Blagoje Bersa - Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1 (Goran Filipec)

Information

Composer: Blagoje Bersa

1. Piano Sonata No. 2 in F minor, Op. 20
2. Na žalu (At the Stand)
3. Notturno, Op. 38
4. Ora triste, Op. 37
5. Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 27
6. Ballabile
7. Bagatella, Op. 16
8. Airs de ballet 'Po načinu starih' (In the Old Ways): No. 1, Fantasia breve. Grave - Andante
9. Airs de ballet 'Po načinu starih' (In the Old Ways): No. 2, Scherzo. Vivo
10. Airs de ballet 'Po načinu starih' (In the Old Ways): No. 3, L'Heure de rêveries. Grave
11. Marcia trionfale, Op. 24

Goran Filipec, piano
Date: 2018
Label: Grand Piano
https://grandpianorecords.com/Album/AlbumDetails/GP767

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

Until this disc arrived for review, my only exposure to the Croatian composer Blagoje Bersa (1873-1934) was through his exuberant, breathtakingly orchestrated tone poem Sunčana polja (‘Sunny Fields’). So where has his amazing piano music been hiding all these years? It’s colourful, unabashedly virtuoso and quite substantial.

The 1897 Second Sonata in one continuous movement might be described as Strauss’s confidently soaring melodies and Rimsky-Korsakov’s exoticism served up by Rachmaninov, Busoni and Medtner jostling for room on the piano bench. Much of Na žalu (‘At the Strand’) consists of ravishing and slithering chords anchored by a D flat pedal point, while the lyrically oriented Notturno and Ora triste sometimes hint at Spanish Impressionism, especially in the climactic outbursts. As the booklet note suggests, the Fantaisie-Impromptu is clearly inspired by Liszt, although I’d call it Liszt on steroids, just as the Bagatella, Op 16, belies its title in regard to its seven-minute length and meaty piano-writing.

While the triptych Po načinu starih (‘In the Old Way’) refers to older, less harmonically involved styles, Bersa’s tangy melodic twists and turns are like pinches of mint in a vanilla pudding. The concluding work, a nine minute Marcia trionfale, is deceptively titled. It’s not a march but a relentless invasion of octaves in all directions, save for a few windows of respite that allow the pianist to gather up strength and reload the ammunition.

If I haven’t yet mentioned Goran Filipec’s performances it’s because he basically left me stunned and speechless from the first notes, and I’m still recovering! This pianist commands a transcendental technique and possesses an unflappable sonority that refuses to splinter, notwithstanding Bersa’s thickest onslaughts. He unleashes shattering fortissimos that never lapse into banging and conveys the kind of textural diversity needed to bring this composer’s demanding keyboard idiom to life. Grand Piano’s vibrant sound does both pianist and composer ample justice. I cannot recommend this release highly enough and, needless to say, I look forward to Vol 2.

-- Jed Distler, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Sep/Bersa_piano_v1_GP767.htm
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/bersa-piano-music-volume-1-goran-filipec/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blagoje Bersa (21 December 1873 – 1 January 1934) was a Croatian musical composer of substantial influence. Born in Dubrovnik, Bersa studied in Zagreb with Ivan Zajc and at the Vienna Conservatory with Robert Fuchs and Julius Epstein. In 1919 he returned to Zagreb, where he worked as a composition teacher at the music academy. He remained there until his death. Bersa's popular works include two operas (Der Eisenhammer and Der Schuster von Delft), a symphonic diptych (Sablasti and Sunčana polja), the Sinfonia tragica "Quattro ricordi della mia vita", and the symphonic poem Hamlet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blagoje_Bersa

***

Goran Filipec (born 1981 in Rijeka) is a Croatian concert pianist. He studied piano at the Academy "Ino Mirkovich" and later specialized in Köln, Tuscany, Moscow and The Hague. During his early career Filipec won top prizes at international piano competitions, including the José Iturbi Competition, the Concurso de Parnassos, the Gabala Competition, and the Concorso Pianistico Internazionale Franz Liszt. Filipec has performed internationally, having performed at the Carnegie Hall, Auditorium di Milano, Mariinsky Theatre, and other concert halls of Europe, North and South America and Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goran_Filipec
https://www.goran-filipec.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks

Links in comment

Enjoy!