There
are now three volumes in Mordecai Shehori’s Learning By
Example Series perfectly geared to the student or young
pianist seeking out works of musical worth. None provides
difficulties sufficient to plunge the young player into gloom – though
they’re hardly simple to master - and there is an alphabet
of technical matters to ensure a sure grounding. Their proportions
may be small but the musical rewards are great and so will
be the feeling of accomplishment once they’ve been securely
mastered. In his introduction “to the Learning Pianist” in
volume one Shehori takes us through the various technical
aspects of the works he plays and adds sagacious advice about
the mood of the piece, its inflection, the feeling it’s meant
to evoke. Thus he combines, quite unselfconsciously, both
technical and expressive components.
And
one could hardly want for a more warm, genial and adept guide.
His Purcell Minuet in volume one is tonally verdant, Bach’s
Minuet in D minor possesses refined eloquence, and there
is great poise in the C major Invention. His Handel Sarabande
in D minor is controlled and a young player (or an older
one) could spend time listening to his control of dynamics,
and equally to the clarity of his articulation in C.P.E.
Bach’s Solfeggio in C minor, helped by the rather dry recording.
Pliancy of phrasing can be gauged from his Mozart Rondo in
C major. He plays Kuhlau’s Sonatina with flexibility and
Clementi’s sonata with a certain military profile. By the
time we reach Mendelssohn and Schumann we find the chances
for characterisation have increased; especially in the case
of those pieces derived from the Album for the Young. The
two K’s – Kabalevsky and Khachaturian provide more up-to-date
pleasures in their little pieces.
The
second volume revisits Clementi quite extensively and adds
Spindler, Dussek and Diabelli amongst other more obvious
names, in an all-Sonatina disc. This is characterful and
engaging programme making and played with real command and élan
by this master pianist. True, there’s not much bloom in the
sound but this is characteristic of the three discs in their
entirety; I assure you it won’t impede pleasure and it actually
rather suits many of the pieces. Shehori shows the young
leaner how to be charming, how to exude gallant wit, how
to pursue playfulness. The well scaled chordal punctuation
points in the Clementi C major reveal how to scale such matters,
how to balance chords, whereas elsewhere one could learn
how most fully to explore the lyric melancholy embedded in
so small a poco adagio. Perhaps, above all, the player
will learn stylistic aptness; in the case of the Rondo Allegro
of Beethoven’s Sonatina in F major he will learn, too, about
the art of projection, and how to imbue playing with apt
levels of drama. Do not spurn the Diabelli G major; just
listen how Shehori brings it to vivid life. This particular
disc also ends with Kabalevsky and his Sonatina in A minor
will extend the vocabulary of the young player, introduce
him to its moments of passing mordancy, and encourage some
lissom freedom in its finale. Shehori cannily leads the learner
in this exploratory journey.
The
third volume reprises the span chronologically from Lully
to - once more - Kabalevsky. In between we have Bach, Handel,
Clementi, Weber, Glinka, Bergmüller, Schumann and the like.
This volume is reminiscent of the first in the series in
its exploration of Airs, minuets, presto movements, dances
and the increasing concentration on the widening shores of
romantic associative writing. Natural buoyancy of rhythm
is a real component here – try Scarlatti’s Sonata in A major.
So too we find in Leopold Mozart’s pieces the chance for
the learner to vest pieces with personality and presence.
The national dances are similarly entertaining and engaging.
If anyone can match the puckish wit of Shehori’s take on
Bergmüller’s L'Arabesque in A minor they won’t be doing it
soon.
Touch,
pedalling, tone colours, chordal weight, articulation, these
are all some of the many, many devices that Shehori will
necessarily lead the learner to explore in these educational
and captivating volumes.
Jonathan
Woolf
Track listing
Volume 1
Arcangelo CORELLI (1653-1713)
1. Sarabande in E minor [1:35]
Jean-Philippe RAMEAU (1683-1764)
2. Rondino in C major [0:56]
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
3. Minuet in A minor [1:05]
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
4. Sonata in D minor, K. 32 [1:40]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750
5. Musette in D major [1:01]
6. Minuet in D minor [0:50]
7. Minuet in G major [1:29]
8. Minuet in G minor [1:44]
9. Little Prelude in C minor [1:11]
10. Invention No. 1 in C major [1:13]
11. Invention No. 4 in D minor [1:03]
12. Invention No. 8 in F major [0:53]
13. Invention No. 9 in F minor [1:26]
14. Invention No. 13 in A minor [1:06]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
15. Sarabande in D minor [2:51]
16. Minuet in F major [1:09]
Carl Philipp Emanuel
BACH (1714-1788)
17. La Caroline [2:07]
18. Solfeggio in C minor [1:04]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
19.Minuet in C major [0:47]
20. Minuet in F major [0:35]
21 Minuet in G major [1:24]
22. Allegro in B-flat major [1:02]
23. Rondo in C major [0:51]
Friedrich KUHLAU (1786-1832)
Sonatina in C major, Op. 20, No. 1 [7:18]
