At a little over seventy-one minutes in length
this is a generously filled disc although I have to say straight
away that the quality of performance is somewhat variable. There
is one work in particular that makes the disc worthwhile, namely
the Eight Preludes of Frank Martin. Written in 1948 for
Dinu Lipatti, who due to poor health was never able to play
them, each of these pieces is a gem, challenging yet highly
idiomatic and immediately recognisable as the work of Martin.
It struck me very clearly whilst listening to this work that
the ghost of Bach (one of the composer’s self confessed heroes)
is rarely far away, notably in Martin’s wonderfully assured
use of counterpoint, yet his highly personal melodic and harmonic
language always shines through with intensity (sample one -
track twenty). Kikuchi gives a secure, technically robust performance,
finely capturing the, by turns, haunting, profound, sometimes
even whimsical nature of each prelude. The final prelude, marked
Vivace, with its echoes of the Petite Symphonie Concertante
of three years earlier, forms a particularly satisfying, finely
played conclusion to the work (sample two - track twenty six).
In many ways it is a shame that the only other
complete work on the disc is Szymanowski’s Opus One set of Nine
Preludes, for other than the Martin this interesting and
impressively assured early work undoubtedly draws the finest
playing from Kikuchi. There is sensitivity on display here that
does not always surface in the other works on the disc. As an
example the sixth prelude (sample three - track eleven), marked
lento mesto, is beautifully realised whereas Debussy’s
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (sample three - track seventeen)
is somewhat emotionally detached in comparison. By the same
token it may have been a mistake to open the disc with Rachmaninov’s
famous Prelude in C sharp minor, for anyone who is used
to this work in a performance by an acknowledged master is likely
to find this performance sterile and lacking in depth, as I
did.
Elsewhere on the disc Prokofiev’s Opus 12 No.
7 Prélude receives an adequate performance as
do Satie’s typically eccentric Three Flaccid Preludes (for
a dog). The Chopin and Debussy come off less successfully,
ultimately lacking strength of character as well as the optimum
degree of refinement in the playing.
I suspect that Kikuchi’s talents would have
been better served if this disc had been made up of three major
works rather than the collection of "fillers" that
we have been given. Certainly the Martin and Szymanowski offer
much to enjoy although the lingering impression is that Kikuchi
fails to get "inside" the other works in the same
way.
Pavane’s recorded sound is adequate with a
good dynamic range although the booklet notes are disappointing
both in content and translation.
Christopher Thomas.
Yoko Kikuchi-piano