Venezia
Florian Uhlig (piano)
Black Box BBM1054 [74
mins]
Crotchet
Ignace GIBSONE
· Paraphrase De Concert Sur Le Carnival de Venise, Op. 10
· Johann Joseph ABERT ·
Chant de la Gondoliere in A flat ·
Franz LISZT · Canzone from
'Venezia e Napoli' S162 Richard
WAGNER - Venezia, S201 ·
Franz Liszt Florian UHLIG Ravi Shankar -
Venezia · Fryderyk CHOPIN
Barcarolle in F sharp, Op. 60 ·
Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY ·
Two Venetian Gondola Songs Op. 30, No. 6, Op. 19, No. 6·
Benedetto MARCELLO (arr.Uhlig) ·
Quella Fiamma Che M'Accende in G minor ·
Charles Valentin ALKAN ·
Barcarolle in G minor from 'Troisieme recuil de chants' Op.65, No.6
· Gian Francesco MALIPIERO
· Omaggi · Franz
LISZT · La Lugubre Gondola II ·
Baldassare GALUPPI · Sonata
No. 1 in A minor · Gabriel FAURE
· Barcarolle No. 1 in A minor, Op. 26 ·
The centrepiece of this recital programme is a poised and well thought-out
account of the Chopin Barcarolle, about which the pianist supplies copious
background information, including accounts by Von Lenz and Charles Rosen.
His interpretation is on a broad scale, and made me think of a small boat
at sea, the rocking movement rising and falling more than you might hope
to meet with in a Venetian canal. The rest of the pieces are all brought
together on the Venetian Barcarolle theme, with some of the composers so
obscure that even the dates of one of them appears to be unknown to Uhlig
(Ignace Gibsone). Neither he nor J J Abert can be found in New Grove. Moreover
Uhlig's essay (which might be more suitable for a piano journal) tells us
nothing about most of the individual items, and is mainly concerned with
presenting a manifesto about 'marketable repertoire and financial frameworks',
and his quest to succeed in devising 'an encyclopaedically satisfying solution
to placing Chopin's Barcarolle on disc', something he seems to have found
wanting in the eighty-four versions he researched! Many of the pieces are
predictably lightweight, but they are played lovingly and recorded well.
His arrangement of a Marcello song and a Galuppi sonata, played on the same
Steinway, are not greatly illuminating in this mainly 19 C. recital. It is
perhaps significant that of Fauré's wonderful series of Barcarolles,
he opts to play No.1. Some of the other dozen might stretch his interpretative
range in a useful direction for a follow up CD?
This one could make a nice Christmas present for piano music collectors who
have got (nearly) everything.
Peter Grahame Woolf
