Mundoclasico.com viernes, 1 de junio de 2007

DISCOS A Liszt Recital, for Better or Worse

MICHAEL LUKEY

For superb piano playing, this disc can be recommended . Après une lecture du ; from the start. What’s more, Jon Nakamatsu is invariably Sonetto 47 del Petrarca; Sonetto 104 del musically tasteful; even in the most virtuosic sections of Petrarca; Sonetto 123 del Petrarca; Mephisto Waltz No. 1; Impromptu the first Mephisto Waltz there are no cheap gimmicks or (Nocturne) à la Princesse Gortschkoff; overstatements. On top of this, the attractively packaged Valse-Impromptu. Schumann/Liszt. Frühlingsnacht; Widmung. Franz Liszt. and excellently recorded CD contains a recital clearly Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Jon intended to have ‘something for everyone’ in it – from the Nakamatsu, piano. Executive Producer: flamboyant Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 to the more Robina G. Young. Recording engineer: Brad Michel. One compact disc DDD, total philosophical Petrarch Sonnets and the less-well-known playing time 76 minutes. Recorded at Impromptu (Nocturne) à la Princesse Gortschkoff. A Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm Ltd. Company, Marin County, California, perfect release, then? Unfortunately not. Some of Liszt’s November 2005. Harmonia Mundi HMU most passionate music is present here, yet Nakamatsu is 907409. almost always cool and detached. Soon into the first track, the so-called Dante Sonata, the listener is already left wishing that the pianist were more immersed in the music, even at the expense of some of his icy perfection.

Après une lecture du Dante, published in 1856, forms part of the second volume of the Années de pèlerinage. It famously includes the supposedly diabolic tritone interval in its opening, but following Liszt’s reading of the later moves to a “heavenly” F sharp tonality. Nakamatsu’s uninspired interpretation of the normally startling beginning does little to capture the listener’s interest, although once the music takes off, one cannot help but be impressed by the ease with which every technical challenge is dismissed. Nevertheless, in the more lyrical central section Nakamatsu loses direction, and the playing again tends towards the banal.

Next on the disc are the three Petrarch Sonnets, which actually precede the Dante Sonata in the Années de pèlerinage. Although by no means bad performances, these are not ones that stand up to comparison with those by the likes of Berman or Bolet. Through Nakamatsu we get occasional glimpses of the poetry this music requires, but more often than not the pianist seems to meander with little of the insight that, say, Horowitz brings to Sonetto 104.

The performance of the first Mephisto Waltz shares a problem with that of the Dante Sonata - namely that such demonic music would be better served by more demonic playing; instead of the ice-cold perfection provided by Nakamatsu, red-hot emotions are asked for. In fact, the booklet notes accompanying the disc quote the Liszt scholar Bence Szabolsci, who stated that Liszt was looking for an “uncurbed bacchanalia of instincts and impulses”, and this is what the playing here fails to portray. However, everything else is there: a huge dynamic range, an ability to thunder through the most demanding chordal sections with no relaxation of the tempo, a sophisticated control of tone throughout – the list goes on. It might be mentioned at this point that the relatively extended booklet text is such a collage of quotations (and often quotations of quotations) that it becomes a challenge to read in a single sitting.

Between the virtuosic Mephisto Waltz and the show-piece finale of the CD come the Impromptu à la Princesse Gortschkoff, the Valse-Impromptu, and two of Liszt’s transcriptions of songs by Schumann (Frühlingsnacht and Widmung). Again, the listener is tantalised by glimpses of real poetry, but again, the overall effect is a let down. From the whirling climax of the Impromptu to the flowing legato of the Schumann/Liszt, every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ crossed – but this alone does not make these performances musically satisfying. What’s more, Nakamatsu seems to forget that the Schumann/Liszt pieces were originally composed as songs, and does little to distinguish between the original vocal melody and the piano accompaniment. No surprises that the Hungarian Rhapsody reveals playing of an unusually high technical calibre, but in other respects this is a competent rather than a remarkable performance. We can only hope that Nakamatsu’s artistry soon matures to match his technique – then we will be in for a real treat. © 2007 Michael Lukey / Mundoclasico.com. Todos los derechos reservados