent bassline while also delivering a lovely melody, with some bite thrown in during the climax.  The Andante is poked out at a nice tempo and finds Brawn tweaking note and pause durations, and throwing in a spiky middle section.  A quick and jocular Scherzo gives way to a quick, sometimes plinky, sometimes stormy Rondo.  Overall, Brawn delivers a fine take on this sonata.  Brawn treats Op 78 as a serious piece, with the opening Adagio cantabile containing hints of late-LvB goodness, while the Allegro is taken at a judicious pace allowing for maximum clarity of voices and an austere seriousness to emerge.  The Allegro vivace is snappy and vibrant and closes out nicely.  Op 79 starts off with an even snappier, more vibrant Presto alla tedesca that rushes forward with abandon.  Throw in nice cuckoo patterns and a speedy acciaccatura, and one gets oodles of energy to enjoy.  The Andante is slow and serious and lovely, while the Vivace is back to snappy energy.  The volume closes out with Op 90, and while the first movement lacks the dynamic contrast of superior versions, it's tetchy and twitchy, so it works well enough.  The second movement does not really flow particularly well, sounding a bit chunky, though clarity of voices is very fine.  Still, this is the best overall volume of the cycle.

Volume five contains all three Op 10 sonatas and Op 14/2.  Brawn goes against expectations by not playing the ascending arpeggios swiftly, rather delivering something slower and blockier.  Too, while not slow, the tempo choice for the remainder of the Allegro sounds slower than I prefer, especially if the arpeggios are not fast.  I needs me more contrast.  There's energy and such, just not maximum juju until the banging last chords.  The Adagio molto is slow and quite lovely while the Prestissimo sees Brawn delivering the goods with ample energy and oomphy szforandi.  10/2 starts off plucky as heck, with nice contrasts and light-hearted speed and energy in the Allegro.  The Menuetto is slowish, with hints of tension, and staccato playing that prevents maximum attractiveness, and the Presto is quick, punchy fun.  10/3 starts predictably enough, with a nicely zippy Presto infused with energy and drive.  The Largo is slowish and taut, with ample drama all throughout.  The comparative lack of maximum dynamic punch and the lean sound combine to create a nice but not world-matching climax.  Brawn brings the pluck and energy in the Menuetto, and then he glides through the Rondo.  14/2 starts with a zippy Allegro with some unique accenting, moves to a plucky and nicely marchy Andante, and ends with a light and fun and plucky Scherzo. 

Op 7 launches volume six, and Brawn's style delivers exactly what is expected.  The Allegro boasts clean staccato playing and rhythmic verve, and comparatively constrained dynamic contrasts in an always forward-moving movement.  The Largo is certainly slow and Brawn delivers it superbly, but in terms of expression, it's not there, sounding somewhat cool, a la Gulda, or someone like that.  Observation not criticism.  The Allegro flows in the outer section and rumbles energetically in the middle.  The Rondo alternates smooth, nearly pastorale styling with fierier playing nicely.  Op 26 follows.  The opening theme and variations are nicely executed, but other than tempo and occasional (undernourished) accenting, there's not much stylistic variation.  The Scherzo zips along, nicely punchy.  The funeral march has a march-like tempo and approach, but it is small in scale and not what one would consider especially funereal.  The concluding Allegro has oodles o' oomph, but the sonata as a whole kind of whiffs.  Op 22, which follows, unwhiffs.  Light, clear, and energetic, the Allegro con  brio sounds snazzy and unburdened by what has been.  The Adagio, slow but tense, lovely and mostly calm, just drifts along nicely to the end.  The outer sections of the Menuetto sound quick and bright and playful, while Brawn brings the bite in the trio.  The Rondo glides along nicely for the most part, though the most dramatic music is played in a restrained and slower than normal fashion.  Overall, it works nicely. 

