18.7.2015 Fanfare Magazine Archive of CD Reviews: JOACHIM CARR PIANO (Joachim Carr) Related Articles CD Review by Jim Svejda Issue 38:6 July/Aug 2015 JOACHIM CARR PIANO • Joachim Carr Collections: (pn) • CLAVES 50­1416 (69:10) Instrumental Jim Svejda SCHUMANN Davidsbündlertänze, op. 6. BERG BRAHMS Variations on an Original Theme BRAHMS in D, op. 21/1. BERG Piano Sonata, Op. 1. Liebeslied, Widmung SCHUMANN SCHUMANN/LISZT SCHUMANN­LISZT This is one of those CLAVES themed—admittedly, piano subtly themed—recitals that could have easily gone either way: piano Listen to Audio Samples music by three young composers (average age Ángeles Iglesias: CHOPIN: Sonata 25) played by a young op. 4 no. 1 in c pianist of 26. In other Joachim Carr Plays Schumann words, it could have been Eunmi Ko: Musical Landscapes of Brahms & Berg something endearingly AUDIO CD Hilary Tann Claves fresh and uninhibited, or Florestan Duo: Beethoven for Cello & simply an excuse for a lot of youthful exuberance Piano and self­indulgence. Jonathan Little: Polyhymnia The Norwegian Joachim Carr is not your typical Josef Peter Heinzer: music for young pianist. A prize winner—the 2014 Edvard Grieg Piano Competition in Bergen—with an orchestra impressive array of teachers—Eldar Neblosin at the Laura Schwendinger: Collected Berlin Hochschule für Musik, and in his homeland, Works Håvard Gimse and Leif Ove Andsnes—he’s one of http://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/38_6/3864880.zz4_JOACHIM_CARR_PIANO_Joachim.html 1/3 18.7.2015 Fanfare Magazine Archive of CD Reviews: JOACHIM CARR PIANO (Joachim Carr) Luisa Guembes­Buchanan: Mozart those unusual young musicians who plays with a Piano Sonatas, Beethoven in D, E. T. sensitivity and wisdom “well beyond his years,” to A. Hoffman Sonatas / Robert coin a cliché. His debut album for Claves was Schumann Kreisleriana, Late obviously designed to show what Carr can do best, Beethoven and from the very first notes of this consistently enthralling recital, he shows a lot. Mahan Esfahani, Michala Petri: CORELLI: La Follia. Sonatas, op. 5/7– While some might prefer more playfulness—or 12 manic intensity—in Schumann’s famously unstable Davidsbündlertänze, you’ll have to search high and Melba: Benaud Trio, The Romantic wide for one more beautifully played. Carr’s touch Clarinet, The Virtuoso Piano Music of is unusually refined and poetic, allowing for an George Frederick Boyle, The Art of astonishing range of dynamics between piano and the extreme reaches of audibility. His ability to Nance Grant, Arcadia Lost, Elan shade and shape a phrase recalls some of great Ballet Music from Operas of Saint pianist­poets of the past—Dinu Lipatti, especially Saëns, RAKHMANINOV: Leslie —and some of Davidsbündlertänze’s most tender Howard, WAGNER: Das Rheingold, moments are wonders of both expressiveness and WAGNER: Die Walküre, WAGNER: control. If the more explosive moments miss some Siegfried, WAGNER: of the imaginative insight of a Géza Anda, Mitsuko Götterdämmerung, FERDINAND Uchida, or, for the last word in padded cell HÉROLD: La Somnambule impetuosity, Alfred Cortot, then they’re perfectly consistent with the pianist’s overall conception. In Messiah College BrassCross: short, this is an interpretation which seems intent Luminosity on making everything as ravishing as possible, whatever the cost. Michael Antonello: Collected Works In Brahms’s shockingly undervalued Variations on Open Goldberg: Open Goldberg an Original Theme in D Major, Carr’s sensitivity Variations yields even bigger dividends. Less obviously eventful than either the Handel or Paganini Rick VanMatre: Gray Then Blue Variations, what the composer later called his Serafin String Quartet: Selected “philosophical variations” contain some of his most subtle, self­possessed thoughts. Carr follows the Works internal logic admirably, giving each variation its The Crossing: Selected Works allotted weight and significance, while never yielding to the temptation of making more of the Ursula Bagdasarjanz: Mozart & expressive content and thus running the risk of Schoeck disrupting the overall flow. As an exercise in selfless dedication to the spirit of the piece, it’s all Ysmael Reyes: Incanto: but unique for someone this young. Contemporary Venezuelan Music http://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/38_6/3864880.zz4_JOACHIM_CARR_PIANO_Joachim.html 2/3 18.7.2015 Fanfare Magazine Archive of CD Reviews: JOACHIM CARR PIANO (Joachim Carr) Fanfare Archive Advertisers For many, the high point of Carr’s recital will be his version of the Berg Sonata, which after more Melba than a century remains a very tough nut to crack. Michael Antonello While predictably, the pianist strives to make everything sound physically gorgeous—think of Arthur Grumiaux’s meltingly lovely version of the composer’s violin concerto—he leaves enough of the bark on this early work to suggest the challenging things to come. The Liszt transcription of Schumann’s Widmung rounds out an unusual and quietly exciting debut recital, and one that obviously leaves the listener eager for more. Jim Svejda This article originally appeared in Issue 38:6 (July/Aug 2015) of Fanfare Magazine. 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