MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Precipitando 
Alban BERG (1885-1935)
Sonata op. 1 (1907/1908, rev. 1920) [10:54]
Leos JANACEK (1854-1928)
V mlhách (In the mists) (1912) [15:38]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Sonata in B minor (1853) [31:10]
Dénes Várjon (piano)
rec. April 2011, Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera, Lugano
ECM NEW SERIES 2247 [58:00]

Experience Classicsonline


 
I have to admit to being something of a fan of Hungarian pianist Dénes Várjon’s artistry, bearing in mind his contribution to the Romancendres recording which pairs the music of Clara Schumann and Heinz Holliger (see review), and also being an admirer of his accompaniments with Carolin Widmann of Schumann’s Violin Sonatas (see review). This is his first ECM solo recording and a fascinating recital programme of three masterpieces by Berg, Janáček and Liszt, the first two both being documented as having been inspired by Liszt.
 
Dénes Várjon is quoted as saying, “It is always highly interesting to find connections between composers, and bridges between epochs in musical history. In the mirror of other composers and periods, I begin to see new dimensions of works which I have performed, and this is especially the case when I play pieces by Ferenc Liszt. Even more strongly, I see him as a main figure of the current of music history. There are certain works by him I need to play and explore again and again - most importantly, his B minor Sonata. For all its rich texture, its great structure and its length, there is not one single note which is not a most important part of the whole.” Várjon has clearly thought long and deeply about all of the music on this fine recording, and the performances are nothing if not highly expressive and superbly executed.
 
This is the kind of release which has a ‘concept’ aura, and it is as much the combination of this repertoire which will attract as the individual performances. Berg’s Sonata No. 1 is an elusive work, poised between the height of late romantic expression and the blurring of harmonic stability which would result in the 12-note serial approach which became the pathway of escape for some composers in the 20th century. Várjon’s performance is rich and eloquent, and certainly competitive with other excellent performances such as that of Ronald Pöntinen on BIS-CD-1417, which is a tad more dynamic and hard-hitting compared with a more reflective and poetic view from Várjon. I’ve also always had an affection Glenn Gould’s 1958 CBS recording, but this is one of those pieces which I’ve found impossible to find a ‘perfect’ version on record. Suffice it to say that Várjon’s playing is truly excellent, though I didn’t find myself brought to an emotional frenzy by the intensity of the music in this case.
 
My favourite on this CD is Janáček’s In the mists. Várjon is alive to the composer’s extremes of mood and musical landscape, at once rocky and turbulent, the next moment ethereally calm. I particularly like Várjon’s ends of phrases in the opening Andante, serving up those resolutely non-resolving moments of transition with striking emphasis, expressing mood and emotion without exaggerated mannerism. This is of course a work which has been recorded often and superbly by a variety of Czech and other pianists, and Radoslav Kvapil’s performance which was once to be found on Unicorn Kanchana’s Anthology of Czech Piano Music (all 12 CDs on Alto ALC6001 and ALC6002) and can now be bought on Regis RRC1172. Rather perversely I’ve referred to a version on Musical Concepts MCS-ED-9021 (also Alto ALC 1127) which I’m not sure is the same as the Regis disc, but either way this shows how it is possible to inject a greater sense of fury into the music, heightening the extremes of emotion in a less well recorded but remarkably potent vision of the work. Várjon is excellent throughout, giving the piece plenty of character, but not quite chilling the bones as can be heard elsewhere. The beauty of his playing does give a magical atmosphere to the Andantino, and the final Presto is also very fine, though again perhaps not quite digging all of the anguish from the notes. ArcoDiva’s all-Janáček recording (see review) has two versions of this piece, one played on the composer’s own piano, so real fans of the work should give this as try as well.
 
Liszt’s Sonata in B minor has been recorded so often that it’s always going to be hard to follow numerous excellent and distinguished predecessors. My ears are still ringing with Garrick Ohlsson’s recording on the Bridge label (see review), and, while I’ll admit that other versions have done as much or more I was already becoming a little sceptical with Várjon’s dramatic scampering in and around the end of the second minute. The comparisons I made in the Ohlsson review stand, and I would alas have to put Várjon lower on the all-time pecking order, having also recently discovered the live and risky Terence Judd performance on Chandos CHAN 10004. This comparison won’t be a first choice for many people, but does show how it is possible to grab hold of and grip a listener for a white-knuckle ride which lasts from the opening note to the last. Várjon’s playing by no means disappoints on its own terms, but there are plenty of subtle moments which are given so much more in other versions - those little lines which tail away in the 6th minute for instance. There is a sense in which transitions are taken a little too literally, pedalling perhaps a little too heavy, technically demanding peaks attacked with robust reliability rather than the utmost musical finesse, and that feeling of impossibly superhuman climaxes achieved through inner transcendence.
 
With ECM’s typically high production standards and fairly analytical booklet notes by Paul Griffiths this is a fine release and one which will bring its own rewards. If your hankering is after greater potency in any one of the pieces in the programme then the advice might be to explore further, but as I have said, Dénes Várjon’s performances have much to offer and his expressive sense and poetry of touch is something worth experiencing. His interpretations are highly effective and securely uncontroversial, and indeed at times have that “lustre… that lifts everything he performs… into a state of newness” promised by the opening paragraph of the booklet text.
 
Dominy Clements
 
Masterwork Index: Liszt's sonata in B minor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.