Alice Sara Ott puts in some solid performances on this, her
concerto début album. The success – artistic I mean, although
I suspect commercial too – of her previous all-Liszt release,
makes the choice of his First Concerto a sensible one. She is
not known for her Tchaikovsky though, nor indeed for any Russian
repertoire. But then, Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto is a work
that can make almost any pianist sound good, so perhaps that
one shouldn't be too much of a surprise either. The two works
make a strange combination though. They are at the opposite
ends of the Romantic spectrum, Tchaikovsky the traditionalist
and Liszt the radical. The comparison between them does Tchaikovsky
no favours, and the rigid classical structuring of his concerto
seems all the more blinkered and pedantic for the comparison
with Liszt's radical, almost narrative, forms.
I wouldn't call Ott a radical, although her readings of these
two works are certainly distinctive. There is more rubato in
the Tchaikovsky than I'm used to, but it is all very localised,
confined to the level of the phrases so never interfering with
the underlying tempi. Her greatest asset is the sheer beauty
of her passage work. The quieter sections of the Tchaikovsky
in particular come to life thanks to that subtle rubato and
an exceptional clarity of touch, which allows each note to sing
yet creates coherency in every phrase. In the Liszt too she
really excels in the quieter passages. Like the composer himself,
she seems uneasy with the concertante arrangement, as if she
would rather be playing the work on her own. Or perhaps it is
the fault of the composer that the orchestra often seems like
more of a distraction than a support.
The one aspect of these recordings that let them down is the
balance between the pianist and the orchestra in the tuttis.
Is this an engineering problem, or is Ott just not playing loud
enough? I'm trying hard not to be swayed by the image of her
waif-like frame on the cover. In fact, I know very well that
she is able to deliver some punch when needed from the many
dramatic episodes in her recent disc of Liszt's Transcendental
Etudes, which is as butch an interpretation as you could want.
Having said that, she doesn't relish the tuttis here in the
same way as she does the quieter passages. The bombast of the
opening to Tchaikovsky's Concerto is a far remove from her natural
artistic temperament. All the same, just placing her microphones
a little further inside the lid would probably have made all
the difference.
The orchestral playing is good and, with the possible exception
of these balance issues between soloist and orchestra, the sound
quality is very good too. On the whole, the orchestra, or the
conductor rather, refrains from following Ott's rubato indulgences.
That makes for quite a traditional relationship between soloist
and orchestra, with the latter keeping time rather then fully
collaborating in the interpretation. That said, the horn-playing
in the Tchaikovsky is worthy of mention, and the string sound
throughout is silky smooth and impressively unified.
A promising concerto début then, but one that also suggests
that this pianist is likely to do her best work in the recital
hall. The sheer clarity of her articulation and the emotional
logic of her phrasing speak of artistic skills well in advance
of her age. So where can she go from here? I'd love to hear
more Liszt from her, but she is probably far too adventurous
to stick with him for too long. Schumann's Concerto would be
a great vehicle, as would Tchaikovsky's Second. She should probably
give Beethoven a wide berth though. The 19th century
repertoire already has legions of great pianists championing
its cause, but nobody else sounds quite like this.
Gavin Dixon
Alice Sara Ott (piano) 
