RECORDING OF THE MONTH     CHOPIN Waltzes and Impromptus Vladimir Feltsman £11 post free World-wide VIVALDI The four seasons London Mozart Players/Juritz £12 post free World-wide BEETHOVEN Symphonies 4 and 5 LSO/Yondani Butt £12 post free World-wide

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Neils Viggo BENTZON (1919-2000) Piano Works: Partita Op. 38 (1945) [20.50]; Sonata No. 7 Op. 121 (1959) [13.51]; Woodcuts Op. 65 (1951) [17.48]; Hoffmann Sonata Op. 248 (1969) [17.14] Per Salo (piano) rec. Feb 1992. DDD KONTRAPUNKT 32111 [70.07]

Bentzon's colossal output is bewilderingly extensive. Per Salo and Kontrapunkt give us an opportunity to reflect on a sampling from the solo piano works. In listening we would do well to remember that Bentzon, the pianist composer, invested a great deal of his creative self in his music for the instrument. The Partita is an early work written during a tragic and pregnant year in history and encompasses a wide range from the disturbingly clamorous Allegro to the Debussian Intermezzo. No wonder that this was the key to Bentzon's first real recognition. This is succeeded by the patteringly splenetic second intermezzo before a hyper-Handelian striding fanfare. The writing has the clarity of Hindemith but is anarchically restive in a way typical of the composer. Fifteen years later and the composer wrote the four movement Seventh Sonata in a different language which flirts with Schoenbergian dodecaphony (he wrote a book on Schoenberg's twelve-tone music) amid the cerements of romantic protest and the striking of nineteenth century gestures. There were moments when this work had me thinking of Howard Ferguson's Lisztian Piano Sonata. There are eleven Woodcuts. They are closer to the Hindemith pole than to Schoenberg. These miniatures embrace Haydnesque speed, minatory dissonance and Bachian splendour. They could easily have occupied a place in the massive Det Tempererede Klaver sequence recorded by ClassicO and reviewed here. The threatening lullaby of the single movement Hoffmann Sonata is simple yet tender and extremely affecting having the atmosphere of Martinů's Lidice Memorial. From this grows a whirlpool of activity and Lisztian fury (9.37) which when it has subsided leaves us in a still and deeply affecting Debussian pool in which bells toll de profundis. It is a pity that indexing rather than tracking has been used to separate sections inside each of the four pieces. How many machines these days can access indexing? Certainly mine cannot. The compact notes are by Anders Beyer and although they mention the Partita and Woodcuts there is no reference to the two sonatas. Rob Barnett see also article by Rob Barnett   Advertising Rates Visitor stats MusicWeb International has over 40,000 Classical CD reviews on offer Discs received Having a problem Donating? Gerard Hoffnung Concerts & The Bricklayer Story   New Releases New Releases   MusicWeb sells the Polish catalogue CDAccord £10.50 post free W-W MusicWeb sells the Arcodiva catalogue £12.00 post free W-W £11.75 post-free world- wide MusicWeb can now offer you discs from the following catalogues: Prices include postage [Acte Préalable £13.50] [Arcodiva £12.00] [Avie from £6.25] [British Music Society £12.00] [CDACCORD from £13.50 ] [ClassicO £12.50] [Hallé from £11] [Heritage £10] [Hortus £14.99 ] [Lyrita ONLY £11.75 ] [Nimbus Special prices] [Northern Flowers £13.50] [REDCLIFFE £11 ] [Sheva £11] [Tactus £11.50 ] [Talent from £12.00 ] [Toccata Classics £10.50 ] Musicweb Special Offers Monthly Best Buys     Google Ads - for information about privacy matters, click here.  Amazon Musicweb International is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

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