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Thursday, June 20, 2019

Ignacy Jan Paderewski; Giuseppe Martucci - Piano Concertos (Nelson Goerner)


Information

Composer: Ignacy Jan Paderewski; Giuseppe Martucci
  1. Paderewski - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17: 1. Allegro
  2. Paderewski - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17: 2. Romanza. Andante
  3. Paderewski - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17: 3. Finale. Allegro molto vivace
  4. Martucci - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 66: 1. Allegro giusto
  5. Martucci - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 66: 2. Larghetto
  6. Martucci - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 66: 3. Allegro con spirito

Nelson Goerner, piano

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (1-3)
Sinfonia Varsovia (4-6)
Jacek Kaspszyk, conductor

Date: 2015
Label: Fryderyk Chopin Institute
http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/institute/events/news/type/1/id/3990


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Review

Great, I thought: Nelson Goerner playing the Paderewski concerto – that should be a magnificent match. It’s still an underrated piece, despite the advocacy of Earl Wild and the fact that it was used to launch Hyperion’s wondrous Romantic Piano Concerto series a quarter of a century ago.

Goerner is a degree or two faster in his tempi than Lane – perhaps not surprisingly given it’s live – and the latter’s piano can sound a touch tired at the upper extremities. However, this new version pales in comparison with Hyperion’s for one simple reason: the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under Jacek Kaspszyk simply aren’t up to it and the moments of imprecision and iffy tuning are legion. (Just sample tr 1, from 3'47", but I could go on). The piano is also unnaturally prominent in the mix, though to be honest that’s something of a blessing – the most convincing moments are those where Goerner is left to his own devices.

He is, for instance, soulful in the luscious slow movement, which proceeds at a slightly faster gait than Lane’s. But the vibrato-heavy flute is a major distraction (so is the percussive crash at 8'21"), though there is some nice duetting with the oboist and the solo lead violin. However, the opening of the finale isn’t together and the daredevil tempo set up by Goerner is too much for the orchestra (sample tr 3, 5'34"). Stick to Lane/Maksymiuk, even if their tempo in the finale is a touch steady.

Giuseppe Martucci was born the year Schumann died, and died in 1909, just as Schoenberg was experimenting with atonality in his Three Piano Pieces, Op 11. Anton Rubinstein and Eugen d’Albert were both admirers of his Second Piano Concerto, written a couple of years before Paderewski’s. It has been described as Brahmsian yet strikes me as being more akin to Tchaikovsky’s First, in the same key. It has fallen into terrible neglect, and Goerner – this time with Sinfonia Varsovia – clearly believes in it.

The piano’s initial peroration is given with total authority and the considerable demands made on the soloist, who gets very little time off, are met with total confidence. If all seems initially calmer in the slow movement, which is launched with a rapturous melody for the pianist and some effective duetting with horn, the mood doesn’t last, the music building up to dramatic passagework bristling with double octaves. If the first two movements demanded strength, the finale is a playful Allegro requiring considerable dexterity from the tireless soloist.

The orchestral playing is cleaner here, but still not exactly of the first rank, and again there are moments of splashiness (some of them at key points, the climax in the slow movement at 4'55", for instance, or the two chords that end the work), while in the fugato writing in the finale (from 3'25") the players seem to be caught napping. A pity: Goerner deserves much better.

-- Harriet Smith, Gramophone

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Ignacy Jan Paderewski (18 November [O.S. 6 November] 1860 – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer, politician, and spokesman for Polish independence. As a pianist, he was a favourite of concert audiences around the globe, and his musical fame opened access to diplomacy and the media. As a politician, he was the prime minister of Poland and also Poland's foreign minister in 1919, and represented Poland at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Despite his relentless touring schedule and political engagements, Paderewski left a legacy of over 70 orchestral, instrumental and vocal works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacy_Jan_Paderewski

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Giuseppe Martucci (Capua, 6 January 1856 – Naples, 1 June 1909) was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. As a composer and teacher, Martucci was influential in reviving Italian interest in non-operatic music. He wrote no operas, which was unusual among Italian composers of his generation, but instead concentrated on instrumental music and songs. His music was championed by Arturo Toscanini during much of the conductor's career. As a conductor, he helped to introduce Wagner's operas to Italy and also gave important early concerts of English music there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Martucci

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Nelson Goerner (born 9 May 1969 in San Pedro, Argentina) is an Argentinian pianist. After studying in Argentina with Jorge Garrubba, Juan Carlos Arabian and Carmen Scalcione, he was awarded First Prize in the Franz Liszt Competition in Buenos Aires in 1986. This led to a scholarship to work with Maria Tipo at the Geneva Conservatoire, and in 1990 Nelson Goerner won the First Prize at the Geneva Competition. Goerner enjoys a long association with the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, with which he recently explored the interpretation of Chopin on contemporary pianos by Pleyel and Erard dating from 1848 and 1849.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Goerner
http://www.nelsongoerner.com/

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5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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