24. Allegro
25. Andante
26. Rondo-Allegro
Muzio CLEMENTI (1752-1832)
Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36 No. 1 [3:35]
27. Allegro
28. Andante
29.Vivace
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
30. Minuet in G major [2:05]
31. Für Elise [2:31]
Sonatina in G major, Op. 5, No. 1 [3:03]
32. Moderato
33. Romanze
Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)
34. Waltz in B minor [1:36]
35. Allegretto in D minor [1:00]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
36. Venetian Gondola Song [1:28]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
37. Melody [1:13]
38. The Happy Farmer [0:39]
39. Sicilian [1:43]
40. Soldier's March [0:51]
41. The Wild Horseman [0:33]
Frédéric CHOPIN (1810-1849)
42. Prelude in E minor [1:58]
43. Prelude in A major [0:40]
44. Prelude in B minor [1:37]
45. Prelude in C minor [1:10]
46. Waltz in A minor, B.I. 150 [1:58]
Peter Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
47. Waltz in E-flat major [1:16]
48. Reverie in C major [1:55]
Dmitri KABALEVSKY (1904-1987)
49. Chit-Chat [0:22]
50. Waltz [0:35]
52. Toccatina [0:32]
Aram KHATCHATURAIN (1903-1978)
53. Melody [1:20]
Volume 2
Muzio CLEMENTI (1752-1832)
1-3. Sonatina in G major, Op. 36, No. 2 [4:43]
4-6. Sonatina in C major, Op. 36, No. 8 [6:25]
7-9. Sonatina in F major, Op. 36, No. 4 [7:02]
10-12. Sonatina in G major, Op. 36, No 5 [10:38]
13-14. Sonatina in D major, Op. 36, No. 6 [6:01]
Georg Anton BENDA (1722-1795)
15. Sonatina in A minor [1:06]
Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756-1791)
16-19. Viennese Sonatina No. 1 in C major [10:49]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
20-21. Sonatina in F major, Anh. 5 [4:14]
Fritz SPINDLER (1817-1905)
22-23. Sonatina in C major, Op. 157, No. 4 [2:39]
Jan Ladislav DUSSEK (1760-1812)
24-25. Sonatina in G major, Op. 20, No. 1 [3:30]
Friedrich KUHLAU (1786-1832)
26-27. Sonatina in C major, Op. 55, No. 1 [4:19]
28-29. Sonatina in C major, Op. 55, No. 3 [4:54]
Anton DIABELLI (1781-1858)
30-32. Sonatina in G major, Op. 151, No. 16 [5:22]
Dmitri KABALEVSKY (1904-1987)
33-35. Sonatina in A minor, Op. 13, No. 1 [7:18]
Volume 3
Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632-1687)
1. Minuet in D minor [0:49]
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695)
2. Air in D minor [0:51]
François COUPERIN (1668-1733)
3. Les Coucous (The Cuckoos) [0:43]
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
4. Minuet in G Major [0:52]
5. Gigue in G Major [0:48]
Johann Sebastian
BACH (1685-1750)
6. Prelude in C Major, BWV 939 [0:29]
7. Minuet in G Major, Anh. 116 [1:26]
8. Polonaise in G minor, Anh. 119 [1:04]
9. March in D Major, Anh. 122 [1:04]
10. Minuet in G Major [0:58]
11. Prelude No. 1 in C Major, Well Tempered Clavier [1:40]
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
12. Prelude in G Major [1:24]
13. Aria in G Major [1:41]
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
14. Sonata in A Major, K.83b [1:02]
Wilhelm Friedemann
BACH (1710-1784)
15. Minuet in G Major [0:50]
16 Allegro in A Major [1:39]
Carl Philipp Emanuel
BACH (1714-1788)
17. Pastorale in D Major [0:49]
18. Fantasia in G Major [0:33]
Leopold MOZART (1719-1787)
19. Allegro in A Major [1:41]
20. Minuet in F Major [0:44]
21. Minuet in D minor [1:10]
22. Bourlesq in A Major [0:26]
Franz Joseph HAYDN (1732-1809)
23. Allegro in G Major [0:44]
24. Allegro in F Major [0:53]
25. Vivace in F Major [2:47]
26. Gypsy Dance in C minor [3:06]
Muzio CLEMENTI (1752-1832)
27. Rondo-Waltz in D Major [1:14]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
28. Andantino in E-flat Major, KV236 [1:19]
29. Presto in B-flat Major, K. 15 [0:59]
30. Minuet in F Major, K. 6 [1:59]
31. Minuet in F Major, K. 5 [1:04]
32. Rondo Alla Turca, K. 331 [3:44]
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
33. Ecossaise in G Major [0:42]
34. Russian Folk Tune in A minor [0:52]
35. German Dance in C Major [0:32]
36. Minuet in C Major, K. WoO.10.1 [1:48]
37. Adagio cantabile from Sonata in C minor Op. 13, "Pathétique" [4:51]
38. Adagio sostenuto from Sonata in C-sharp minor, Op. 27,
No. 2, "Moonlight" [6:52]
Carl Maria von WEBER (1786-1826)
39. Scherzo in A minor [1:28]
40. Waltz in A Major [1:58]
Michael Ivanovich
GLINKA (1804-1857)
41. Polka in D minor [0:27]
Friedrich BURGMÜLLER (1806-1874)
42. The Chase in C Major [1:10]
43. The Farewell in A minor [1:04]
44 .Ballade in C minor [1:20]
45. Restlessness in E minor [0:50]
46. Innocence in F Major [0:47]
47. L'Arabesque in A minor [0:56]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
48. Andante in D Major, Op. 72 [1:15]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
49. First Loss in E minor, Op. 68 [1:47]
Peter Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
50. The Sick Doll in G minor, Op. 39 [1:57]
51. Old French Song in G minor [0:58]
52. German Song in E-flat Major [0:53]
Edvard GRIEG (1843-1907)
53. Elfin Dance in E minor, Op. 38 [1:01]
54. Waltz in A minor, Op. 12 [1:46]
Edward MACDOWELL (1861-1908)
55. To a Wild Rose [1:37]
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
56. The Girl with the Flaxen Hair [2:50]
Dmitri KABALEVSKY (1904-1987)
57. Little Song in E minor, Op. 27 [0:53]
58. Playing Ball in D Major [0:54]
59. Clowns in A minor, Op. 39 [0:32]
Mordecai Shehori (piano) 
