Scott Joplin - The Very Best of (Joshua Rifkin)

Information

Composer: Scott Joplin

1. Maple Leaf Rag
2. The Entertainer - A Ragtime Two-Step
3. The Ragtime Dance
4. Gladiolus Rag
5. Fig Leaf Rag
6. Scott Joplin's New Rag
7. Euphonic Sounds - A Syncopated Novelty
8. Elite Syncopations
9. Bethena - A Concert Waltz
10. Paragon Rag
11. Solace - A Mexican Serenade
12. Pine Apple Rag
13. Weeping Willow - A Ragtime Two-Step
14. The Cascades - A Rag
15. Country Club - A Ragtime Two-step
16. Stoptime Rag
17. Magnetic Rag - Syncopations Classiques

Joshua Rifkin, piano
Date: 1970-1974/1996
Label: Nonesuch

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Review

Joshua Rifkin made three LPs of Joplin for Nonesuch between 1970 and 1974 – a total of 24 rags. The first LP soon became an unanticipated bestseller; the other two followed at a leisurely pace, since Rifkin was also a busy musicologist; and meanwhile the film, The Sting, helped to cement the Joplin revival by bringing ragtime to the widest public. And now – at this distance – these historic performances are successfully transferred to CD. Rifkin based his whole approach on Joplin as a notated music in the classical tradition and not merely raw material for jazz musicians to knock about like any standard. After all, Joplin stated on most of his printed scores that it was “never right to play ragtime fast” and he clearly wanted to hear more or less what he wrote, as his own piano rolls show.

Rifkin’s approach is now totally vindicated. He brought the critical acumen of a musicologist to bear and it gave him the right answers. This collection of 17 rags is carefully balanced and invariably as musically conscientious as if he were playing Mozart. These performances of Rifkin’s have stood repetition for some 25 years, whereas many more idiosyncratic treatments have become tiresome. The Entertainer, for example, sounds just as fresh here as when it was written. There are times when Rifkin’s rare ornamentation in repeats seems slightly stilted, but he always respects the style of the period and there’s nothing jarring. What’s the competition? William Albright, like William Bolcom, is a composer-performer who has responded to ragtime in his own work and his readings show a considered and lively approach. They are recorded rather close; he ornaments almost all repeats with variable results; but after a few numbers he becomes insensitive, sometimes failing to reflect Joplin’s dynamic markings or simply too loud.

Another performer who has a whole CD of Joplin available is the harpsichordist, Elisabeth Chojnacka. There’s real zest and enthusiasm here – she’s clearly enjoying herself – and some action noise from the instrument doesn’t detract. The rhythmic bite of the harpsichord is an asset, although at times the bass notes need holding longer to provide the necessary left-hand emphasis. Like the violin and piano arrangements from Perlman and Previn (EMI, 9/86), Chojnacka offers real interpretations but in a different medium.

But for the real thing – on the piano – there is no substitute for Rifkin, who provides the authentic Joplin experience. This is an important release and essentially the best buy now – and what a pity for Joplin that Rifkin went back to his musicology instead of recording a complete piano works at the time.

-- Peter Dickinson, Gramophone

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Scott Joplin (c. 1867/68 or November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime". During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first, and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. After Joplin's death, his music waned in popularity as new forms of musical styles emerged, only to be rediscovered and returned to popularity in the 1970s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Joplin

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Joshua Rifkin (born April 22, 1944 in New York) is an American conductor, keyboard player, and musicologist. As a performer he has recorded music by composers from Antoine Busnois to Silvestre Revueltas, and as a scholar has published research on composers from the Renaissance to the 20th century, especially his increasingly influential theory about Bach's choral works. Rifkin is best known by the general public, however, for having played a central role in the ragtime revival in the 1970s, with the three albums he recorded of Scott Joplin's works for Nonesuch Records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Rifkin

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