These three CDs featuring Canada-based Italian pianist Mauro
Bertoli (b.1983) were all recorded on consecutive days and,
given the absence of any label or catalogue number, are presumably
self-published. There is no date of publication, though it must
be recent. Bertoli's website sheds no further light. Last year
he released a similar 'private' CD with the violinist Lucia
Cooreman Luque - see review.
The CD booklets are no more than four-sided leaflets containing
Bertoli's biography - as reproduced verbatim from his website
- and nothing else, beyond some cursory recording information
and a big close-up photo of Bertoli's smiling face. The lack
of any discussion - mention, indeed - of the featured works
or their composers is going to be a deterrent to many: a composer
listed simply as "E.Granados" or "A.Ginastera", with no dates
attached to the name or music.This is not much help to prospective
listeners wondering whether they will like the music and wanting
to find out more, whether beforehand or post purchase. At the
very least Bertoli might have included a personal note explaining
his choice of programme.
The biography does contain a 'personal recommendation' by veteran
French pianist/conductor Philippe Entremont, which at least
suggests that Bertoli is a pianist worth hearing - and so it
turns out. Not only does he have the technique and panache to
dazzle in Granados's lyrical note-spectacular, the Allegro de
Concierto, Schumann's underrated Paganini Studies or the last
of Ginastera's colourful Argentinean Dances, but also the poetry
to move heart and soul in Brahms's Intermezzo in A or Pärt's
simple, but startlingly poignant Für Alina, and to evoke
the elegiac qualities of Liszt's E minor Hungarian Rhapsody.
Bertoli is thankfully no Flash Harry: even in Liszt's quirkier,
sometimes riotous D flat Rhapsody he eschews self-indulgence
and gives the listener the composer rather than the performer
- a far cry from certain other young pianists. He seems equally
at home playing Scarlatti, Shostakovich or Schumann, although
it is in the lattermost's delightful works that he seems to
exude particular enjoyment, which the listener cannot help but
share.
The three recitals all follow a similar pattern: some attractive
19th century repertoire based around Schumann or Liszt, with
various extensions forward into the 20th century and the odd
foray back into the 1800s. The three discs blend a happy mix
of lighter fare - the pieces by Mozart, Gershwin, Pärt,
Scarlatti and Ginastera - with more red-blooded pianism from
Liszt and Granados, whilst Schumann and Brahms cover the middle
ground. The relatively rare Rhapsody in Blue in Gershwin's solo
piano version - which plays down the gaudy 'Hollywoodness' of
either of those for orchestra or even for piano duo - is a highlight
of its disc: Bertoli is riveting. His Steinway D, by the way,
has a nicely rounded tone and is expertly recorded in studio-grade
audio - for some, perhaps, a shade too closely miked for the
very best results.
Somewhat brassily, some pieces turn up on separate CDs: the
Schumann Toccata, the Brahms Intermezzo and Granados' Allegro
de Concierto. Despite the assurances of the dates provided,
these are in fact identical recordings, although in fairness
this only robs each disc of seven minutes, and of course is
not an issue for anyone buying only one disc. On the other hand,
those who can afford it are unlikely to regret acquiring all
three.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
From Mozart to Khachaturian
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Rondo in F, K.494 [7:33]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Intermezzo in A, op.118 no.2 [6:40]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Sonata for the Young, op.118 no.2 [13:44]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Hungarian Rhapsody in E minor 'Héroïde-élégiaque',
S.244 no.5 [10:46]
Hungarian Rhapsody in D flat, S.244 no.6 [7:37]
Enrique GRANADOS (1867-1916)
Allegro de Concierto [7:25]
Dmitri SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975)
Three Fantastic Dances, op.5 [3:50]
Aram KHACHATURIAN (1903-1978)
Toccata in E flat minor [5:08]
Piano Works by Scarlatti, Schumann, Granados, Ginastera
Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757)
Sonata in E minor, K.98 [2:54]
Sonata in G, K.146 [2:54]
Sonata in E, K.531[2:54]
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Paganini-Etüden, op.3 [15:57]
Toccata in C, op.7 [7:24]
Nachtstücke, op.23 [18:22]
Enrique GRANADOS (1878-1948)
Allegro de Concierto [7:25]
Alberto GINASTERA (1916-1983)
Danzas Argentinas, op.2 [8:23]
Rhapsody in Blue and Other Piano Works
Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856)
Papillons, op.2 [18:00]
Toccata in C, op.7 [7:24]
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Intermezzo in A, op.118 no.2 [6:40]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Chapelle de Guillaume Tell (no.1 from: Années de Pèlerinage
- Suisse, S.160) [7:45]
Romance (Ô Pourquoi Donc), S.169 [3:25]
Sancta Dorothea, S.187 [2:30]
Arvo PÄRT (b.1935)
Für Alina [2:24]
George GERSHWIN (1898-1937)
Rhapsody in Blue [17:38]
Mauro Bertoli (piano) 