Lucky volume seven is devoted to the late sonatas.  109 starts with taut and lovely, but more robust and high contrast than normal playing.  The robustness lends it a middle period feel, which carries over to the Prestissimo, where it is more common.  The final movement starts off with a slow, fairly attractive theme, though how grazioso it is can be debated.  Brawn goes all transcendental in the first variation, in the first true glimpse of late-LvB goodness in the cycle.  The second and especially third variations move to something more robust, and then the playing returns to something akin to the theme in the fourth variation.  Brawn then delivers a more robust than average last pair of variations and potent coda, keeping with a middle period vibe.  Op 110 opens lyrically, meeting the cantabile designation, though how expressive it is can be debated.  Again, the impact is to make the feel more middle than late period.  The Allegro molto is quick and very punchy and vibrant.  The final movement starts with a quick-ish Arioso that sounds urgent but not elevated, moves to a bracing, cool, clear and strong fugue, moves to a more searching second arioso, with Brawn then delivering an only moderate repeated chord transition to a clear and elevated inverted fugue, which closes with a bright and potent coda.  Op 111 starts with a dark but not potent Maestoso before moving to a quick, punchy, robust Allegro.  There's energy and drive, but not much sense of anything else.  Brawn delivers a sense of serenity, beauty, and transcendence in the Arietta, but the first couple variations move away from that.  The boogie-woogie variation has ample energy, while some pronounced left-hand playing follows, with some really nicely done "little stars" a nice touch.  The chains of trills are very nice, especially the last ones, and the overall sense becomes more elevated as the music progresses.  Still, it ends up more middle than late period. 

Volume eight starts with  27/1, and here Brawn's quick, clean style keeps the entire first movement moving forward with breezy peppiness, while the second movement tosses in a bit more heft.  The taut Adagio sounds lovelyish and kind of cool, while the Allegro vivace is back to peppy, with nice clarity revealing left hand playing almost hinting at Op 79 style music.  Quick and crisp playing fills the first movement of 31/1, though some of the playing sounds comparatively thick in a few passages, presumably purposely.  Brawn then goes for a slow Adagio, with faux clunky playing and light, speedy runs, making for a most enjoyable listening experience.  The Rondo makes for a less enjoyable listening experience due to its too slow overall tempo.  31/3 follows, and the less enjoyable trend continues as the Allegro mostly sounds too slow and low energy, though clarity sure is nice.  The Scherzo, fortunately, has a nice amount of boogie and nice left hand playing to tickle the ear.  The outer sections of the Menuetto flow very nicely, with the trio punchier as needed, while the Presto con fuoco cruises along in decent fashion, though it could use more verve.  Op 54 closes out the volume, and here Brawn does a nice job delivering highly contrasted themes in the first movement, with more dynamic contrast than expected.  The second movement sounds too slow, sort of fitting in with a kind of slow disc overall. 

The set closes out with Opp 101 and 106.  The opening movement retains Brawn's clarity, but his at times steadfast avoidance of legato robs the music of beauty and transcendence, resulting in a middle period feel.  the march comes off very nicely.  In the Adagio, Brawn ups his transcendental game some, evoking something more elevated, though at least slightly abrupt edit seems to have found its way into the track.  Some nifty, gentle trills segue to clear, light playing in the final movement, letting the fugal writing shine.  The recorded sound sounds slightly different, drier for the movement, though it doesn't matter to the overall performance.  The mighty Hammerklavier ends up a bit less mighty than some other takes.  At just shy of twelve minutes, the Allegro is on the long side, though Brawn plays it in a manner that sounds faster.  His lack of relative heft, though, means the music sound squarely pianistic.  So it kind of misses any combo of traits that would offer maximum satisfaction.  The Scherzo sound more or less the same.  In the Adagio, Brawn's timing is again on the slow side, yet his playing sounds quicker, tenser than the nineteen minutes suggest.   It doesn't plumb the depths, nor does it sound desolate or intense, but it does sound brooding.  The slow final movement again boasts nice clarity, though the slow speed results in suboptimal energy.  Alas, the cycle ends on something of a low note, as it were.

All throughout the cycle, the pianist who most frequently came to mind in mental comparisons was Seymour Lipkin.  Lipkin was a middle-weight player who was a bit gruff at times, but he captured the spirit of the music.  Think of him as the Marvin Hagler of Beethoven.  Brawn offers more refined and precise playing, but ultimately with a somewhat more scaled back approach.  So maybe think of him as the Ray Leonard of Beethoven.  Some people prefer sugar, but I prefer marvelous.  To be sure, Brawn's cycle is good and it has its high points, but it ends up in the third tier, blending in with dozens of other cycles qualitatively. 

[Holden]

I've listened to bits and pieces of the BRawn over the last few years and liked quite a bit of what I heard. I was mainly listening for fresh ideas and Brawn does provide those in places. Coincidentally, I've ended up listening this week (while marking schoolwork) to the incomplete cycles from Solomon and Hungerford. When you compare Brawn to those two.....well you can hear how much better they are.